AMSilk Fibers show lower environmental impact than traditional silk

An independent “Cradle-to-Gate” Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has found that fibres produced by biomaterials company AMSilk have a “significantly” reduced environmental footprint compared to traditional silk fibres. The study credits AMSilk’s production process, which biosynthesizes silk-based protein polymers without the resource-intensive rearing of silkworms.

Conducted by sustainability consultancy Quantis, the “Cradle-to-Gate” study compared the environmental impact of AMSilk Ultrafine bio-fibre with mulberry silk across five key environmental indicators: climate change, land and water use, acidification, and freshwater eutrophication. These indicators are deemed the most relevant to the textile industry and represent the top five out of all 16 Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) indicators.

AMSilk’s fabrication process, which avoids the deforestation, land use change, and other environmental tolls associated with mulberry silk production, is highlighted as the key factor behind the reduced environmental impacts.

Additionally, testing by the Fresenius Institute demonstrated that AMSilk’s textiles are readily biodegradable per OECD standards, with over 60% degradation in just eight days, ahead of the benchmark of 10 days, and 84% degradation within 28 days, while still being fully durable for normal consumer use.

“These strong figures reinforce the environmental performance characteristics of our material in addition to their various high-performance properties,” commented Ulrich Scherbel, CEO of AMSilk. “Our bio-fabricated fibres and yarns remove the limitations of existing materials and offer brands unprecedented opportunities to reinvent themselves while reducing their carbon footprint.”