Regenerative agricultural waste materials in Vietnamese garment supply chains: Pathways toward sustainable integration into the EU market.

The growing emphasis on sustainability and circular economy principles has accelerated the adoption of regenerative and bio-based materials in the global textile industry. As one of the world's leading garment exporters, Vietnam has significant potential to utilize agricultural waste as an alternative raw material while meeting increasingly stringent environmental requirements in the European Union (EU) market. This study investigates the potential of agricultural waste-based fibers as regenerative materials for integration into Vietnamese garment supply chains targeting the European Union (EU) market. An Analytic Hierarchy Process–Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (AHP–TOPSIS) framework was employed to evaluate four candidate materials—pineapple leaf fiber, rice straw fiber, banana fiber, and lotus fiber—against seven criteria. Based on expert assessments, EU Market Readiness and Supply Stability emerged as the most important evaluation criteria. The TOPSIS results identified pineapple leaf fiber as the highest-ranked alternative, followed by rice straw fiber, banana fiber, and lotus fiber. Sensitivity analysis further demonstrated the robustness of the ranking, with pineapple leaf fiber remaining in first position across all 42 scenarios. The findings suggest that the strategic integration of agricultural waste-based fibers depends not only on their regenerative characteristics but also on market readiness, supply reliability, cost efficiency, quality, and scalability. The study provides a structured decision-making framework for Vietnamese garment firms and policymakers seeking to develop regenerative material pathways and strengthen alignment with evolving EU sustainability requirements.