Bahareh Zamani

A Carbon Footprint of Textile Recycling: A Case Study in Sweden

Global population growth and rising living standards are increasing apparel consumption. Consequently, consumption of resources and generation of textile waste are increasing. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, textile consumption increased by 40% between the years 2000 and 2009 in Sweden. Given that there is currently no textile recycling plant in Sweden, the aim of this article is to explore the potential environmental benefits of various textile recycling techniques and thereby direct textile waste management strategies toward more sustainable options. Three different recycling techniques for a model waste consisting of 50% cotton and 50% polyester were identified and a life cycle assessment (LCA) was made to assess the environmental performance of them. The recycling processes are: material reuse of textile waste of adequate quality; separation of cellulose from polyester using N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide as a solvent; and chemical recycling of polyester. These are compared to incineration, representing conventional textile waste treatment in Sweden. The results show that incineration has the highest global warming potential and primary energy usage. The material reuse process exhibits the best performance of the studied systems, with savings of 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 -eq) and 164 gigajoules (GJ) of primary energy per tonne of textile waste. Sensitivity analyses showed that results are particularly sensitive to the considered yields of the processes and to the choice of replaced products. An integration of these recycling technologies for optimal usage of their different features for treatment of 1 tonne of textile waste shows that 10 tonnes CO 2 -eq and 169 GJ of primary energy could be saved.

Will clothing be sustainable? Clarifying sustainable fashion

The Mistra Future Fashion research programme (2011–2019) is a large Swedish investment aimed at reducing the environmental impact of clothing consumption. Midway into the programme, research results and insights were reviewed with the intent to see what picture appears from this interdisciplinary consortium, developed to address the multiple sustainability challenges in clothing consumption and the tools for intervention. Such tools comprise product design, consumer behaviour changes, policy development, business models, technical development, recycling, life cycle assessment (LCA) and social life cycle assessment (SLCA). This chapter quantifies the extent of the sustainability challenge for the apparel sector, via an analysis of five garment archetypes. It also considers to what extent different interventions for impact reduction can contribute in society’s endeavour towards sustainability, in terms of staying within an “environmentally safe and socially just operating space”, inspired by the planetary boundaries approach. In particular, the results show whether commonly proposed interventions are sufficient or not in relation to the impact reduction necessary according to the planetary boundaries. Also, the results clarify which sustainability aspects that the clothing industry are likely to manage sufficiently if the proposed interventions are realised and which sustainability aspects that will require more radical interventions in order to reach the targets.

Carbon footprints in the textile industry : Chapter 1

Abstract Climate change is a key environmental challenge of our time. Carbon footprinting is a key environmental accounting tool for business managers, policy makers and non-governmental organisations attempting to identify mitigation measures that reduce the threat of climate change. The textile industry is increasingly engaged in carbon footprinting as a part of policy development and product design. As is the case for any accounting tool, there are a number of methodological issues that need to be handled by analysts producing carbon footprint calculations, and by the consumers of such information, in order to ensure that the information is meaningful in its particular context. This chapter describes these key challenges, the standardisation processes that have arisen to meet them, the outcomes of practical carbon footprint calculations for textile manufacturing facilities and textile products, and recent work on carbon labelling of products. It also attempts to describe current trends and attempts to qualitatively extrapolate future developments in this field.

1 – Carbon footprints in the textile industry

Abstract Climate change is a key environmental challenge of our time. Carbon footprinting is a key environmental accounting tool for business managers, policy makers and non-governmental organisations attempting to identify mitigation measures that reduce the threat of climate change. The textile industry is increasingly engaged in carbon footprinting as a part of policy development and product design. As is the case for any accounting tool, there are a number of methodological issues that need to be handled by analysts producing carbon footprint calculations, and by the consumers of such information, in order to ensure that the information is meaningful in its particular context. This chapter describes these key challenges, the standardisation processes that have arisen to meet them, the outcomes of practical carbon footprint calculations for textile manufacturing facilities and textile products, and recent work on carbon labelling of products. It also attempts to describe current trends and attempts to qualitatively extrapolate future developments in this field.

Carbon footprints in the textile industry

Abstract Climate change is a key environmental challenge of our time. Carbon footprinting is a key environmental accounting tool for business managers, policy makers and non-governmental organisations attempting to identify mitigation measures that reduce the threat of climate change. The textile industry is increasingly engaged in carbon footprinting as a part of policy development and product design. As is the case for any accounting tool, there are a number of methodological issues that need to be handled by analysts producing carbon footprint calculations, and by the consumers of such information, in order to ensure that the information is meaningful in its particular context. This chapter describes these key challenges, the standardisation processes that have arisen to meet them, the outcomes of practical carbon footprint calculations for textile manufacturing facilities and textile products, and recent work on carbon labelling of products. It also attempts to describe current trends and attempts to qualitatively extrapolate future developments in this field.