Assessing the Environmental Impact of Textiles and the Clothing Supply Chain

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781782421122
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Werkstoffwissenschaft

The textile industry impacts the environment in a number of ways, including its use of resources, its impact on global warming, and the amount of pollution and waste it generates. Assessing the Environmental Impact of Textiles and the Clothing Supply Chain reviews methods used to calculate this environmental impact, including product carbon footprints (PCFs), ecological footprints (EFs), and life cycle assessment (LCA).

The first chapters provide an introduction to the textile supply chain and its environmental impact, and an overview of the methods used to measure this impact. The book goes on to consider different environmental impacts of the industry, including greenhouse gas emissions, the water and energy footprints of the industry, and depletion of resources, as well as the use of LCA to assess the overall environmental impact of the textile industry. It then deals with the practice of measuring these impacts before forming a conclusion about the environmental impact of the industry.

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Textiles and the Clothing Supply Chain provides a standard reference for R&D managers in the textile industry and academic researchers in textile science.

• Reviews the main methods used to calculate the textile industry's use of resources, its impact on global warming and the pollution and waste it generates
• Reviews the key methods, their principles and how they can be applied in practice to measure and reduce the environmental impact of textile products
• Includes the following calculation methods: product carbon footprints (PCFs), ecological footprints (EFs) and life cycle assessment (LCA)

1

The textile supply chain and its environmental impact

Abstract:

This chapter reviews the entire supply chain for textiles and the clothing sector in terms of various processes from fibre to finished products and their environmental impacts. It also investigates the environmental impacts of different stages in the life cycle of textile products from the cradle to the grave.

Key words

environment

production

natural

synthetic

life cycle

insecticides

pesticides

fertilizers

energy

1.1 Introduction

Every product begins its life cycle at the raw material extraction stage, i.e. the cradle 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 a dedicated supply chain for the manufacture of products and each part of the supply chain is responsible for a range of environmental impacts. Every individual consumes and disposes of a large number of products on a daily basis so the environmental impact increases with population growth if sufficient resources are available to support production.

When this is reduced to the micro level for a single group of products such as textiles, the problem becomes more acute. Though other products are also responsible for damaging the environment, textiles are particularly significant because of their wide range of use.

Consumers use and dispose of many textile products at different times according to their purchasing power and needs. The consumption and disposal of textiles therefore rises as the population grows and becomes more affluent. This chapter reviews the entire supply chain for textiles and the clothing sector in terms of various processes from fibre to finished products and their environmental impacts. It also investigates the environmental impacts of different stages in the life cycle of textile products from the cradle to the grave.

1.2 The textile supply chain: an overview

Textile products encompass a wide spectrum of applications such as apparel, industrial textiles, geo-textiles, agro-textiles and hygienic textiles. They have varied life spans according to 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 highly global and decentralized.

The initial element of the textile supply chain is fibre production. This is followed by yarn and fabric production and ends in the apparel manufacturing process, after which the finished product is ready to be sent to the customer. Diversified production lines exist for similar clothing, based on factors such as the type of material used and the end product required. There are also numerous production techniques for different fibre types, yarn spinning systems, fabric and garment technologies. As the supply chain is complex, it is difficult to map the processes and to study the environmental impacts.

A generalized product life cycle model for a typical textile or garment is shown in Fig.1.1. This diagram illustrates the eight stages of the product’s life cycle and enumerates the production processes and sequences of the supply chain. Stages 1–5 constitute the finished fabric production sequences, beginning with raw material preparation. Stage 6 includes the garment manufacturing sequence and stages 7–8 describe consumer use and various disposal scenarios.

1.1 Generalized product life cycle model of textile products.

Raw material preparation is the first step in the life cycle of textile products. There are two main sources of textile raw materials: natural fibre and man-made fibre. There are two sub types of natural fibres: plant or vegetable (cellulose) and animal fibre. 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 natural fibres begin with cultivation, followed by growth and harvesting. After the fibre is obtained from its source, it will be transferred to a textile mill for further processes.

There are three types of man-made fibres: regenerated cellulosic, synthetic and inorganic. 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 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), polyolefins and polyurethanes. Man-made fibres of inorganic origin include glass, carbon and ceramic fibres.

1.2 Synthetic fibre production.

The second stage is the conversion of raw material to spinnable fibre. Though 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 are illustrated up to stage 5.

1.3 Raw material to spinnable fibre conversion process.

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 as shown in Fig.1.6. Stage 6 is the garment preparation process from the finished fabric, shown in Fig. 1.7 . Stages 7 and 8 include usage and disposal, which are mainly influenced by cons...