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November/December 2019 Vol. 19, No. 6 AATCC Review | 23

an a circular economy based on better design, production, and recycling of garments, slow

“fast fashion” down long enough for us to save the planet? Green sourcing, sustainable production methods, and greater re-use and recycling is so fashionable right now that some of the world’s top designers are getting in on the act.

C

Sustainability, Slow

Fashion, and the Circular

Economy—is it the Next

Great Opportunity?By Fi Forrest

DOI: 10.14504/ar.19.6.1

Disclaimer: Responsibility for opinions expressed in this article is that of the author and quoted persons, not of AATCC. Mention of any trade name or proprietary product in AATCC Review does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by AATCC and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products that may also be suitable.

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24 | AATCC Review Vol. 19, No. 6 November/December 2019

The Circular EconomyFor years, the linear system of textile and apparel produc-tion from virgin fibers, followed by consumers purchasing and then disposing of such items via landfill or incineration, has been the main business model for fashion. Retailers pushing for extra sales gradually increased fashion “seasons” so that items are now considered out of date in just a matter of weeks. These fashion items are made quickly, often in developing countries where labor is cheap and workplace regulation is scarce. “Pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap” has become the mantra of many retailers.

However, this linear pattern is now being recognized as a major problem and unsustainable with present consump-tion rates. Even the production of natural materials, such as cotton, uses vast amounts of water, oil for fertilizers, and chemicals for dyes and finishes. The potential to harm local environments with pollution has global consequences. Many now believe that moving to a circular economy is the only viable framework for a sustainable future.

Taking the ChallengeThe circular economy is based around four goals that allow recycling and maximum use of raw materials with as little

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles

Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future, (2017)

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waste as possible. This idea that waste is eliminated by re-use in production is the premise of the circular model. The four main goals are:

1. To phase out substances that could cause harm

2. To increase clothing re-use through design and marketing of clothing durability

3. To improve recycling and recyclability of mixed fiber items

4. And finally, to make better use of resources and switch to renewables where possible.

A recent report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (an environmental think tank set up by the British around-the-world yachtswoman) sets out these four goals for the fashion industry to follow in the next 30 years. Backed by designers such as Stella McCartney, the report highlights global problems concerning sustainability and the environment from the rise in “fast fashion.”

The apparel industry is worth more than US$1.3 trillion and employs more than 300 million people along the manufacturing chain. In a recent interview,

November/December 2019 Vol. 19, No. 6 AATCC Review | 25

Dame Ellen MacArthur spoke about her Foundation’s commitment to promoting a circular economy. She sees this as not only being necessary to protect the planet, but also as an economic opportunity. With just an estimated 1% of clothing being recycled into new clothes, US$100 billion-worth is being thrown away. Not only that, but disposal itself also has a significant cost. Non-renewable resources (such as oil, synthetics, and chemical finishes) add to CO

2 emissions—esti-

mated to rise by 20% over the next 30 years.

So, can better design, production methods, and increased use of recycling really bring the fashion industry more in line with the circular economy and “close the loop?” Collaboration seems to be key: whether it be working alongside not-for-profit associations to increase recycling; using resource hubs to connect with more sustainable resources; or by gaining best practice knowledge through training centers. A growing number of manufacturers and retailers from around the world are taking up these challenges—and have found that being sustainable can also grow their businesses.

Reducing Harmful SubstancesCoats, the industrial thread company, has invested heavily in their manufacturing facility in Ambas, South India, in an effort to create a sustainable syn-thetic dyeing process. The facility features a biomass steam boiler, solar power, and a reverse osmosis effluent treatment plant to recycle its water. The biomass plant evaporates the residual waste water—resulting in a zero carbon footprint—and any waste residue left behind is used as a building material at a nearby factory. This closing of the loop means that 95% of the water can be recycled back into the system with zero discharge.

“Our Ambas plant operates in a rural environment adjacent to a protected national park,” says Head of Sustainability at Coats, Andrew Morgan. “Ambas is our biggest, and one of our oldest, plants and we have made significant investments to ensure that our activities are environmentally friendly. It is fitting that Ambas is pioneering the use of leading-edge environmental management solutions in the textile industry.”

Coats have also signed up with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) group, whose aim is to phase out hazardous chemicals from the supply chain and to encourage best practice throughout the industry. According to Morgan, “Coats was an early affiliate of ZDHC, joining in 2016, and we are firm

believers in developing industry-wide approaches

like this. Achieving sustainability for the textile

industry can only be achieved through collaboration

across the whole supply chain.” 

DenimBecause of the high cotton content, indigo dyes,

and finishes such as “distressing”—denim is dif-

ficult to produce sustainably. Indeed, in July this

year, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation published

Jeans Redesign Guidelines, which sets out minimum

requirements for jeans manufacture. These include

increasing the use of organic farming methods; the

banning of sandblasting; and reducing the use of

metal rivets to aid recycling.

The amount of wastewater produced when dyeing

denim has recently been addressed by Wrangler

Jeans (part of the Kontoor brand). They have

introduced a new method of dyeing denim by using

Rooftop solar array (with the national park in the background)

Coats facility, Ambas, India.

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a foam instead of liquid water. Indigood replaces

liquid baths traditionally used for indigo dyeing

with a foam-based solution, reducing water usage by

99.9%. Kontoor also say that they are working hard

to reduce energy use and waste, and plan to be using

100% sustainable cotton by 2025.

Designing & Marketing Durable ClothingAt the London College of Fashion, young designers

are being taught all about sustainability, and trained

to take it into account right at the start of the design

process. With greater information available than

ever before via the internet, young designers can see

the direct consequences of pesticide use, water pol-

lution, child labor, and modern slavery.

Top fashion designers such as Stella McCartney are

taking a visible lead in sustainable and ethical fashion.

Fashion students now study sustainability as part

of their degree course. The Centre for Sustainable

Fashion was devised as a way to teach students how

to design in a more sustainable way, and to be more

aware of issues that exist within the industry, covering

social, cultural, economic, and ecological areas.

Re-use of clothing either by re-purposing or by recy-

cling allows items to remain in use longer and reduces

the use of virgin materials. Some young entrepreneurs

are at the forefront of businesses using the latest tech

and green credentials as their unique selling point.

Sustainable Business For the Teemill T-shirt company, sustainability is

their business model. Orders through their website

are made in a just-in-time production facility, using

certified organic fabrics, and offering rewards for cus-

tomers who return worn-out items to be recycled.

Sustainability and the circular economy is impor-

tant to their business, says Teemill’s co-founder,

Mart Drake-Knight. “100 billion items of clothing

are made each year, with 3 out of 5 T-shirts bought

today ending up in the bin within 12 months,” says

Drake-Knight. “The current fashion economy is a

system that takes valuable resources, [then] makes

products that are then designed to be thrown away.

That is like a conveyor belt or production line, and it

means a truck per second of textiles waste ends up

in landfill and incinerators every second.”

“The fashion industry itself is poorly designed,”

claims Drake-Knight. “Our mission is to solve

that fundamental problem with the conscientious

application of modern technology. We have devel-

oped the systems needed in our UK factory to print

products in the seconds after they are ordered, so

there is no waste. We only make what people need,

and when they need it—it’s real time manufactur-

ing. Because we have heavily automated so much of

our supply chain, we can also automate the reverse

logistics of fashion, by recovering products back

from our customers when they are worn out, and

rewarding them with store credit.”

“[Visualize] where clothes come from, how they are

made, what they are made out of, and what happens

to them when they are worn out,” says Drake-Knight

about Teemill’s ‘trace mapping’ tool. “The maps

represent that starting point. We find our customers

like them, and enjoy being curious about the things

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they buy each day. If they have access to the infor-mation, they can make better choices. What we’re doing is making circular fashion better, easier, and faster than business as usual. Teemill is doubling in size each year, so it’s not about compromise—for us, sustainable business is good business.”

Recycling FabricsTextile reuse and recycling is advocated for by the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART) Association. The not-for-profit association is dedicated to helping businesses reduce waste and recycle materials. Their motto of ‘Donate, Recycle, Don’t Throw Away’ resonates in the modern work-place and SMART currently represents over 150 companies, mostly in the US, with many being fam-ily run businesses.

SMART members use and convert recycled and secondary materials from used clothing, commercial laundries, and non-woven, off spec material, new mill ends, and paper from around the world. Of this, 45% is re-used via the second-hand clothing market; 30% is used as rags for industrial use; and 20% reprocessed back into fibers and used for sound proofing, building materials, and even upholstery. Only 5% of materials collected are discarded due to contamination or mold.

“Textile reuse and recycling is good business because it‘s a green business,” says SMART’s executive direc-tor, Jackie King. “Our members are responsible for recycling 25% of America’s post-consumer textile waste, helping to keep approximately 1 billion pounds of textiles from landfills each year. This reduces greenhouse gases equivalent to removing 1 million cars from America’s highways.”

Switching to RenewablesHowever, the circular economy is about more than just cutting waste. Switching from oil-based and virgin fibers to sustainable resources and recycled materials, are important steps going forward.

When Coats looked at their synthetic threads and realized that most were derived from oil, they inves-tigated how they could switch to a more sustainable source material. Their response was Ecoverde—a premium sewing thread made from 100% recycled PET drinks bottles. In tests, this thread shows even greater abrasion resistance and lower shrinkage qualities than thread made with virgin polyester. I N F O G R A P H I C C R E D I T : S E C O N D A R Y M A T E R I A L S A N D R E C Y C L E D T E X T I L E S

( S M A R T ) A S S O C I A T I O N

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“Our Ecoverde threads are unique in meeting the demand for a premium sewing thread from a 100% recycled raw material,” says Coats’ Head of Sustain-ability, Andrew Morgan. “Our target is to make all our premium polyester thread from recycled material by 2024 and, just as important to us, is to collaborate across the supply chain to promote circular use of textile materials.”

Infinited Fiber Company (IFC) is a start-up that has been developing new methods of using used textiles, cardboard, and agricultural waste to create fibers without loss of quality. They claim that fibers from their second-generation cotton feel like new. Their method for processing waste cellulose includes heat treatment with urea after shredding, to make a liquid that is wet spun and formed into filaments that can be used for making new yarns.

“Circularity is not only important, it’s the core of our business and the future of sustainable economy. Our raw material is waste, and the end products made from our fiber form a new raw material base. That’s why we have named it Infinited Fiber,” says IFC Communications Manager Antti Ratia. “We have proven that Infinited Fiber can be recycled multiple times without decreasing the quality of the fiber, providing a solution for the global industry for a rapid shift to sustainable and circular materials.”

“Increasing demand for eco-friendly and biode-gradable fibers, especially in the textile and hygiene industries, is driving the cellulose fibers market,” says Ratia. “We can utilize the rapidly-growing demand for man-made cellulose fibers (MMC), because the current alternatives do not meet user needs. Cur-rently, the most widely-used MMC fiber is viscose fiber, with a market size estimated to reach €13 billion by 2023. Infinited Fiber has the potential to replace a significant share of the synthetic- and cellulose-based fibers in the apparel and [home fashions] applica-tions dominating the textile market.” Ratia says that in 10 years, “Our vision is that 10% of all fibers in the market will be made from recycled fibers. within the next 10 years”

A Sustainable FutureCollaboration across the supply chain is a vital step towards a circular economy. To fully close the loop you need to source all of your materials sustainably. While some, like designer Stella McCartney and the London College of Fashion, have opted for designing sustainability directly into their garments, groups like the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) see better sourcing as the answer for most manufacturers.

Tamsin Lejeune, CEO of EFF, states that the UK-based lobby group for ethical fashion doesn’t want to re-design the wheel. Instead, the EFF uses an innovative online resource hub, the Common Objec-tive platform (which is free to join) to match up manufacturers with certified sustainable suppliers, and likewise, designers can match with manufactur-ers. Everyone on the hub is graded by their green credentials, and transparency is key.

These examples of green businesses being good businesses shows that a circular economy could be achieved in some areas. Some virgin fibers may always be required, albeit as part of a re-used/recycled mix. For the fashion industry, the elephant in the room will remain the “pile it high and sell it cheap” sales ethos that supports all fast fashion. While better education can certainly have some effect, to fully realize the circular economy and to close the loop, fashion brands and textile manu-facturers need to look at design, manufacturing, sourcing, sales, and marketing in a whole new way.

References 1. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy:

Redesigning fashion’s future, (2017)

2. www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/

make-fashion-circular/projects/the-jeans-redesign

Fi Forrest is a UK-based science and technology writer

and graphic artist. www.fiforrest.pressfolios.com

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