Alternative Plant Fibre Landscape Analysis

ALTERNATIVE PLANT FIBRE LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

By Sandra Bohne, Tilly Bintley-Bagot, Ricardo Garay, Camila Charpentier Alfaro

–– REPORT APRIL 22, 2026

The first comprehensive view of the alternative plant fibre landscape across major industries—providing stakeholders the insight needed to navigate the sector, evaluate opportunities, and prioritise investment and strategic support.

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–– EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY ROOTED IN PLANT DIVERSITY
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Across the globe, thousands of plant species provide natural fibres that have been used for millennia in textiles, construction, and tools, forming an integral part of cultural heritage and sustainable livelihoods. Despite this diversity, commercial production remains concentrated in a few fibres – foremostly cotton.

With growing demand for bio-based, low-impact materials across industries, diversifying plant fibre sources presents a significant opportunity to contribute to a circular and climate-resilient bioeconomy, while supporting land restoration, ecosystem resilience, and rural employment.

However, the sector faces persistent structural challenges, including fragmented value chains, limited investment, underdeveloped processing infrastructure, and weak market alignment.

If structural challenges are addressed,
the plant fibre market could reach up to 8 mil. tonnes by 2035

Source: Himalayan Wild Fibres

–– SCOPE

WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVE PLANT FIBRES?
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Alternative plant fibres refer to all naturally derived fibres extracted from plants beyond cotton—whether from bast, seeds, fruits, stems, or other components. These fibres can originate from dedicated fibre crops such as sisal and abacá, agricultural by-products like pineapple leaves and banana stems, wild or invasive species like water hyacinth and milkweed, as well as other biomass crops such as miscanthus or switchgrass.

–– PURPOSE

GOALS OF THE REPORT
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Provide an overview of plant fibre systems, including how they are produced, where they come from, and how they function across industries.

Improve transparency and support informed decision-making for producers, industry partners, researchers, and investors.

Identify key opportunities, challenges, and pathways for responsible and sustainable growth in the sector.

Address major knowledge gaps, including unclear definitions, limited data on availability and markets, and link between traditional and modern production methods.

Examine the data gaps on environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with different fibre systems.

–– CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

PATHWAYS TO UNLOCK THE SECTOR’S POTENTIAL
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Reimagining plant fibres as modern bio-based materials requires stronger sector coordination and collaborative action to improve production capacity, quality consistency, and processing capabilities. In the near term, building reliable supply systems and technical alignment is essential, while long-term scaling will depend on mobilising investment, strengthening market integration, and enabling supportive policy frameworks. FIBRAL aims to contribute to this transition by fostering pre-competitive collaboration, facilitating knowledge exchange, and aligning stakeholders across the plant fibre ecosystem.

–– ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION

FIBRAL – GLOBAL PLANT FIBRE ASSOCIATION

FIBRAL is a global multi-stakeholder association connecting agriculture, industry and research to unlock the sustainable potential of plant fibres within a circular bioeconomy that strengthens rural livelihoods and climate resilience. We bring together producers, processors, manufacturers, buyers and academia to strengthen collaboration, build evidence on fibre production and impacts, and develop best practices. By improving coordination, transparency and capacity across the value chain, we help de-risk investment, empower producers to scale sustainable practices, and enable buyers to source plant fibres with greater confidence.

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