Fashion for Good launches new initiative to drive brand-driven decarbonisation

Fashion for Good has launched the Mass Balance Demonstrator, a new collaborative industry initiative to implement and scale a chain-of-custody system that traces biomass-based PET through textile supply chains. 

The project is part of the global innovation platform's broader goal of accelerating decarbonisation across the apparel sector. Today, biosynthetic materials remain a small fraction of projected textile output for 2030, held back by underdeveloped commercial infrastructure, low production volumes, and high costs. 

Mass balance attribution (MBA) offers a practical bridge in the meantime. Borrowed from industries such as renewable energy and sustainable forestry, the MBA is a chain-of-custody production model that allows renewable and fossil-based feedstocks to be mixed within the same production system. The amount of renewable input is measured, recorded, and independently verified, and a proportional share is then allocated to the final output, in this case, biomass-attributed PET, though the model can apply to other fibres, such as nylon. 

Importantly, this does not mean every product physically contains renewable material; rather, it reflects a strictly controlled accounting of renewable feedstock entering the system, with certified attributes unable to be counted twice. "We are at a point where the industry wants to move and adopt biosynthetics, but the production frameworks and commercial infrastructure haven't caught up," said Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good, in a statement. 

"The Mass Balance Demonstrator project is about closing that gap: building the impact and commercial evidence, the blueprint, and the feedback loops that will allow the MBA model to scale with integrity." The new initiative brings together leading players from the industry, including Bestseller, Beyond Yoga, On, Paradise Textiles, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), Indorama Ventures, ISCC, UPM Biochemicals, and Textile Exchange. 

The MBA project has four core aims: to physically produce biomass-attributed resin and yarns that match conventional performance standards; to measure full greenhouse gas emissions from cradle to grave; to develop a practical roadmap for scaling biomass-attributed PET across the apparel sector; and to share findings with climate initiatives and standard-setting bodies to help shape credible industry guidance on MBA.

"Polyester is our second biggest fibre by volume, which means we are continuously investigating improvements in this category,” added Anders Schorling Overgård, Material Research Lead at Bestseller. “By taking part in this project, we are building experience within mass balance attribution and bio-attributed polyester. Hopefully, as we collaborate with other great partners, this can initiate pathways that can support scaling of renewable feedstocks (or inputs) going forward.”