Industries
Textiles & leather
What changes this industry: bio-solutions with evidence, technologies, suppliers and open money.
Overview of the industry
Dangerous chemicals in leather tanning and textile wet processing and dyeing, and enzyme or biological alternatives.
Products and processes need national authorization and site-specific engineering. The articles are overviews, not design or regulatory advice. Check current regulations.
Articles#
| ID | Alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| T01 | Leather processing with enzymatic unhairing/bating and vegetable or other chromium-free tanning (mimosa, quebracho, chestnut, olive-leaf extract) | Sodium sulfide + lime hair-burning unhairing, chromium(III) sulfate tanning (about 80–90 % of world leather), ammonium-salt deliming (partly) | Replace (many leather types) / Partial (some performance leathers) |
| T02 | Textile wet processing with enzymes | Hot sodium hydroxide scouring, acid/oxidative desizing, pumice stones, potassium permanganate (PP) spray, sodium hypochlorite bleaching of denim; sandblasting (banned… | Replace (most steps) |
| T03 | Lower-toxicity textile dyeing and dye-effluent treatment with biological methods | Sodium dithionite (hydrosulfite) for indigo vat reduction, synthetic indigo made from aniline (traces of aniline in dyed denim), some azo dyes that can release… | Partial / emerging |
Suppliers — real products and services (from the vendor index)#
Collection-level join (2026-09-28): active vendors matched by topic tags (
enzymes58,synbio-platform33 companies in the index — the enzyme chains behind enzymatic unhairing/scouring); open each card for evidence, contacts and status.
| Company | Region · Country | What the index shows | Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOVA | LatAm · Argentina | biotechnology platform | card |
| INDEAR by Agrality | LatAm · Argentina | biotech R&D | card |
| Ultrapan | LatAm · Mexico | enzyme applications | card |
| Vland Biotech | Asia · China | industrial enzymes | card |
| Protera | LatAm · Chile | protein/enzyme engineering | card |
Reviewed but SKIPPED (no proven bio-alternative)#
| Substance / use | Hazard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| PFAS water repellents (DWR) on outdoor clothing | Persistent forever chemicals | Fluorine-free repellents (paraffin, dendrimer, silicone) are mostly synthetic; bio-based wax repellents are niche |
| Antimicrobial textile finishes (triclosan, silver, QACs) | Leaching, AMR concerns | Best practice is to avoid them; no bio substitution needed |
| Alkylphenol ethoxylates (NPEO) in detergents | Endocrine disruption | Replaced by alcohol ethoxylates / APG (see industrial and E10 articles) |
What it replaces 3
Screened candidates 2
| T04 | enzymatic desizing with amylases instead of acid, alkali and oxidative desizing of cotton drop — Only market-research, company or pilot figures verified — no article without evidence. | D1 |
| T05 | enzymatic bating and soaking in leather processing instead of ammonium salts and dung-based bating drop — Only market-research, company or pilot figures verified — no article without evidence. | D1 |
Technologies 25
| Bio-accessories (mycelium bags, cork) Finished bags, wallets and small leather goods built on cork, cactus, pineapple and apple-derived leather alternatives — sold by accessory brands (Corkor, … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-activewear Finished performance apparel built on hemp, regenerative organic cotton and experimental bio-based fibers (seaweed, mycelium) — sold by outdoor and lifestyle … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-baby clothing GOTS-certified organic-cotton, bamboo-viscose and TENCEL Lyocell baby clothing — sold by specialist brands (Burt's Bees Baby, Kyte Baby, Colored Organics, Hanna … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-baby diapers Disposable diapers built on bamboo viscose and other plant-derived fiber for the top and back sheet, cutting the petroleum-plastic share of a conventional … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-denim Finished denim built on organic cotton, plant-based indigo dye and circular recycled-content design — sold by brands (Levi's, Candiani, Nudie Jeans, MUD Jeans) … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-face masks Sheet masks built on biocellulose — a nanoscale bacterial-cellulose fiber grown by fermenting coconut water with Komagataeibacter (formerly Acetobacter) … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-footwear (mycelium, algae foam, pineapple leaf) Finished consumer footwear built on bio-based materials — algae-oil foam midsoles, mycelium-leather uppers and bio-based TPU — sold by footwear brands … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-nylon Bio-based polyamide (nylon) polymers and fibres built from renewable monomers — 100%-castor PA11, fermentation-derived pentanediamine PA56/PA510, and fully … | Polymers & materials |
| Bio-socks with antifungal properties Socks knitted from merino wool, bamboo and hemp fiber whose antifungal and antibacterial effect comes from the fiber's own natural chemistry (merino's lanolin, … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-swimwear A thin category — swimwear made with bio-based elastane rather than the recycled-synthetic fibers (ECONYL regenerated nylon) that dominate the broader … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-underwear Underwear knit from bio-based fibers — organic cotton, bamboo viscose, hemp, TENCEL lyocell and modal — sold by direct-to-consumer brands positioning … | Fibers & textiles |
| Bio-watch straps Vegan watch straps built on cactus leather, cork and other plant-based leather alternatives, sold by strap specialists (BELEAF, Visconti Milano, ABP Concept, … | Fibers & textiles |
| Biotech in the textile industry Microbial and fungal biofabrication replacing petrochemical and animal-derived textile inputs — from mycelium leather and collagen hides to DNA-encoded dyeing … | Fibers & textiles |
| Cellulose, fibers & wood chemicals Industrial-scale cellulosic fiber production — viscose, Lyocell and cellulose acetate spun from wood pulp — that is displacing the toxic CS2 solvent process of … | Cellulose & lignin |
| Circular fashion: textile collection & sorting Collection, automated sorting and fiber-to-fiber recycling of post-consumer textile waste — the infrastructure layer turning Europe's 12+ million tonnes of … | Fibers & textiles |
| Engineered bio-cotton A genuinely single-vendor category — cotton fiber grown from plant cell culture rather than field-cultivated cotton plants, using vastly less water and land — … | Fibers & textiles |
| Enzymatic leather tanning Keratinases, lipases and transglutaminase replace sulfide unhairing and chromium tanning in leather processing, cutting wastewater toxicity and … | Fibers & textiles |
| Enzymatic textile recycling Recycling of polyester and polycotton textile waste by engineered hydrolytic enzymes (PET-depolymerizing cutinases, cellulases) that depolymerize PET to TPA and … | Fibers & textiles |
| Health-functional bio-textiles Textile-finishing technologies that add a health-functional property — antimicrobial protection, odor control or scalp/skin comfort — via a bio-based active … | Fibers & textiles |
| Industrial-scale natural dyes Plant-, mineral- and seaweed-derived pigments extracted and applied at true industrial dye-house scale — replacing synthetic azo and heavy-metal-mordant dyes … | Fibers & textiles |
| Keratin-based materials Turning poultry feather and wool waste into biocompatible keratin proteins for wound dressings, cosmetic ingredients, coatings and tissue-engineering scaffolds. | Fibers & textiles |
| Living bio-textiles (algae-infused, colour-changing) Algae- and microbe-derived textile finishes, dyes, fibers and embellishments — living pigment coatings that keep absorbing CO2 after application, algae-extract … | Fibers & textiles |
| Natural fibers & bio-textiles Bio-based textile materials including cellulosic fibers, mycelium leathers, and precision-fermented proteins replacing fossil-based synthetic fabrics and … | Fibers & textiles |
| Plant bio-leather Plant and agri-waste bio-leather — cactus (Desserto), plant-polymer (Natural Fiber Welding Mirum), grape-pomace (VEGEA GrapeSkin) and apple-waste (Frumat … | Fibers & textiles |
| Recombinant spider silk & engineered protein fibers High-performance protein fibers spun from microbially fermented spidroins — matching the tensile strength of steel and the toughness of Kevlar at a fraction of … | Fibers & textiles |
Opportunities 3
| Tender | Greece – Gas-detection apparatus – Δ8499 ΕΤΑΙΡΙΑ ΥΔΡΕΥΣΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟΧΕΤΕΥΣΕΩΣ ΠΡΩΤΕΥΟΥΣΗΣ Α.Ε. (Ε.ΥΔ.Α.Π. Α.Ε.) | Nov 4, 2026 28 days |
| Tender | Romania – Operating-theatre devices – Modernizare bloc operator prin dotarea cu echipamente medicale Spitalul Municipal Salonta | Oct 14, 2026 7 days |
| Grant | Textile circularity through advanced processing and manufacturing technologies and system approaches (IA) … European Commission | Feb 2, 2027 118 days |