Advancing Sustainability: The 2025 Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI) Conference

The Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI) is a leading global university-industry partnership in the Department of Forest Biomaterials at NC State University. SAFI is dedicated to researching, developing, and utilizing alternative fibers to create sustainable products. Despite growing interest in alternative fibers, several challenges hinder widespread adoption, including concerns about their actual vs. perceived sustainability, performance capabilities, and the significant capital investment required for implementation.

In January, NC State University hosted the SAFI Conference, bringing together over 60 participants, including industry leaders, distinguished faculty, and graduate students. The conference served as a platform for knowledge-sharing and collaboration, focusing on the potential of alternative fibers in hygiene tissue paper, textiles, and packaging solutions. Attendees engaged with expert speakers from globally recognized companies and top universities, fostering discussions on innovative strategies to drive sustainability forward.

One of the key takeaways from the conference was the critical role SAFI plays in bridging research and industry to advance sustainable fiber solutions. Conference attendee Jessica Carette, R&D Project Director at Cascades, said, “SAFI stands as the definitive resource on non-wood fibres. The students and staff have consistently demonstrated remarkable achievements, driven by a holistic and scientific approach to understanding the non-wood value chain. The quality of their research and presentations reflects the depth and completeness of the program’s offerings.”

Carette added, “SAFI’s impact on industry partners like Cascades is profound, providing invaluable exposure to cutting-edge research and sustainable practices. Particularly, Cascades has benefited from SAFI’s life cycle analyses and consumer perception studies to help guide our product research using a scientific approach to sustainable product development.”

Dr. Ting Feng Yeh, the newest faculty member in the Forest Biomaterials Department and the latest addition to the SAFI advisory board, shared his enthusiasm for joining the initiative:

“It is really great to be able to participate in the SAFI’s research team and present the scientific questions we would like to answer and the visions we will provide in the future. Being able to engage with SAFI members on site and discuss the technical details provides further new perspectives and research innovations we should continue working on and exploring.

This fundamental knowledge on SAFI-focused species together with other fruitful and applied information provided from the discussion of SAFI members will be a resourceful knowledge basis to all SAFI meeting participants and will have great impacts on the future research and application on non-wood species.”

Graduate students play a crucial role in the success of SAFI. Ph.D. student and research leader Ryen Frazier reflected on her experience:

“It was my third and final time presenting my PhD work to the SAFI Consortium members, and it has truly been an honor to contribute to this field of research. The creative and thought-provoking feedback from so many great scientific minds always leaves me feeling inspired.

The SAFI student research team presented incredible work ranging from the sourcing and conversion of alternative feedstocks, techno-economic assessment, product performance, byproduct utilization, to revolutionary life cycle assessments for new products and processes. SAFI’s holistic approach to research is unique, and I have learned so much in the past three years from my peers. Additionally, such integrated collaboration with industry partners allows for the possibility of real-world applications of our research.” 

 Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this year’s event!