Webinars

Join CottonWorks™ on March 13 at 2 p.m. ET for our latest economic webinar, Cotton Market Outlook: Lower Prices, Recovering Demand?

We will be investigating the newly released preliminary figures from the USDA and what they could mean for the cotton market outlook into 2025/26. 

Register today to reserve your spot. 

Microplastic pollution is a growing concern in the textile industry, yet natural fibers like cotton are often misunderstood in this conversation. Do they truly biodegrade? How do chemical finishes impact that process? And how does cotton compare to synthetic fibers when it comes to end-of-life environmental impact?

In this session, Dr. Jesse Daystar will outline the scale of plastic leakage in the apparel industry, followed by Dr. Martin Hubbe’s deep dive into the first comprehensive literature review on cellulose and cotton biodegradation. Together, they will set the record straight and equip apparel supply-chain professionals with the latest scientific insights.

Key Topics

• Global Plastic Leakage: Macro- and microplastic release pathways and common routes of mismanaged plastic waste in the apparel industry.
• Biodegradation Mechanisms: Enzymatic, microbial, and physicochemical pathways governing cotton fiber breakdown.
• Environmental Conditions: Degradation rates and behavior in soil, compost, freshwater, and marine environments.
• Finishes & Treatments: Effects of durable-press resins, water repellents, softeners, and other chemical treatments on biodegradability.
• Designing for Circularity: Strategies for optimizing cotton textiles for compostability, end-of-life recovery, and integration into waste-management systems.
• Scope of Microplastic Pollution: The scale and impact of microplastics in textiles, and the role of natural-fiber alternatives.

Featured Presenters

• Dr. Jesse S. Daystar
  Chief Sustainability Officer, Cotton Incorporated
  Author, The Global Apparel Industry Is a Significant Yet Overlooked Source of Plastic Leakage (Nature Communications)
• Dr. Martin A. Hubbe
  Professor & Buckman Distinguished Scientist, North Carolina State University
  Lead author, “Cellulose Fiber Biodegradability: A Review of the Existing Literature” (BioResources, 2025)