Cotton farm, Himshikha Development Project, Biocoton Ltd

Textiles and clothing represent about 7 per cent of world exports. It is estimated that we throw away as much as 1 million tonnes of textiles every year. Output from the sector is growing in volume, but prices are dropping, as well as employment, as new technology and vertically integrated structures support improved productivity.

The major environmental impacts of the textile sector arise from the use of energy and toxic chemicals. The sector’s contribution to climate change is dominated by the requirement for burning fossil fuel to create electricity for heating water and air in laundering.

Other major energy uses arise in providing fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Waste volumes from the sector are high and growing with the advent of ‘fast fashion’. Water consumption – specially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue, as seen dramatically in the Aral Sea region.

Additionally, across the world, excessive working hours, forced overtime, lack of job security, poverty wages, trade union rights denied, poor health, exhaustion, sexual harassment and mental stress are common. Change in the sector to reduce environmental impacts and promote social equity will occur when primarily driven by consumer choice.

Solution

The environmental impact of clothing and textile products will, in many cases, be dominated by the ‘use phase’. The number of wash cycles drives environmental impacts and the application of ‘smart technology’ can significantly reduce impact: new means to freshen clothes without washing; technology for sorting used clothing would overcome the high labor cost of this operation in developed countries; fiber recycling technology; ongoing development of detergents allowing further reductions in wash temperatures; novel coatings and smart functions may support increased product life; and reduced need for care in use and new longer lasting fibers would support durability.

Washing at a lower temperature reduces environmental impacts. Moreover, elimination of tumble drying (which uses around 60 per cent of the use phase energy) and ironing, in combination with the lower wash temperature, leads to around 50 per cent reduction in global climate change impact of the product.

Consumer education is vital to ensure that fact-based information on the individual impacts of a product are made clearly available, and to support consumer understanding of the consequences of this information. Eco-labels are a step towards this goal.

When buying new products, consumers can choose those made with least energy and least toxic emissions, and those that are made by workers paid a credible living wage with reasonable employment rights and conditions. Furthermore, consumers can buy second-hand clothing and textiles where possible, extend the life of clothing and textile products through repair, purchase fewer and more durable garments and textile products, wash clothes less often, at lower temperatures and using eco-detergents, hang-dry them and avoid ironing when possible. Finally they can dispose of used clothing and textiles through recycling businesses, who would return them for second-hand sale wherever possible, but otherwise extract and recycle the yarn or fibers.

Legislation could be used to outlaw specific undesirable components – such as particular toxic chemicals, though this is difficult to impose on imports due to the complex range of chemicals involved. An eco-tax on new product purchase could be used to slow the growing rate of material flow in the sector and fund development of technology, infrastructure and services for clothing and textiles recycling. The infrastructure of clothing collection - domestic waste sorting to allow separate collection of used clothing and textiles (similar to glass and paper) – also helps.