Changing the Fashion Industry from the Root - Nicole Chan | UO MABR 2021 - UO Blogs
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Executive Summary In the past year, we witnessed fast fashion collapsing. As the industry starts to rebuild post- Covid, maybe it is possible to rebuild this industry into something slightly better. The goal is to reduce negative impacts on the environment and workers. This white paper outlines possibilities of making progress toward this goal with more sustainable textile choices. Some of the conventional textiles can be problematic in multiple ways. Cotton is a water-heavy crop that imposes an environmental burden on the soil and often relies on chemical fertilizers. The Better Cotton Initiative is a non-profit whose goal is to improve cotton cultivation around the world. However, it has faced issues with human rights concerns in some of the areas. Viscose rayon is a natural fiber cellulose diverted synthetic textile, processed in a toxic solvent in an open-loop cycle. The solvent is hazardous to reproductive health, and the production process of viscose will create massive waste. Petroleum-based synthetics textiles such as acrylic, nylon, and polyester rely on the petrochemical industry for the raw material. Garments made by petroleum-based synthetics also shed microfiber into the waterway every time they are washed. It breaks my heart to say these are only a few examples of less-than-sustainable textile. Choices exist. Lyocell is a synthetics textile made from natural cellulose with non-toxic solvent in a closed-loop cycle. Banana fiber and pina fiber are some interesting textiles. Banana fiber is processed banana tree stems cellulose. The raw material is in excess thanks to the global banana market. Since each banana tree only fruits once in its lifetime, the rest of the tree will be discarded. Banana fiber is consuming waste from agricultural activities while providing a solution to sustainable fashion. On the other hand, pineapple leaves can produce pina fiber, which can be made into Pinatex, a vegan leather that is partly biodegradable. All three of the textiles mentioned above are at least partially biodegradable and require no toxic chemical treatment. Another case of turning waste into gold is recycled textiles where textiles or plastics in the trash can have a second chance into something new. 1
Part 1. Problem Statement: The fast fashion industry is collapsing due to COVID. Instead of scrambling for the losses, now present an opportunity to rebuild the industry from the ground up. The fashion industry can become more resilient and less reliant on high-volume sales with a low-profit margin. One of the options brands can consider is to become more responsible for their business practices and start to transition into a more sustainable fashion. When transitioning into sustainable fashion, brands can start with improvements in design, source material, manufacture, retail, end-of-life cycle, etc. General consumers might have a difficult time always putting sustainability at their top priority. Brands cannot expect all consumers to commit to changing their consumption behavior. The solution is to change it from the root. The concept is like decreasing carbon footprint. If consumers have difficulty reducing energy use, the more probable option is to provide renewable energy. When brands resolve part of the issues from the root, consumers can seamlessly integrate into a more sustainable lifestyle. Similarly, one of the issues with fast fashion is the burden on the environment and the workers caused by the source material. If brands can start putting more sustainable products on the shelf, brands are helping consumers to make better choices. Small changes in the supply chain could have an enormous impact on the environment and workers. This white paper will address issues surrounding some of the common textiles. Both natural and synthetics fabric can be problematic in different stages of a product life cycle. Alternative options might already exist and still have the potential to expand. 2
Part 2. Background There are many possible approaches to the issue. One of them is to transition into a more sustainable fabric. Fast fashion relies on consumers replacing garments like going through a never-ending revolving door. Even if the clothing fell apart after three months, it could still produce the same environmental burden as a well-made garment that others would wear for years. Since the fashion industry still relies on consumers purchasing new clothing every so often, reducing consumer purchases might create a conflict of interest with most brands. As brands needed to be aware of the financial interest of their stockholders, becoming Patagonia was not a feasible choice. Because of that, these brands needed a middle ground where they can start adopting more sustainable practices without undermining the interest of their stakeholders. Instead of relying on customers to make a more sustainable decision every time, brands can provide better choices for consumers. Design and textile material are under the control of the brands instead of the consumer. In addition, while consumers might be aware of the different properties of textile material, they are not always aware of any potential hidden issues regarding sustainability. Besides that, when it is estimated that around 140 million pounds of clothes end up in landfills every year, 1 end of life of the textiles is another issue which brands should consider. Two of the potential routes are using biodegradable materials and recycling textiles. The former can reduce the time needed for the material to decompose, and the ladder can reduce the amount of material going into waste in the first place. 2.1) Cotton Organic cotton might sound great in theory, but the utilization of cotton in textile generally might not be the best for the environment. Cotton is a water-heavy crop. It takes 714 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for a simple t-shirt, excluding the water for dying the textile during the manufacturing process. Cotton farming also imposes environmental burdens such as soil erosion/degradation from the crop and pollution from commercial fertilizer. 2 As a concern to this issue, WWF began an organization called Better Cotton Initiative, which promotes more sustainable cotton farming practices such as improving cotton worker condition, reducing water usage in cotton farming, etc. However, the issues surrounding cotton surpass environmental burdens but also alleged violations of human rights. The cotton in conflicts mainly directed to alleged human rights abuse and forced labor in the Xinjiang Vocational Education and Training Centers, also known as the Re-education camp. 1 Elven, Marjorie Van. "How Sustainable Is Recycled Polyester?" FashionUnited. FashionUnited Group, 09 Mar. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. 2 "Cotton." WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 04 June 2021. 3
Located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, the site was operated by the XUAR government and the Chinese Communist Party to re-educate Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2014 as a part of the campaign against domestic terrorists. Alleged human rights violations related to the XUAR cotton plantation gained international attention after an investigation by Four Corner, an Australian journalism program in July 2019. 3 In March 2020, US Congress introduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to the house and passed it in September 2020, banning the importation of cotton from the XUAR area. In its official webpage, BCI announced the organization would suspend “activities with licensed farmers in the Xinjiang region of China for the upcoming cotton season” 4 but would continue to provide support to farmers for the upcoming season. In October 2020, BCI announced the decision to cease all activity in XUAR. 5 As of June 2021, neither of the announcements are available on the homepage of BCI. The only spot that addresses concerns over XUAR is under the Task Force sub-section the Forced Labour and Decent Work page, in the Task Force FAQ at the bottom of the page (Figure 1). Another location where BCI included information regarding XUAR is in the report, BCI’s report Task Force on Forced Labour and Decent Work, published in October 2020. In this 53-page report, BCI dedicated ⅓ of page 12 regarding their decision to cease activity in XUAR (Figure 2). This demonstrated the unpredictability of the source materials. The world price of cotton had a price surge in 2021 and had a 14.6% increase. 6 The reasons included the decrease in production due to Covid and the sanction toward XUAR cotton. The Xinjiang region produces 84% of Chinese cotton and 20% of global cotton production. Sanctions toward such large producers could further destabilize the post-pandemic cotton supply chain. To conclude the usage of cotton at this moment, while cotton is an outstandingly versatile natural fiber, it still imposes heavy burdens on the environment and has an unstable supply chain. 2.2) Viscose Another textile I looked at is the viscose rayon which was popular in the 1920s. Viscose rayon is safe to use but creates massive waste. This artificial silk is diverted from natural fiber cellulose 3 McNeill, Sophie, Jeanavive McGregor, Michael Walsh, Meredith Griffiths, and Echo Hui. "Cotton On and Target Stop Buying Cotton from Xinjiang over Human Rights Concerns." ABC News. ABC News, 17 Oct. 2019. Web. 04 June 2021. 4 Remington, Chris. "Chris Remington." Ecotextile News. MCL News & Media, 27 Mar. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. 5 Davidson, Helen. "Xinjiang: More than Half a Million Forced to Pick Cotton, Report Suggests." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Dec. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. 6 World Price of Cotton. Rep. no. A5113. Business Environment Report. IBISWORLD. Web. 4 June 2021. 4
processed in a toxic solvent called carbon disulfide. Each ton of viscose fiber will produce 300 to 600 tons of toxic wastewater and other toxic residues. The solvent carbon disulfide, however, is hazardous to reproductive health. Besides, the recovery rate of carbon disulfide in most factories is around 50%, meaning if not properly dissolved, the solvent alone could have a detrimental impact on the surroundings. 2.3) Other Synthetics Synthetics textile includes acrylic, nylon, and polyester, etc. They are a by-product of the petrochemical industries and rely on fossil fuel production. Each of these fibers can cause harm to the environment or the human body. While viscose production generates waste that causes harm to both the environment and the workers, the final product is non-toxic and safe for consumer use. However, this is not the same case with acrylic fiber. Acrylic fibers are processed in a solvent that contains dimethylformamide, a toxic chemical. According to the CDC, this chemical can be absorbed through the skin and can cause damage to the liver. 7 After the production stage, every time these synthetic textiles are washed, they can release microfiber into the waterway and cause damage to the ecosystem. 8 Some of these microfibers would even accumulate in the shoreline. 9 Synthetic textiles are also not biodegradable and might further pile up the landfills. These are only a few of the problematic textiles in the textiles industry that I feel strongly about. 7 "Preventing Adverse Health Effects from Exposure To: Dimethylformamide." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 06 June 2014. Web. 04 June 2021. 8 Williams, Alan. "Washing Clothes Releases Thousands of Microplastic Particles into Environment, Study Shows." University of Plymouth. University of Plymouth, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 June 2021. 9 Browne, Mark Anthony, Phillip Crump, Stewart J. Niven, Emma Teuten, Andrew Tonkin, Tamara Galloway, and Richard Thompson. "Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Woldwide: Sources and Sinks." Environmental Science & Technology 45.21 (2011): 9175-179. Print. 5
3. Alternatives I believe people have infinite creativity for developing solutions for the right thing. Pushing sustainable cotton is one of the solutions. Besides educating sustainable practices on cotton farming, manufacturers can also consider utilizing source materials differently. Suggestions include producing garments using more pre/post-consumer materials and sustainable textiles, such as linen, hemp, and other innovative textiles options. 3.1) Lyocell Like viscose, lyocell, usually under the brand name Tencel, is a synthetics textile made from natural cellulose processed in chemical solvents. The cellulose is dissolving pulps from wood, cotton linter, and bamboo, etc. While both have similar source materials, lyocell is processed in non-toxic solvents N-methyl morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) which is 99.5% reusable. 10Raw material for lyocell also does not require additional chemical treatment before dissolving in the solvent. This versatile textile fiber is more absorbent and durable than cotton, and it can also combine with other textile fibers to enhance the aesthetics and functionalities. 11 Lyocell has some disadvantages in the production process that keep its price point up and production low. One of which is the demand for “relatively pure [material], i.e., with low metal ions and ash” as any impurity can affect the recovery of the solvent and can cause issues to the machinery. Another issue is the recovery of the NMMO. The solvent itself is expensive and has an extensive recycling process. After each production period, the solvent needs to be purified and evaporated to remove impurities that could lower the performance for the next batch. Even the sourcing of the material could be an issue. The resource of pulpwood cellulose is insufficient for mass production because most of the raw material went into viscose production. 12 With all these combined, the cost and production volume of lyocell still have a long way to catch up with its other competitors. If the demand for lyocell is high enough to scale up production and drive down the cost per unit, smaller brands might be more open to experimenting with lyocell or other more costly sustainable fabrics. 3.2) Banana Fiber 10 Jiang, Xiaoya, Yuanyuan Bai, Xuefeng Chen, and Wen Liu. "A Review on Raw Materials, Commercial Production and Properties of Lyocell Fiber." Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts 5.1 (2020): 16-25. Print. 11 "What Is TENCEL™ Fibers Fabric Made Of? About TENCEL™ Lyocell & Modal Fiber Fabric." Tencel. Web. 04 June 2021. 12 Jiang, Xiaoya, Yuanyuan Bai, Xuefeng Chen, and Wen Liu. "A Review on Raw Materials, Commercial Production and Properties of Lyocell Fiber." Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts 5.1 (2020): 16-25. Print. 6
Banana cultivation is wasteful. Every banana tree only fruits once in their lifetime before their stems catch viruses or start to rot. Every ton of banana will result in two tons of debris, including the tree stem and the leaves. Even though decomposing this debris into fertilizers is more environmentally beneficial, processing this debris will require intensive manual labor, and farmers often dispose of them out of convenience. 13 However, these stems do not have to all go to waste. Banana tree stems can turn into another more sustainable option in the textile industry. Business Insider produced a video featuring a banana fiber manufacturer in Uganda. After separating the individual layers of the stems into strands and leaving them to dry, a machine will extract the banana fiber from the dried stem. After leaving to be dried again, the banana fiber is ready to be woven into the textile. 14 Banana fibers are incredibly versatile. They can produce fabric, paper, tissues, and even currency paper. Like lyocell fiber, banana fiber can also blend with other textile fibers. The banana fibers can be stiff or soft, depending on which part of the stem the fiber was extracted. Textile produced by banana fiber is biodegradable, breathable, grease-proof, and heat/water- resistant. 15 Just like other textile fibers, banana fibers have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is the ease of raw material acquisition. Banana tree stems can be a relatively inexpensive and natural by-product that requires no additional cultivation. Manufacturers are benefiting the local economy when reducing waste from the agricultural industry. Another advantage is the production of banana fiber is possible to be done mostly manually. It could further decrease the potential carbon emission and the initial investment required for new investors. Banana fiber also requires no chemical treatments, but some manufacturers still choose to process the material with chemicals. 16 Like other fibers, banana fiber has some disadvantages. Compared to other natural fibers, banana fiber is not as soft as cotton and not as durable as hemp and bamboo fabric. Extraction of the banana fiber will require a machine that could cost from $1,000 to $10,000. 17 Even though the extraction process is the only step that needs machinery, this could be a hefty investment to smaller potential investors. 13 How Banana Waste Is Turned Into Rugs, Fabric, And Hair Extensions | World Wide Waste. Dir. Businessinsider. YouTube. 19 Feb. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. 14 How Banana Waste Is Turned Into Rugs, Fabric, And Hair Extensions | World Wide Waste. Dir. Businessinsider. YouTube. 19 Feb. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. 15 Avneet, Kaur. "Banana Fibre Is Considered to Be the next Revolution." Fibre2Fashion. Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd., Nov. 2015. Web. 04 June 2021. 16 Avneet, Kaur. "Banana Fibre Is Considered to Be the next Revolution." Fibre2Fashion. Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd., Nov. 2015. Web. 04 June 2021. 17 How Banana Waste Is Turned Into Rugs, Fabric, And Hair Extensions | World Wide Waste. Dir. Businessinsider. YouTube. 19 Feb. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. 7
While banana fiber production might be beneficial to local economies, banana cultivation themselves could be problematic. Banana cultivation in Latin America has had conflicts with American corporations over environmental and social issues. Workers in plantations complain about being underpaid while overworking in poor conditions that would require intense manual labor. 18 On the environmental scale, the issues surrounding banana cultivation are like the ones with cotton cultivation and often associated with monocropping. The lack of crop rotation results in damages to soil and increases dependency on fertilizer. Nonetheless, banana fiber has the potential to become a great sustainable player in the current textile industry. The softer fiber from the inner stems could produce great garments for the body, while the more durable fiber from the outer stems can take the opportunity and expand into home textile and other industries. 3.3) Pinatex Besides banana tree stems, pineapple leaves can also produce quality textiles. During the Spanish Colonial era, the Spanish introduced the Red Spanish pineapple to the Philippines, and the Philippines has been cultivating this pineapple for the textile for centuries. 19 Pina textile varies in softness depending on which layer of the leaves the fiber is extracted. The stronger and coarser pina fiber can be used for twines, while the thinner and softer pina fiber can produce different pieces such as Philippines traditional garment and nipis fabrics, a decorative lace-like fabric. 20 Pinatex is a vegan leather alternative invented by Carmen Hijosa and manufactured by her company Ananas Anam Ltd. Pinatex is made with 80% pineapple leaf fiber and 20% polylactic acid and is coated with a water-based PU resin. According to the company website, the base material of Pinatex is biodegradable under controlled industry conditions. 21 Pinatex production can consume the leftover debris from pineapple cultivation and turn this waste into a more sustainable alternative to leather goods. Unlike processing animal leathers, pina fiber requires no treatments using toxic chemicals or heavy metals. 22 After winning the 2015 Arts Foundation UK award for Material Innovation, Pinatex started to gain media attention. It is still a relatively new material to this market, and it has improved 18 Avneet, Kaur. "Banana Fibre Is Considered to Be the next Revolution." Fibre2Fashion. Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd., Nov. 2015. Web. 04 June 2021. 19 Mahapatra, N. N., Dr. "Clothing Made from Pineapple Fiber." Textile Today. Textile Today, 25 Nov. 2017. Web. 04 June 2021. 20 Lush, Emily. "Piña (Pineapple) Cloth, Philippines." The Textile Atlas. The Textile Atlas, 18 Aug. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. 21 "FAQs." Piñatex. Ananas Anam, 08 Apr. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. 22 "Responsibility." Piñatex. Ananas Anam, 03 Apr. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. 8
since when it was first introduced, one notable change is transitioning from using petroleum- based resin for coating onto water-based PU resin. Even though only parts of Pinatex are biodegradable under controlled conditions, Pinatex is still an alternative to existing materials in the leather industry. 3.4) Recycled Textiles Continuing with the theme of recycling and upcycling, recycled textile is also a more sustainable alternative option compared to conventional textile using virgin material. A wide range of fiber are recyclable, ranging from the abandoned nylon fishnets on the ocean floor to the scraps of textile of the factory streamline. Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is widely used across different products, including plastic bottles and microwave meal containers. Production of recycled polyethylene terephthalate requires 59 percent less energy and produces 32 percent less CO2 emission than regular polyester. 23While we purchase one million plastic bottles around the world every minute, 24 one extra-large t-shirt would only need fiber from five soda bottles. Like banana fiber and pina fiber, we have an excess supply of this raw material, waiting for a new life. Textiles can be recycled mechanically by melting at high temperatures or chemically with chemical treatments. Some fibers like nylon have a lower melting temperature thus have higher requirements on their raw materials.25 Another issue is the degradation of the material. Plastics degrade every time it is recycled and would require additional virgin fiber to maintain its strength. Also, as mentioned in section 2.3), polyester garments themselves are an issue to the environment. In conclusion, there is no definite answer to which textile can be the ultimate savior. Nonetheless, multiple quality alternatives are more sustainable than the most convenient options. No matter brands would like to start using more sustainable textiles or blend sustainable fiber with other materials, there are still countless alternative ways to create a less negative impact on the world in which we live. 23 Elven, Marjorie Van. "How Sustainable Is Recycled Polyester?" FashionUnited. FashionUnited Group, 09 Mar. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. 24 Laville, Sandra, and Matthew Taylor. "A Million Bottles a Minute: World's Plastic Binge 'as Dangerous as Climate Change'." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 June 2017. Web. 04 June 2021. 25 "Recycled Nylon Fabric." Patagonia. Web. 04 June 2021. 9
4. Afterword When I first started researching this topic in Fall 2020, I was hopeful for the future. Growing up in Hong Kong in the 2000s was an interesting experience. Hong Kong’s textile industry boomed in the 1950s, but by the late 1990s, most of the industry relocated to China or other regions. I grew up in a city suffering from the aftermath of industrial pollution. Furthermore, my parents would sail me to my uncle in Macau, a nearby city with a similar history of textile manufacturing. Every time I get off the ferry, I would be greeted by a wave of sulfate breeze. I would look at the crispy white wall of Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, with a faint reflection of sunlight refracted from the glossy ocean blue windows piercing through my eyes. Here this beautiful creature lives in, a swamp-colored body of water that I had never seen the sign of life, aside from the algae flowing on the surface. And there was nothing I could do about it. The manufacturing industry has a positive impact on the economy and people’s lives, and it could also lead to consequences that we might not know how to reverse yet. It is not fair to the future generations to grow up having less than ever. While slow-down fashion might be out of reach now, it is still possible to do less evil. 10
Citation Avneet, Kaur. "Banana Fibre Is Considered to Be the next Revolution." Fibre2Fashion. Fibre2Fashion Pvt. Ltd., Nov. 2015. Web. 04 June 2021. Browne, Mark Anthony, Phillip Crump, Stewart J. Niven, Emma Teuten, Andrew Tonkin, Tamara Galloway, and Richard Thompson. "Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Woldwide: Sources and Sinks." Environmental Science & Technology 45.21 (2011): 9175- 179. Print. "Cotton." WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 04 June 2021. Davidson, Helen. "Xinjiang: More than Half a Million Forced to Pick Cotton, Report Suggests." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Dec. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. Elven, Marjorie Van. "How Sustainable Is Recycled Polyester?" FashionUnited. FashionUnited Group, 09 Mar. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. "FAQs." Piñatex. Ananas Anam, 08 Apr. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. How Banana Waste Is Turned Into Rugs, Fabric, And Hair Extensions | World Wide Waste. Dir. Businessinsider. YouTube. 19 Feb. 2021. Web. 04 June 2021. "How Wood Is Transformed into Fibers for Life." Lenzing Group. Lenzing AG. Web. 04 June 2021. Jiang, Xiaoya, Yuanyuan Bai, Xuefeng Chen, and Wen Liu. "A Review on Raw Materials, Commercial Production and Properties of Lyocell Fiber." Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts 5.1 (2020): 16-25. Print. Laville, Sandra, and Matthew Taylor. "A Million Bottles a Minute: World's Plastic Binge 'as Dangerous as Climate Change'." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 June 2017. Web. 04 June 2021. Lush, Emily. "Piña (Pineapple) Cloth, Philippines." The Textile Atlas. The Textile Atlas, 18 Aug. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. Mahapatra, N. N., Dr. "Clothing Made from Pineapple Fiber." Textile Today. Textile Today, 25 Nov. 2017. Web. 04 June 2021. 11
McNeill, Sophie, Jeanavive McGregor, Michael Walsh, Meredith Griffiths, and Echo Hui. "Cotton On and Target Stop Buying Cotton from Xinjiang over Human Rights Concerns." ABC News. ABC News, 17 Oct. 2019. Web. 04 June 2021. "Preventing Adverse Health Effects from Exposure To: Dimethylformamide." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 06 June 2014. Web. 04 June 2021. "Recycled Nylon Fabric." Patagonia. Web. 04 June 2021. Remington, Chris. "Chris Remington." Ecotextile News. MCL News & Media, 27 Mar. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. "Responsibility." Piñatex. Ananas Anam, 03 Apr. 2020. Web. 04 June 2021. "What Is TENCEL™ Fibers Fabric Made Of? About TENCEL™ Lyocell & Modal Fiber Fabric." Tencel. Web. 04 June 2021. Williams, Alan. "Washing Clothes Releases Thousands of Microplastic Particles into Environment, Study Shows." University of Plymouth. University of Plymouth, 27 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 June 2021. 12
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