Assessing the Environmental Impact of Textiles and the Clothing Supply Chain

195 Pages·2020·3.227 MB·English

by  Muthu, Subramanian Senthilkannan

1
Introduction to sustainability and
the textile supply chain and its
environmental impact
1.1 Introduction
Sustainabilityisbeingpractisedformanyyearsinvariousindustrialsectorsincluding
textilesandclothing.Concernonsustainabilityisincreasinginarapidpaceinthetex-
tiles andclothingsector. Thereare umpteen number ofdefinitions onecan findfrom
theliterature onsustainability,stilloneofthemostreferredonesisfromtheBrundt-
land Report, which was published in 1987. According to this report, ‘Sustainable
development is the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without
compromisingtheabilityoffuturegenerationstomeettheirownneeds’1.Definitions
ormeaningsforsustainabilitydifferfromboththepeoplewhodefineandthecontexts
andalsoimportantlydifferfromvariousindustrialsectors.Theconceptofsustainabil-
ityrevolvesaroundthreeimportantdimensionsorpillars,namely,environmental,so-
cial and economic. Sustainability or the sustainable development has to be a holistic
approachthatconsidersallthesethreepillarstogether.Theideologyandtheconcept
of sustainability has to begin with a broad scope for the industrial level and should
finallybenarroweddowntotheproductlevelconsideringallthephasesofaproduct’s
lifecycle.Todaytherearemanydefinitionsorconceptsthatlackthisholisticapproach,
whichmakes thewhole exerciseof sustainability defeated.
When it comes to textiles, sustainability is being practised for a while, and as of
today, it is practised in the industry as one of the essential business means. It is rare
toseeacompanyorabrandthatdoesnotpractisesustainabilityinitsbusinessagenda
orpolicy.Theawarenessofsustainabilityinthetextileindustryiscertainlythereand,
of course, the reasons and motives of practising the same differs. No product can be
made without any environmental brunt in this industrial era; however, what causes
thedifferenceiswhetherthebruntisnecessaryandthiscanbeatabareminimumlevel
ofpossibility.Asustainabletextileproductisonethatismadewiththeholisticconsid-
eration of environmental, economic and social aspects in the entire life cycle of a
textile product.
Everyproductbeginsitslifecycleattherawmaterialextractionstage,i.e.thecradle
stage, and passes through various other stages, namely, manufacturing, distribution
and use, before the cycle ends at the disposal (grave) stage. All the stages through
which the product passes have an impact on the environment, as every industry has
adedicatedsupplychainforthemanufactureofproductsandeachpartofthesupply
chainisresponsibleforarangeofenvironmentalimpacts.Everyindividualconsumes
and disposes of a large number of products on a daily basis so the environmental
impactincreaseswithpopulationgrowthifsufficientresourcesareavailabletosupport
production.
AssessingtheEnvironmentalImpactofTextilesandtheClothingSupplyChain
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819783-7.00001-6
Copyright©2020ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.
2 AssessingtheEnvironmentalImpactofTextilesandtheClothingSupplyChain
Whenthisisreducedtothemicrolevelforasinglegroupofproductssuchastex-
tiles, the problem becomesmore acute. Although other productsare also responsible
for damaging the environment, textiles are particularly significant because of their
widerange of use.
Consumersuseanddisposeofmanytextileproductsatdifferenttimesaccordingto
theirpurchasingpowerandneeds.Theconsumptionanddisposaloftextilestherefore
risesasthepopulationgrowsandbecomesmoreaffluent.Thischapterdealswiththe
basicsofsustainabilityandreviewstheentiresupplychainfortextilesandtheclothing
sectorintermsofvariousprocessesfromfibretofinishedproductsandtheirenviron-
mentalimpacts.Italsoinvestigatestheenvironmentalimpactsofdifferentstagesinthe
lifecycle oftextile productsfrom thecradleto thegrave.
1.2 Environmental sustainability
Environmentalsustainabilityisoneofthemainpillarsofsustainabilityanditincludes
the consideration of all the aspects pertaining to the environment when producing a
product, such as the brunt on the environment in terms of its resources consumption
and polluting theenvironmentitself.
Environmental sustainability includes the consideration of reducing the consump-
tion of all finite resources such as raw materials, energy, water and so on. This also
includestheusage ofrenewableresourceswhile consumingtheabove-mentioned el-
ements.Major drivers under environmentalsustainability are
❖ rawmaterials,
❖ energyconsumption,
❖ waterconsumption,
❖ wastewaterdischargeorwaterpollution,
❖ soilorlandpollution,
❖ emissionstoair,
❖ greenhousegas(GHG)emissionsorcarbonfootprint,
❖ hazardouswastemanagement,
❖ toxicandhazardouschemicalsmanagement,etc.
Environmentalconsiderations need tobe enforcedthroughout theentire life cycle
of a product from the raw material stage to manufacturing, distribution and mainly
consumptionstage,whichincludestheconsumeruseanddisposalstages.Theaware-
nessoftheenvironmentalbruntisincreasing,andthesedays,environmentalsustain-
ability is diversified into many spheres such as energy sustainability or footprints,
watersustainabilityor footprintsand chemical sustainability orfootprints.
1.3 Social sustainability
Allthethreepillarsofsustainabilityareinterconnected,andtheenvironmentalsustain-
abilityandsocialsustainabilityareconnectedwitheachother.Socialsustainabilityis
Introductiontosustainabilityandthetextilesupplychainanditsenvironmentalimpact 3
quite in terms of scope and it focuses on people and their well-being. It enforces the
confirmation of basic necessities of people and this includes umpteen numbers of is-
suessuchasfairlabourpractices,genderbias,sexualharassment,education,equalop-
portunities, community development, child labour, work-life balance, health and
safety,protection,human rights and wellness.This isalso being practised in manda-
torylevelinalltheindustrialsectorsandmostofthecompaniestodayhaveaCorpo-
rate Social Responsibility division.
1.4 Economic sustainability
Needlesstosay,thisisthechiefpillarthatdecidesthefinancialsuccessofabusiness
and it includes financial costs and benefits. However, the distinction comes here in
termsofsustainabilityvis-(cid:1)a-visregularbusinessconnotationiseconomicsustainabil-
ityisnotaboutprofitatanycost.Economicsustainabilityiscentredaroundandisvery
muchconnectedtotheothertwopillars.Themainconcernonsustainabilityrelatedto
economic sustainability is the process of implementing or practising environmental
and social sustainability should not affect the economy, meaning the product should
notbetoomuchexpensivejustforthesakeofpractisingtheothertwopillarsofsus-
tainability.Thisincludesissuessuchaslong-termplanning,costsavings,productivity,
living cost, development andsmartgrowthand so on.
1.5 The textile supply chain: an overview
Textileproductsencompassawidespectrumofapplicationssuchasapparel,industrial
textiles, geo-textiles, agro-textiles and hygienic textiles. They have varied life spans
according to their durability and purpose. The textile and clothing supply chain is
therefore particularly complex, as even within a single sector, for instance, clothing,
there are many segments in the supply chain. In most cases the supply chain is both
highlyglobal anddecentralized.
Theinitialelementofthetextilesupplychainisfibreproduction.Thisisfollowed
by yarn and fabric production and ends in the apparel manufacturing process, after
whichthefinishedproductisreadytobesenttothecustomer.Diversifiedproduction
linesexistforsimilarclothing,basedonfactorssuchasthetypeofmaterialusedand
theendproductrequired.Therearealsonumerousproductiontechniquesfordifferent
fibretypes,yarnspinningsystemsandfabricandgarmenttechnologies.Asthesupply
chain is complex, it is difficult to map the processes and study the environmental
impacts.
Ageneralizedproductlifecyclemodelforatypicaltextileorgarmentisshownin
Fig.1.1.Thisdiagramillustratestheeightstagesofaproduct’slifecycleandenumer-
atestheproductionprocessesandsequencesofthesupplychain.Stages1e5constitute
the finished fabric production sequences, beginning with raw material preparation.
4 AssessingtheEnvironmentalImpactofTextilesandtheClothingSupplyChain
Stage 1: Raw material preparation
Stage 2: Raw material to fibre
conversion
Stage 3: Yarn preparation
Stage 4: Grey fabric preparation
Stage 5: Finished fabric preparation
Stage 6: Apparel manufacturing
Stage 7: Use phase
Stage 8: End-of-life
Landfill/
Recycling Reuse
incineration
Primary reuse Secondary reuse
Figure1.1 Generalizedproductlifecyclemodeloftextileproducts.
Stage 6includesthegarmentmanufacturing sequence,andstages7e8 describe con-
sumer useand variousdisposal scenarios.
Rawmaterialpreparationisthefirststepinthelifecycleoftextileproducts.There
aretwomainsourcesoftextilerawmaterials:naturalfibreandman-madefibre.There
are two sub-types of natural fibres: plant or vegetable (cellulose) and animal fibres.
Typical examples of plant fibres include conventional and organic cottons, rayon,
linen, hemp, jute, ramie and sisal. Wool, silk, mohair, cashmere, angora and alpaca
are the main constituents of the animal fibre category. The production processes of
Introductiontosustainabilityandthetextilesupplychainanditsenvironmentalimpact 5
Oil acquisition and refining
Cracking
Preparation of chips
Fibre conversion process
Figure1.2 Syntheticfibreproduction.
naturalfibresbeginwithcultivation,followedbygrowthandharvesting.Afterthefibre
isobtainedfromitssource,itwillbetransferredtoatextilemillforfurtherprocesses.
Therearethreetypesofman-madefibres:regeneratedcellulosic,syntheticandinor-
ganic. Regenerated cellulosic fibres are produced from the transformation of natural
polymers and the fibres in this category include viscose rayon, acetate rayon, lyocell
and modal. In man-made fibres of synthetic origin, the production process starts
with the crude oil manufacturing process (the details are outlined in Fig. 1.2). There
are many sub-processes between the crude oil manufacture and the preparation of
chips and fibre manufacture. Only the most important processes are shown in
Fig. 1.2. The principal fibres in this class are polyester, polyamides (Nylon 6 and
66),polyolefinsandpolyurethanes.Man-madefibresofinorganicoriginincludeglass,
carbon and ceramic fibres.
The second stage is the conversion of raw material to a spinnable fibre. Although
the nature and number of processes will vary according to the fibre type, cotton is a
typical example and is illustrated in Fig. 1.3. Examples of the cotton production
processes areillustrated up tostage 5.
The third stage is the preparation of yarn from fibre and the fourth stage is grey
fabric preparation. The processes involved in these stages are illustrated in Figs. 1.4
and 1.5. Stage 5 is preparation of the finished fabric, constituting several processes
asshowninFig.1.6.Stage6isthegarmentpreparationprocessfromthefinishedfab-
ric, shown in Fig. 1.7. Stages 7 and 8 include usage and disposal, which are mainly
influenced by consumer behaviour coupled with the functional and ecological
6 AssessingtheEnvironmentalImpactofTextilesandtheClothingSupplyChain
Raw fibre (cotton)
Ginning
Fibre ready to be spun
Figure1.3 Rawmaterialtospinnablefibreconversionprocess.
Opening and cleaning
Carding
Combing
Drawing
Roving
Spinning (ring frame)
Figure1.4 Yarnmanufacturingprocess.