Re-fashioning the clothing system for the sake of the climate
The fashion industry is huge, as is its carbon footprint. Dr Mark Sumner looks across the clothing system, from production of materials to garment disposal, and points to the key challenges that the industry will need to confront to get to net zero and why ‘stopping people from buying fashion’ is not the answer.
The fashion industry is one of the largest in the world, annually worth up to $2.5 trillion and estimated to contribute 7% of global trade. It has been estimated that the fashion industry is responsible for up to 5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, accounting for 4% to 10% of global emissions (Fashion on Climate report).
It is also one of most complicated and difficult industries to map, with raw materials produced in over 90 countries, and garment manufacturing in virtually every nation, and supply chains that are truly global. It is this complexity that makes estimating the industry’s global emissions difficult. It is also this complexity that makes achieving net zero very difficult.
There is also an obvious but important fact about fashion that is often overlooked. Fashion is ubiquitous. Virtually everyone on the planet wears clothing and so contributes to the industry’s footprint. And fashion, like food, plays a fundamental role in human society (which we will discuss later).
Understanding the fashion system
As a truly global industry with a significant carbon footprint, achieving net zero for the fashion industry would be a remarkable achievement, and one that would the impact the direction of climate change for our generation and for future generations. But to achieve net zero, we must understand the system that creates and delivers fashion, its dynamics, its global connections and dependencies, and how fashion is much more than just thinking about the next new black on the catwalk. And we must also move away from often quoted strategy that ‘stopping people from buying fashion’ is the answer, as this ignores the science and psychology of fashion in our global culture.
The fashion industry is an industry and industries. It is reliant on agriculture for more than 50% of its raw materials (cotton, wool and cashmere), and the remaining raw materials are derived from oil (polyester, nylon and elastane) and forestry (viscose and modal). Textile manufacturing, the processes to convert raw materials into garments, is energy, water and chemically intensive, not to mention also very labour intensive. Consumers also contribute to the impact of the industry, with millions of homes every day washing and drying clothes using vast amounts of water and energy, and releasing detergents and microplastics down the drain. And as fashion trends change, garments rapidly become redundant and are thrown away; it is estimated that 92 million tonnes of clothing waste ends up in landfill every year (Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2017).
The carbon footprint of the industry is spread across this complex system. But when we scientifically analyse the system, we can see where the hotspots of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are located. And to achieve net zero these are the areas that have to be tackled urgently.
More efficient material production and low carbon materials are needed
The largest GHG emissions hotspot is related to the production and cultivation of materials. This includes emissions associated with energy intensive manufacturing of man-made fibres such as polyester, nylon and viscose. But this also includes the significant carbon footprint associated with growing cotton, a natural fibre which is heavily dependent on the use of energy intensive agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. 38% of GHG emissions from the fashion system are related to the materials used (Fashion on Climate report).
For the industry to make a significant impact on its carbon footprint, it must focus on improved efficiency for material production and new low carbon materials. Work by the Better Cotton Initiative is demonstrating how high cotton yields can be achieved while reducing farmer dependency on carbon intensive fertilisers, which is better for the planet and for the farmers’ livelihoods. The increased use of recycled polyester, to replace virgin polyester, is also effective in reducing carbon emissions. The 2020 Sustainable Clothing Action Plan has achieved a 20% reduction in carbon against their 2012 baseline through such material-based actions. Obviously much more progress is needed, and the follow on initiative, Textiles2030, is aiming for a 50% GHG reduction by 2030.
Conversion of these raw materials into the finished garment involves various processes for spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, and garment construction. These processes account for a combined footprint of 33%, with garment construction making the smallest contribution of only 4% of the total industry footprint.
As these manufacturing processes tend to be spread across the globe, and final production is often 1000’s of miles from the retail market, transportation between production stages and consumer is important. However, transportation contributes only 3% of GHG emissions, as maritime shipping is the most common transportation mode. This fact debunks the idea that local production of fashion is a route to net zero. Furthermore, for a country like the UK, with no cotton or polyester production, and very limited textile manufacturing capacity, local production tends to focus only on the garment making process, which will affect only 4% of the total footprint.
It is now becoming widely accepted that, although individual factories can invest in new technologies and best practice to reduce emissions, the single most important factor to reduce GHG emissions for manufacturing is the energy mix for power generation. Moving from fossil fuels to renewables for power generation is the only way to achieve substantial reductions in carbon emissions for this part of the fashion system. This requires urgent action by national and local governments.
To reach net zero will require a rethink of our relationship with fashion
The third largest contributor to the industry’s emissions come from the consumer phase of the garment lifecycle. Washing, drying and ironing contributing 20% to the total emissions for the industry. The combination of more clothing in our wardrobes and the convenience of modern washing machines has meant we do more domestic laundry than ever before, with obvious increases in associated emissions. The movement towards lower washing temperatures, driven by consumer campaigns to wash at 30°C, has moderated some of the increase in GHG emission. But more work is needed to alter consumer behaviour for washing clothes to achieve net zero.
Behavioural change is also important for managing consumption. Changing materials, improving national power grids for manufacturing processes, and reducing consumer washing impacts are important actions. However, the growth in fashion consumption, which is not limited to just the fast fashion sector, is the major challenge for achieving net zero. But to address this challenge we need to understand consumer psychology and the role of fashion in culture and society.
Consumption, in general, is a reflection of how deeply social humans are, and consumption provides an indication of status and position in society. Fashion is the most powerful nonverbal status device humans use, which conveys the groups we associate with, our position in those groups and at a very basic level, how we attract a mate. Fashion has never been just about keeping us warm, dry or to protect our modesty. Fashion has historically, and continues to be, a way of creating wellbeing, self-esteem and self-identity.
Telling consumers to stop buying fashion is in direct conflict with these deep sub-conscious and psychological forces. Movements, such as slow fashion, may work for some niche groups, but for mainstream consumers, we need deliver the functions of fashion, which involves buying new things, but to ensure we have decoupled this consumption from the environmental (and social) costs. This is the fundamental challenge the industry faces if it wants to achieve net zero.
What can we do to accelerate change?
For an industry as large and as complex as the fashion industry, the roadmap to net zero is difficult to navigate. But despite these complexities, the map for a greener future is starting to emerge.
Much more work is needed to develop new materials and technologies but there has been significant progress to show how materials and manufacturing can be decarbonised. To maximise the potential of this progress, brands and retailers and their suppliers need to commit to meaningful carbon reduction targets and invest in these new materials and technologies. They also need to collaborate to apply pressure on their national and local governments to invest in renewable energy sources for their local power grids.
Consumers also have an important role to play, and not just in terms of their own behaviour towards washing and drying. Consumers should shift their shopping habits to those brands that have committed to carbon reductions and have signed up to initiatives such as Textiles2030. And governments should look to rewarding green brands, and ‘encourage’ progress or ‘punish’ stalling by eco-laggards through progressive tax and extended producer responsibility legislation.
And importantly, the fashion system needs to be re-designed to decouple environmental harm from the function of fashion. Engaging in new business models, such as garment re-use and leasing, product repair and fibre-to-fibre recycling, are critical to ensuring the industry remains economically successful, delivers clothing to the global population, and gets on track for net zero emissions.
Further information
The University of Leeds leads the Future Fashion Factory programme, which supports innovation to reduce waste production in the fashion industry and recycling textile waste into new high-value products. Visit the Future Fashion Factory website to find out more and get involved.
Find out more about the University of Leeds at COP26, including meeting the University of Leeds team involved in COP26, both in Glasgow or virtually.
This blog is part of a climate action series ahead of COP26, find others at Policy Leeds blog.
