#Raw Materials

2024-06-20

AMSilk’s fibers have a significantly lower environmental footprint compared to Silk

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a frontrunner in advanced biomaterials made from spider silk-based proteins, today announces that that it has completed an independent ‘Cradle-to-Gate’ Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental footprint of AMSilk Ultrafine Fiber with mulberry silk across five environmental indicators: climate change, land and water use, acidification and freshwater eutrophication.

These indicators are the most relevant to the textile industry and represent the top five of all 16 Product Environmental Footprint (“PEF”) indicators evaluated after having normalized and weighted all results. The study was executed by Quantis, the leading environmental sustainability consultancy.

The ISO-compliant and objectively reviewed study found that the relative impact of 1 kg of AMSilk Ultrafine vs. Mulberry silk was significant, with AMSilk Ultrafine having:

• 81% lower climate change impact

• 90% lower acidification

• 73% lower eutrophication of freshwater

• 92% lower land use

• 97% lower water use

Based on this “cradle-to-gate” study, AMSilk Ultrafine Fiber has a more favorable environmental footprint compared to Mulberry silk in the five environmental indicators examined. Key factors contributing to this include AMSilk’s potential to reduce water and land use impacts by avoiding the negative impacts from deforestation and land use change associated with mulberry tree cultivation.

Overall, the reduction in environmental impacts associated with AMSilk fibers can be attributed to its biofabricated nature, which circumvents the resource-intensive processes of silkworm rearing and cocoon harvesting inherent to silk production.

In a separate analysis by the Fresenius Institute, AMSilk’s textiles were shown to be readily biodegradable according to OECD 301B, with >60% degradation in just eight days, well ahead of the benchmark of 10 days, and 84% degradation within 28 days. Nonetheless, the material is fully durable in daily use by a consumer.

Ulrich Scherbel, Chief Executive Officer, AMSilk commented: “These strong figures reinforce the environmental performance characteristics of our material in addition to their various high-performance properties. Our biofabricated fibers and yarns remove the limitations of existing materials and offer brands unimagined opportunities to reinvent themselves while reducing their carbon footprint.”

Click here for more details: Cradle-to-Gate Report Overview

https://www.amsilk.com/app/uploads/2024-06-18_Fiber-LCA-2024_public-version.pdf

To showcase its innovative biofabricated yarns, AMSilk will be attending Pitti Immagine Filati, in Florence, Italy, from the 25th to 27th June 2024, and Première Vision in Paris from the 2nd to 4th July 2024. If you would like to meet with a member of the team, please get in contact, or come and visit the stand.

AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe expand partnership to enable industrial-scale production of silk proteins

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader leader in biotech produced silk materials, today announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), marking a key step in scaling the industrial production of its silk proteins. Building on the collaboration first established in 2023, the two companies have now entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement, enabling the transition from industrial validation to dedicated, large-scale production.

Christian Wichert appointed Chief Executive Officer to lead next phase of growth

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader in advanced biomaterials made from silk proteins, today announces the appointment of Christian Wichert as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 1 June. The appointment marks a pivotal moment in AMSilk’s journey, as the Company advances from development through scale-up to commercialization.

Cotton made in Africa partners receive top marks in independent verifications

Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) and CmiA Organic are two internationally recognised standards that aim to promote sustainable development in the African cotton sector south of the Sahara. To ensure the standards’ credibility among brands, retailers, and consumers, independent verifiers evaluate compliance on the ground. The verification results for 2025, now published in the Aggregated Verification & Implementation Report, were very strong: The verifiers awarded consistently very good remarks regarding management, people, prosperity, and the environment.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Bremen Cotton Exchange: Fritz A. Grobien re-elected as President

The members of the Bremen Cotton Exchange have re-elected Fritz A. Grobien as President during the association’s 152nd General Assembly on June 18, 2026. The election confirms the organization’s commitment to maintaining its role as a leading international platform for the cotton and fiber industry amid a period of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.