Environmental Impacts & Solutions

Within the Textile & Garment Industry

July 10, 2018
https://proqc.com/blog/environmental-impacts-solutions-within-the-textile-garment-industry/

Written by: Stephen Moglia, Business Development Manager

Sustainability, green fashion, circular economy: we hear and see those words almost
everywhere now. They multiply with the growing interest of consumers and companies for
the environmental impacts of the industry. In fact, the textile industry has become the
second most polluting industry in the world, right after oil, as stated at the sixth edition of
the Copenhagen Fashion Summit last May. Globalised, complex, including a wide range of
techniques, the textile industry affects the planet on many different levels, including very
sensitive areas such as water, air pollution, chemicals, electricity consumption or waste.
Being aware of the impacts of production processes has now become essential.

Moreover, damaging the environment also has an impact on humans, whether it is the
workers, the consumers or people leaving nearby a factory. Cotton illustrates this in a
tragic way. It is a very affordable fabric, widely used to make inexpensive clothes. To boost
the production and fight the worms that attack the plants, a lot of farmers worldwide use
pesticides. Those pesticides contain extremely toxic substances such as metals (aluminium,
nickel, lead), barium or ethion that was banned in Europe. Farmers, in contact with those
chemicals can get more cancer, liver and kidney diseases. The chemicals also cause
freshwater pollution affecting a wider range of people. Hopefully more and more farmers
are turning to organic cotton that is more respectful of the environment and uses no such
pesticides. (Article Reference)
Another example is chrome tanning that was also banned from Europe for being too toxic.
This tanning is faster, easier than other techniques. However, the leather is weaker and
doesn’t last as long, thus creating more waste. Chrome is a heavy metal and damages the
environment in the same kind of way pesticides do. It infiltrates the water and in contact
with the skin can also have an impact on the consumer’s health. (Article Reference)
Brands, then, have a responsibility: choosing well where they source their materials and
where they out-source the production. The consumer, getting information easily on internet
is more and more aware of those issues, which reflects in its purchasing choices.
Sustainability concerns have only been increasing since the 1990s and in 2015, 66% of
global consumers were willing to pay more for environmentally sustainable products. It
damages the image of brands to be involved in environmental or social scandals. On the
contrary, sustainability can be a real marketing opportunity. Showing concern, sharing the
origin of the materials, revealing « who made [the] clothes » attracts customers, reassured
that the product they are buying is safe for themselves and the planet. It is part of the
« look good, feel good » trend when buyers don’t want to feel guilty wearing their favourite
sweater. (Article Reference)
Transparency is trendy, however it is not always easy for brands to control their supply
chain. How can a company based in Europe, or North America be sure of the quality of the
products they buy in Asia? How can it know in which conditions clothes were made and
with which means? The information given by the factories can be altered or fake, a
website, mails, phone calls, those are only words and chosen images. It is also tricky for
brands to plan a visit of the factories of their suppliers and manufacturers. When knowing
someone is coming to check on the working conditions or on quality, it happens often that
companies adjust their installations only for a day, adding fake security signs, changing
displayed products or hiring more people to show wealth.
This is when audits can be extremely useful. The information obtained is more accurate
and real. For environmental responsibilities, audits are made according to the ISO 14000
environmental standard, covering energy usage, renewable energy, greenhouse gas
emissions, materials and waste reduction, life cycle management, supplier’s supply chain
activities and more. ISO 14000 audits can be combined with SA8000 for social responsibility
for a more thorough inspection, helping brands to have a better control on their supply
chain and with time, to select their most reliable partners.

These audits can be applied to various fields such as footwear, garments, accessories,
textiles, bags, soft toys, electrical & lighting, gifts, home & garden, hardware, furniture,
industrial & construction, sporting equipment & fitness, toys, assemblies & molds,
maintenance solutions, automotive parts, and medical devices.

Review an example report ISO 14001 here.

How does your organization ensure sustainability and environmental stewardship?