There are several types of wool you’re likely to encounter in the textile market which include:
In this article, we'll look at the environmental benefits and costs of wool production and recycled wool, and how retailers and brands can find sustainable options when sourcing wool and wool blend fabrics.
So, What Is the Problem with Wool?
How can Wool be Made More Sustainable?
What is Responsibly Sourced Wool (RSW)?
How Can Retailers and Brands Transition to Sustainable Wool?
Global wool production is around 2 million tonnes annually, with approximately 60% used in clothing. Overall, wool accounts for about 0.9% of the global textile trade. (Source).
Wool is a superior fabric with valuable qualities not found in any other fabrics. Wool fibres have a natural crimp (a wave-like structure) that creates tiny air pockets, providing excellent insulation, hence why we all love a woolly jumper in the winter! At the same time, wool is breathable, moisture-wicking and durable.
Wool is expensive to produce, but popular as a clothing material for several reasons. Firstly, it’s comfortable to wear and helps regulate body temperature, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer. Thanks to its moisture management and natural resistance to bacterial growth, wool tends to be odour-resistant (particularly in the case of merino wool.) For this reason merino wool is particularly popular among outdoor enthusiasts (hikers, skiers, climbers) and travellers. Additionally, wool garments require less frequent washing, and when they are washed, odours are effectively released during the process.
If that isn't enough, wool is naturally flame-resistant, which makes it well suited to both clothing and home furnishings and upholstery.
Yes, but with important caveats.
Wool is 100% natural and renewable and therefore considered to be more environmentally friendly than synthetic fibres such as polyester. Sheep regrow their fleece annually, making wool a continually replenished resource when managed responsibly.
It is also biodegradable. Unlike synthetic fibres that can persist in soil and oceans for decades, wool breaks down naturally in terrestrial and marine environments, returning nutrients such as nitrogen to the soil.
Wool is durable and long-lasting, when taken care of, meaning garments can have a longer lifespan and do not need replacing as frequently.
Wool is also one of the most commonly recycled apparel fibres with a recycling industry going back 200 years.
Wool tends to need less washing, which reduces water and energy use during the garment’s lifetime. Wool washes also tend to be cooler and use less energy, as you cannot spin them hard in order to prevent shrinkage or damage. Wool does not shed microplastics, and its production generally requires fewer petrochemicals than synthetic fibres.
Importantly, wool is made from renewable atmospheric carbon. Sheep graze on plants that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. That carbon is then converted into wool fibre as the sheep grow their fleece.
In fact, around half the weight of wool fibre is organic carbon. Through grazing, sheep transform plant material into fibre, effectively storing some of that carbon within the wool itself. At the end of its life, wool can even act as a soil fertiliser as it decomposes.
Wool seems like an amazing sustainable fabric — what’s not to like? Unfortunately, wool presents a number of sustainability challenges particularly when produced at scale.
One of the biggest concerns is land use and emissions. Sheep farming requires large areas of land, which can contribute to overgrazing, soil degradation and biodiversity loss if not properly managed. There is potential in some climates for pasture lands to become carbon sinks — where the land absorbs more carbon than it produces — but research is at an early stage.
Sheep are also ruminant animals, which means they produce methane during digestion through a process known as enteric fermentation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28–34 times greater than carbon dioxide.
The animal fibre industry produces an estimated 35 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions each year, with sheep wool responsible for the vast majority (98%) of this total. In fact, up to 75% of wool’s environmental impact comes from the sheep themselves, primarily through methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
A single sheep can produce more than 30 litres of methane per day. Nitrous oxide emissions are generated from nitrogen in sheep manure and urine, while additional emissions come from feed production, farm vehicles and the energy used during shearing.
Water use is another sustainability challenge for wool. While sheep themselves don’t require irrigation in the same way as cotton crops, water is heavily used in processing particularly during scouring (cleaning raw wool), dyeing and finishing.
There are also animal welfare concerns. Practices such as mulesing, a controversial procedure in which strips of skin are removed from around a sheep’s breech (backside) to prevent flystrike, often without pain relief, as well as poor shearing techniques and inadequate living conditions have been widely criticised. Mulesing happens mainly in Australia in the production of merino wool. The practice is banned in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa.
Farm to shop floor transparency in global supply chains is often limited, making it difficult for brands and consumers to verify how wool is sourced and how sustainable it is.
Finally, wool processing often relies on chemicals and energy-intensive treatments, especially when producing machine-washable or blended wool fabrics. These steps can erode some of wool’s natural sustainability advantages.
The long-term sustainability of wool depends largely on how it is produced, processed and managed throughout its lifecycle. Improvements in farming practices, supply chain transparency and manufacturing processes are essential if the fibre is to reduce its environmental footprint.
Several key approaches are helping move the industry in a more sustainable direction.
Lake Hawea Station in New Zealand, has become a global case study in regenerative wool production. The station has committed to climate-positive farming and is implementing several innovative practices. These include generating renewable energy through solar and hydro power, with long-term plans to eliminate fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
The farm is also trialling methane-reduction strategies, including seaweed-based feed supplements that may help reduce methane emissions from sheep digestion. Alongside this, the farm prioritises soil health by implementing regenerative grazing practices, carefully managing nutrient cycles and using organic-based fertilisers to improve soil quality and long-term productivity.
Moving towards a circular textile economy is another key part of improving wool’s sustainability. Circular models aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible through repair, reuse and recycling.
Because wool is durable and biodegradable, it is well suited to circular design principles. Wool garments can often be repaired, resold or repurposed rather than discarded.
Wool waste can also be reused in other applications. For example, lower-grade wool fibres and textile waste are increasingly being used in products such as:
Organic wool comes from farms that avoid synthetic pesticides, fertilisers and genetically modified feed. Organic standards also typically include requirements around land management and animal welfare.
Although organic wool currently represents a small proportion of global production, it can reduce the environmental impact associated with chemical inputs and promote healthier ecosystems on farms.
By reclaiming fibres from old garments and textile waste, recycled wool reduces the demand for new raw material and keeps valuable fibres in circulation for longer. This is in fact an industry that goes back to 1813 in Batley, West Yorkshire, when Benjamin Law created a machine that could extract fibres again from waste wool and thereby created recycling from knitwear and woven textiles. This industry thrived in the north of England and over in Italy and now continues with iinouiio and Manteco in Tuscany, Italy, among others!
John Parkinson, from iinouiio gave an inspiring presentation at RSSC event in 2025 and explains more about the recycled wool industry in the video below.
There are major wins with wool recycling. Technology and recycling techniques have advanced to improve the quality of the resulting fibres. Carefully selecting coloured wool fibres can also remove the need for bleaching and dyeing altogether.
Still some other challenges must be overcome.
Overall, with wool recycling, the outcome can be extremely high quality wool with Global Recycled Standard certification.
The Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) is a voluntary certification created by Textile Exchange, a global non-profit organisation that promotes more sustainable practices across the textile industry.
To be certified, every stage of the supply chain — from the sheep farm to the final seller — must meet the standard and be independently verified. Products labelled RWS-certified must contain 100% certified wool and come from farms where mulesing is not practised.
RWS certification confirms that wool comes from responsibly managed farms that follow the Five Freedoms of animal welfare, including freedom from hunger and thirst, pain and disease, fear and distress, environmental discomfort, and the ability for animals to express natural behaviours.
The standard also ensures traceability throughout the supply chain, allowing wool to be tracked from farm to finished product.
Overall, RWS aims to improve animal welfare, encourage responsible land management, reward best farming practices, and increase transparency across the wool industry.
Achieving net-zero wool production is a complex challenge, but it may be possible under the right conditions.
The brand Allbirds, has already developed the world’s first net-zero carbon shoe. The design uses regenerative wool and a minimalist production process to reduce emissions as much as possible.
While this represents just one product in a global fashion industry dominated by fast fashion, it highlights the potential for innovation when sustainability is prioritised from the start.
Life cycle assessments on MWool, a recycled wool from Manteco, have achieved a certified Environmental Product Declaration, which transparently reports environmental data over the life cycle of products in accordance with the international standard ISO 14025.
In reality, wool is unlikely to be inherently net zero across all production systems. However, with robust measurement, better farming practices and low-impact manufacturing, low-emission or near-net-zero wool production is achievable.
As these technologies continue to evolve, they could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of wool textiles, particularly when combined with responsible sourcing practices.
For retailers and fashion brands, transitioning to more sustainable wool requires both better sourcing decisions and internal sustainability strategies.
Key actions include:
Importantly, sustainability must be approached holistically. Fibre choice is only one part of a product’s environmental impact. Processing methods, logistics, manufacturing efficiency and end-of-life solutions all play a role.
By addressing sustainability across the entire value chain, brands can help ensure wool remains a viable and responsible fibre for the future.
For brands navigating the complexities of sustainable wool sourcing, supply chain mapping is critical.
Segura enables retailers and manufacturers to gain deeper insight into their multi-tier supply chains, helping them track wool from farm to finished product. By improving transparency and data accuracy, brands can make more informed sourcing decisions and demonstrate compliance with sustainability standards.
With robust traceability tools, companies can:
As expectations around ethical sourcing continue to grow, having the right systems in place is key. Solutions like Segura help brands move beyond intent and take measurable steps toward more responsible, sustainable wool supply chains.
Segura is the leading fashion supply chain traceability solution, empowering fashion retailers and brands to deliver ethical, sustainable and efficient multi-tier supply chains.
Segura provides n-tier mapping, transparency, traceability, visualisation, compliance and reporting. Segura sits in the centre of your supply chain management structure creating a central repository for all your supply chain, ESG-related data and evidence, including from third-party data sources.
With all supply chain traceability data stored on a single platform, our customers get the right evidence in the right place to back up claims and meet regulatory compliance.
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