The carbon impact of the textile industry: assessment and sustainable solutions

🌱 Raw materials

The production of raw materials is the first stage, and one of the most carbon-intensive. The choice of raw material is therefore very important, because according to a study by ADEME, it is responsible for an average of 44% of the carbon footprint of a garment.
The main raw materials used are :

🧵 Cotton: growing conventional cotton requires large quantities of water and pesticides, contributing to its carbon footprint. Organic cotton is a more sustainable alternative, but still represents a small share of total cotton production.

🔬 S ynthetic fibers: polyester, nylon and acrylics are derived from petroleum, and the industrial organic chemical processes required to produce them emit GHGs.

🌿 Natural fibers: wool, linen and hemp generally have a lower carbon footprint than synthetic fibers, as they are renewable and biodegradable. However, their production can also have a strong environmental impact, notably due to heavy exploitation of land and water.

♻️ Secondary raw materials: There are also secondary raw materials, known as recycled materials. They can be produced by mechanical or chemical processes.

The manufacturing phase is the next step in the textile production chain. This stage involves transforming raw materials into finished products in energy- and resource-intensive plants. This stage comprises several processes, such as spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, printing and finishing, each of which has an environmental impact.

🔍The manufacturing phase

Once the raw materials have been collected, they are transformed into yarn: this is the spinning stage. This phase involves the use of machines and chemical products that contribute significantly to the carbon footprint of the company.

Spinning: Once the raw material has been selected, it must be transformed into yarn. This stage uses numerous chemicals to make the yarns more resistant during weaving.

Weaving or knitting: the yarn is transformed into fabric or knitwear. This stage requires a lot of water and energy.

Dyeing and printing: the aim of this stage is to give fibers or fabrics a specific color, different from their natural color. These operations require the application of numerous chemicals, water and energy.

Finishing: this stage involves transforming the appearance and properties of a fabric (waterproofing, shine, ageing effect, etc.) through chemical or mechanical treatments.

Sewing: once the fabric or knitwear is ready, it is cut and sewn into a garment ready to be worn.

Each of these stages emits greenhouse gases, making the manufacturing phase a high emitter. It can account for around 20% of total GHG emissions in the life cycle of a garment. The carbon impact is broken down as follows:

• 43% from spinning
• 34% relates to the weaving and knitting stages
• 3% is attributable to finishing
• 20% concerns clothing.

The manufacturing phase in the textile industry is very energy-intensive, requiring significant use of heat in the form of steam and electricity. What's more, supply chains are often complex and involve many countries, increasing the carbon footprint.

For example, to make jeans, cotton may be grown in India, then spun, woven and dyed in China or Turkey, before being manufactured in Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, Tunisia or Turkey, and finally sold in France and around the world.

This can involve thousands of kilometers of transport, increasing the carbon footprint. What's more, the countries concerned don't necessarily have a decarbonized energy mix, and don't always use best practices to limit pollution, resulting in the use of carbon-intensive machinery.

You'd think that e-commerce transport and distribution would weigh most heavily in the fashion industry's carbon balance, but this is not the case. In fact, most of the impact comes from the upstream stages of production. In fact, two seemingly simple stages - yarn preparation and dyeing or bleaching - alone account for 28% and 36% of the sector's total carbon-equivalent emissions respectively. This is due to the energy intensity required for each. For dyeing, for example, it is necessary to raise the temperature and carry out the dyeing or bleaching process at high temperatures.

Example:
The color "jean blue" is obtained from synthetic indigo dye, which is often discharged untreated into the environment after use: every year, an estimated 140,000 L of indigo dye are discharged untreated into the environment.

What weighs heavily in the carbon footprint of textile manufacturing is the energy consumption associated with the various stages of design. Much more than travel, for example.

✈️ Transportation

The transport phase in the textile industry involves numerous journeys between the various countries of raw material production, spinning, weaving and assembly, as well as from the factory gate to distribution in stores in France. However, despite these numerous journeys, this phase represents only a small part of the sector's carbon footprint. Transport can account for up to 10% of the total carbon footprint.

👚 Everyday use

The daily use of clothes is an important phase to take into account in the carbon footprint of the textile industry. Although this phase is not very significant in terms of electricity use, it does involve significant energy consumption for washing, drying and ironing our clothes.

Washing clothes also releases microfibers, which end up in sewage sludge or in the oceans. Synthetic textiles such as nylon, polyester, acrylic and elastane are the fourth biggest source of microplastic emissions into the environment. In fact, the care of our synthetic garments generates 240,000 microparticles of plastic, which are released into the world's oceans every year.

Use is also a key stage in extending the life of clothes. Taking care of them is essential to making them last longer, and thus reducing the impact of our dressing. The fibers of an item regularly put in a drying machine will tend to deteriorate more quickly, reducing the garment's lifespan.

🚮 End-of-life products

Indeed, our consumption of clothing has increased considerably in recent years, with twice as much purchased as 15 years ago. What's more, we tend to keep them for shorter periods of time, leaving some clothes unused in our closets.

When these garments are no longer in use, they are often recycled or landfilled, accounting for 7% of the textile sector's greenhouse gas emissions. However, this phase is still important, as discarding a garment often means buying a new one, which further increases the environmental impact.

To reduce this impact, we need to increase the lifespan of our clothes by looking after them properly and wearing them for longer. This would reduce the amount of discarded clothing, and thus cut greenhouse gas emissions linked to its manufacture and end-of-life.

How can we reduce the carbon footprint of textiles?

🌿 Sobriety and eco-design

There are several ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the textile industry. The first step is to reduce the production and consumption of raw materials by opting for higher-quality, more durable items. We recommend avoiding animal fibers, which have a high carbon footprint, in favor of recycled fibers such as recycled cotton, viscose or recycled polyester.

However, recycling polyester has its limits, as it loses strength and quality when recycled, often requiring the addition of virgin material. Recycling cotton reduces water consumption by 98% compared to non-organic cotton, drastically reducing the ecological footprint of the garment.

Recycling cotton considerably reduces water consumption compared to non-organic cotton, thus reducing the ecological footprint of the garment. However, it's important to note that all fibers have an environmental impact, some simply being less significant than others. Even if the fibers are recycled, the impact will still be present due to certain energy-intensive phases, particularly during manufacture.

Recycling must therefore be complemented by other practices, such as reuse and extending the life of garments, which are essential to reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry. So it's important to produce and consume less, by choosing quality clothing and taking care of the clothes we already own.

🧑‍⚖️ Regulations

The responsibility for reducing the textile industry's carbon footprint lies with companies, but also requires strict regulation. Here are a few regulatory measures that can help reduce the textile industry's environmental impact:

● The Agec law obliges companies to reuse or recycle unsold non-food products, and to clearly inform consumers about the environmental characteristics of the products they buy.

● Rigorous product traceability is needed to assess real environmental impacts, in particular to calculate the carbon footprint of imported products.

● Penalties must be introduced for fast-fashion commercial practices that encourage over-consumption.

● Companies need to select suppliers who use renewable energies or more sober processes, as the various design phases generate a lot of emissions linked to energy consumption. This work can be carried out with suppliers based in producer countries where the energy mix is highly carbon-intensive.

● Relocating production to France or other countries where the energy mix is less carbon-intensive than in China, Bangladesh or India can also help reduce the textile industry's carbon footprint.