The UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) has released a report that aims to motivate global collaboration networks between innovators, brands and retailers, and textile and apparel supply chains to help the UK accelerate towards a circular fashion and textile ecosystem and meet climate targets.
- It encourages the industry to imagine a shift in traditional methods and foster innovation.
THE REPORT: The Innovations in Textile and Apparel Dyeing report focuses on the crucial sub-sector of textile and apparel dyeing, which is essential for decarbonisation and resource circularity in the textiles and apparel industry.
- While recognising the importance of cleaner production and circular practices in reducing environmental impact during yarn, textile and garment manufacturing, the report is intended as a point of reference for the textile and apparel industry, with the end goal of encouraging greener dyeing capacity in domestic and international textile and apparel manufacturing facilities.
- The report talks about the urgency for industry to adopt “cleaner” production technologies that have come up in recent times and also features some of them.
- The report uncovers some of the latest expertise, innovations and best practices to promote cleaner production and green growth in textile and apparel manufacturing supply chains.
- This report has been produced through the Circular Fashion Innovation Network. CFIN is an industry-led programme led by the UKFT and the British Fashion Council in partnership with UK Research and Innovation.
- It has been authored by UKFT’s Lauren Junestrand, Innovation and Sustainability Network Manager, Sadikchya Singh, Sustainability and Innovation Executive, Tara Hounslea, Director of Communications, and designed by Laura Tobin, Creative Executive.
WHY CLEANER PRODUCTION METHODS: Cleaner production methods, decarbonisation, and circularity are not just essential for meeting the UK’s sustainability agenda but also for supporting global climate ambitions and SDGs.
- Textile dyeing and finishing accounts for 20% of global clean water pollution, and wet processes account for 15% of the fashion industry’s overall GHG emissions. These are staggering figures which highlight the detrimental effect that this part of the fashion production process has on the planet.
- Innovations in dyeing technologies and colouration have the potential to not only keep the waters cleaner, but also reduce the amount of water and energy consumed compared with the industry’s current and historic methods of dyeing.
Adopting cleaner production practices consists of taking actions that can minimise the risk towards humans and the environment across supply chains. Cleaner production practices include:
- reducing GHG emissions,
- using water and energy more efficiently (i.e. reduction in water and electric power consumption) and
- reducing and reusing waste (i.e. minimising wastewater).
In a textile and apparel manufacturing context, this could mean: energy efficiency, the reduction in carbon intensity of energy supplies, switching from non-renewable to renewable resources, increasing the efficiency of existing technologies, substituting existing machinery to one that is more efficient or optimising/replacing chemicals, among others.
FOCUS AREA: Overall, fashion-industrial efficiency is one of the biggest areas of intervention to reduce supply chain GHG emissions and can help achieve sustainable development goals.
- Cleaner production in the dyeing stage is of particular importance to reduce environmental impact.
- Overall, implementing Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) principles in management, machinery modification and chemical optimisations/replacements and improving wastewater recovery and reuse, help achieve environmental impact reduction at this stage.
HOW TO DO IT: The report makes some good recommendations on how to go about it.
- What’s needed is Chief Executive Officers, not just sustainability teams, to demand full transparency from supply chains, down to wet processes and beyond.
- CEOs should refuse to engage with any supply chain lacking transparency or wet processing facilities failing to meet effluent discharge requirements and other basic standards.
- What is also needed is strict criteria for energy and water usage and, if brands could agree to enforce compliance with agreed eco-efficiency standards in the same way that they enforce restricted substances standards, the industry would have to improve.
- Brands need to collaborate to drive the dyeing industry to improve – agreeing and enforcing tough standards will be far better for the planet than endorsing specific technologies.
