Fibershed, an organisation that develops regional and regenerative fibre systems on behalf of independent working producers, has developed an eco mapping system that it hopes will boost expansion in textile manufacturing in the Western US.

Research carried out through the company’s Regional Fiber Manufacturing Initiative (RFMI) in the first half of 2020 focused on mapping the ecosystem for the supply and processing of wool, linen, hemp, cotton, natural dyes, and hides. Through interviews and analysing manufacturing databases, it mapped the current footprint and capabilities of existing enterprises as well as their plans to expand.

Fibershed said it also came to understand how gaps in regional infrastructure affect existing enterprises and create a reliance on global processors.

According to the research, after reaching a peak in 1981, wool production in the US has experienced a dramatic decline, falling to about 22% of it’s historic high by 2019. Still, the total production of raw wool was about 25m pounds in 2019.

The total production of ginned cotton was about 8.8bn pounds in 2018, 95% of which was upland cotton, a short-staple variety. About 80% of California’s cotton production in 2018 was pima cotton, and California produced about 90% of the US supply of this long-staple fibre.

Fibershed also assessed the landscape of existing textile manufacturing, creating maps of Western textile manufacturers, Western cut-and-sew operations, Central and North American textile manufacturers, and California cotton gins.

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While it found more than 100 textile manufacturers in the Western US, when it analysed their capabilities, Fibershed said it found multiple gaps.

Some of the findings include:

  • The US houses about two-thirds of the listed textile manufacturers from North and Central America. These manufacturers cluster in the Southeast and Northeast, leaving large gaps in the West.
  • The West produces most of the nation’s wool. The fibre has the most developed industrial manufacturing system in the region, but lacks critical scouring, felting, and top making facilities.
  • Western cotton production focuses on pima cotton in California, which produces about 90% of the US’ supply of that fibre. While cotton harvesting, ginning, and knitting exist at scale in the West, the region lacks industrial spinning and weaving for the fibre.
  • The West has a well-established industry for synthetic dyes, but lacks natural dyeing at industrial scales.

“Based on our interviews and on-going conversations, we see many opportunities for building soil-to-soil systems in the West,” Fibershed said. “In the near term, we see particular opportunities to close the gaps for wool, bast fibers, and natural tanning.

“Using insights from our ecosystem mapping as a foundation, the RFMI is now engaging our committees to develop solutions that leverage the resources available to us and address key gaps in the regional soil-to-soil cycle.”