Sustainable fibers from the sea: SeaWeave tackles fast fashion with Seaweed

The textile and garment industry is currently a leading contributor to oceanic microplastic pollution, largely driven by synthetic fibers and toxic dyes. Meanwhile, biobased alternatives are mostly reliant on land-intensive agriculture, demanding vast resources of arable land and freshwater both increasingly scarce. SeaWeave presents an innovative detour from these terrestrial limitations by harnessing the potential of macroalgae specifically, red and brown seaweed as renewable, marine-based feedstocks for fiber and dye production.

Macroalgae, fast-growing and abundant in marine ecosystems worldwide, constitute the backbone of the world’s largest aquaculture sector, producing over 35 million tons annually. Yet, Europe accounts for a mere 0.8% of this global output, relying heavily on wild harvest. SeaWeave aims to unlock this untapped potential by focusing on cultivated seaweed biomass from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

At the heart of the SeaWeave initiative is a consortium of seven research and industry partners from six countries, working together across disciplines to establish the full value chain from seaweed cultivation to functional textile production. The project seeks to develop novel pretreatment and biorefinery processes that can extract valuable polysaccharides and pigments through an integrated and circular approach. These natural components will then be transformed into high-performance fibers and dyes for fashion and furniture applications.

SINTEF, one of Europe’s leading independent research organizations, plays a pivotal role in the project. Their work focuses on selecting and characterizing seaweed biomass, optimizing processing methods, scaling up experiments, and functionalizing seaweed-derived biopolymers for industrial use.

SeaWeave’s ambitions are not limited to material innovation alone. The project also includes comprehensive environmental and social impact assessments to ensure the long-term viability and ethical integrity of the technologies it develops. These evaluations will be conducted in close collaboration with stakeholders, ensuring that the project’s outcomes align with global sustainability targets and consumer expectations.