<![CDATA[DIAMOND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH GROUP - Sustainable Fashion: ENV1114]]>

<![CDATA[DIAMOND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH GROUP - Sustainable Fashion: ENV1114]]>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 11:47:42 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 6/6 (End-of-life)]]>Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:22:00 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/sustainable-fashion-blog-series-66-end-of-lifeSustainability in End of Life

By: Becky Janssen Sober and Jacob Dwinnell

Figure 1

The end-of-life phase of textiles should incorporate two key solutions that emphasize the role of the producer in fabric recycling, including fiber regeneration and extended producer responsibility (EPR)(Figure 1). EPR policies extend the responsibility of the producer beyond the production and consumption stage to the end-of-life disposal stage. Through mechanisms such as taxes, subsidies, product performance standards, and product take back programs, the responsibility of product disposal is shifted away from consumers and municipalities to producers by ensuring the producer is responsible for collecting and disposing of the products that they make. This solution creates a circular model between the user and the garment producer by increasing the amount of product that re-enters the cycle. To be successful, stakeholders at all stages of the value chain must be engaged with the process.

Additionally, fiber regeneration is the process of dissolving textiles in specific solvents and transforming them into polymer form, where they are then regenerated into a solid fiber via various spinning techniques. This solution creates a circular model between the user and the raw material producer. Products like cotton (cellulose) and hemp can be largely successful in both solutions, as they are easily
recycled through EPR policies as well as easily broken down through fiber regeneration due to
their minimal to no fibre blends. This has been seen at scale through companies such as Renewcell,
a Swedish textile plant that transforms thousands of tonnes of high cellulose textile waste into
biodegradable pulp that can be used for fiber regeneration, and has been integrated into brands like
Levis, Calvin Klein, and H&M. Mixed blend fibres however, which are largely dominant in the
textile industry today, require further processes applied than individual fibre blends. Here,
processes like ionic liquids can be applied to stimulate fiber separation.

As these have been a recent discovery through R&D processes, they have not been applied at scale yet and require further research and pilot projects to ensure they can be economically and geographically applied. Last, incorporating chemicals into fiber regeneration that are safe, specifically bluesign label certified, would ensure not only improved recycling habits, but also support the usage of safe chemicals
during the textile treatment process. Through incorporating EPR and fiber regeneration into the
textile lifecycle, as well as the addition of safe, bluesign certified chemicals, the end-of-life phase
of textiles can be greatly improved.

]]><![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 5/6 (Use Phase)]]>Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:13:29 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/sustainable-fashion-blog-series-56-use-phaseSustainability in the Use Phase

By: Sydney Hogan and Valerie Lin

Figure 1. Consumer strategies in the sustainable anti-consumption of clothing.

One of the main issues with the use phase of the life cycle of clothing is overconsumption. In 2020, global consumption for clothing was around 62 million tonnes per year, which was projected to increase to over 102 million tons per year by 2030 (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Over the past 15 years, output has doubled, yet the amount of time people wear a clothing item before disposal has decreased by 40% (Gueye, 2021). Since 1999, the United States has seen a 40% increase in the amount of textile waste deposited in landfills by customers due to a combination of factors including rising clothing and shorter clothing lifespans (Niinimäki et al., 2020). Therefore, individuals need to understand their consumption habits and find ways to reduce their overconsumption.

There are several strategies that individuals can use to start reducing their consumption right away. The first falls under the category of abstinence which would be restraining you from purchasing new items and finding ways to utilize your closet (Vesterinen & Syrjälä, 2022). This can start with going through your closet to understand the items you wear most often and other items you are not a fan of. This will allow you to understand your style to prevent you from buying new clothing that does not meet your closet needs. If you were to need to buy something new it is good to ask yourself why you are buying the item and how it will fit in with your current wardrobe. Reducing your shopping frequency not only paves the way for a more sustainable approach but also allows you to invest in high-quality pieces that will last. For example, rather than acquiring numerous inexpensive, synthetic sweaters, consider directing your resources towards a single well-constructed sweater that promises years of lasting quality. This can be done by looking for labels on clothing such as the Bluesign discussed in the manufacturing phase and the clothing materials discussed in the raw materials phase.

A way to utilize your clothing is by taking proper care of it to prolong its use. One way to do this is to read the label of clothing to understand how to properly care for the garment, such as which laundry settings to use. Mending and repairing clothing will also prolong the life of clothing already owned, such as replacing buttons or sewing up holes. Or if an item no longer meets your needs, you can find ways to upcycle the garment to give it a new purpose. However, if the item can not be mended or reused then the garment may be able to be returned to be properly recycled by the original store if they participate in a take-back program.

Therefore, by performing some of these simple steps and becoming more conscious of one’s consumption the use phase of garments can be prolonged resulting in less demand for new clothing and less post-consumer textile waste being produced.

]]><![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 4/6 (Supply Chain)]]>Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:06:43 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/sustainable-fashion-blog-series-46-supply-chainSustainability in the Supply Chain

By: Aryan Janmejay & Reshmi Rajan

Fig: Blockchain application at a store through QR code

Majority of fashion brands these days run on a high-volume low-price model that helps them generate vast amounts of revenue, but it comes at the expense of overproduction and environmental pollution. These problems are further exacerbated by the labour force in the fashion industry being treated as a commodity that can be bought, sold, and controlled in an unethical manner contributing to the negative community and social impacts. The fashion industry should engage in public disclosure of credible and comparable information about their business practices, worker conditions, and socio-environmental impacts of operations. Though this solution is a drop in the bucket for the fashion industry’s sustainable transition, it provides visibility into the processes and conditions through which our clothes are made.
One of the ways to increase transparency and accountability in the fashion industry is through the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR). EPR is defined as an environmental policy in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of its life cycle. Through policies like these, fashion companies can be held responsible for increasing transparency and disclosures around their production practices while also being held accountable for the end-of-life phase of their product. EPR policies have been attributed to positively impacting the environment and communities as they lead to curbing overproduction, encouraging companies to produce better products, and leading to an increase in practices around recycling and circularity. Currently, France is the only country in the world that has implemented EPR for end-of-use clothing, linen, and shoes. This has led to a massive increase in the collection and recycling rates of post-consumer textiles, and significantly increased material recovery rates in the country. Other countries should follow suit and consider implementing EPR policies to increase transparency and accountability in the fashion industry to promote sustainability and responsible production.
EPR policies can be further strengthened through the adoption of blockchain technology. Fashion supply chains are predominantly linear which makes information exchange between parts of the chain extremely difficult. Blockchain technology helps eliminate the linearity and opens communication between all parts of the supply chain leading to effective flow of data and information. In a nutshell, blockchain technology helps increase production traceability which is an integral part for EPR policies to be successful. However, this technology is not cheap and is highly energy intensive which might not be accessible by every company looking to create change.
The figure below shows the mapping of blockchain technology applications using QR codes to enhance consumer experience and improve the transparency and traceability of a company’s products. While the clothing article is being produced, the company can attach a tag with a QR code to the product which when scanned by the customer provides information regarding every part of the product’s supply chain. This information pool is brought together through the use of blockchain technology as it gathers data from different nodes in the chain and feeds it to a central universally accessible platform. This technology has been implemented to great success by several companies in the past, such as Chronicled and Provenance for the fashion house of Martine Jarlgaard. Implementation of this initiative by other fashion brands can aid in increasing supply chain transparency while also increasing the affinity customers have with the clothes they buy.

]]><![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 3/6 (Manufacturing)]]>Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:04:40 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/sustainable-fashion-blog-series-35-manufacturingFashion Manufacturing (Bleaching, Dyeing, Finishing)

By: Aarushi Taneja and Anushuwa Banerjee

Shopping sustainably for clothing is becoming growingly difficult. Not only is there a lack of transparency in the manufacturing process itself, large and accessible retailers are notoriously involved in cost cutting processes that also impact the safety and sustainability of products. For example, several manufacturers utilise toxic chemicals to dye and bleach their clothing, while also inappropriately discharging the waste they produce into water bodies and ecosystems. This process is known as “wet processing” in the manufacturing lifecycle stage for clothing - its name takes after the water intensive procedures used, such as bleaching and dyeing. Needless to say, wet processing is hazardous to consumers, workers, and the environment. In fact, chemicals identified near dyehouse water bodies are implicated in several poor health outcomes, such as cancer, asthma, skin irritation, and lung irritation. Therefore, it is essential to implement solutions that empower consumers to buy products they know are safe, and increase the transparency in the fashion manufacturing process. Not only should solutions decrease the demand for toxic chemicals in the long run, but they should also provide an immediate protective effect on the consumer end.

One possible solution to implement is promoting the use of sustainable dye alternatives. Colorifix dyes is an innovative company that studies dyes and pigments that occur naturally in plants and animals. It then attempts to replicate the gene codes responsible for such colours, and produce pigments that can also be applied to clothing. This method eliminates the need for using many toxic chemicals that are often used in synthetic industrial dyes. Brands like H&M have been able to adopt this at a large scale, as it requires little investment because original dyeing equipment can be used.

Another issue in the fashion manufacturing sphere is the reliance of large companies on the poor environmental regulations of countries in the Global South, to which they often outsource their wet processing to. These include countries like India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Less strict regulations can allow dyehouses to use chemicals that are considered harmful to human health and the environment. Bluesign Labels is a company which acts as a third party consultant, and audits various processes by doing chemical and waste assessments. After assuring that companies are meeting a higher health and environmental standard, they are authorised to use a “bluesign label” on the products they are selling. This solution can be used to help consumers understand what regulations and rules a company is following, and be assured that they are being held to a higher standard. Furthermore, it pushes producers in a more sustainable direction, and provides ready-made standards and frameworks, which eliminates the educational barrier companies may be lacking.

]]><![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 2/6 (Raw Materials)]]>Sat, 09 Dec 2023 22:30:46 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/sustainable-fashion-blog-series-25-raw-materialsSustainable Textiles for Today & Tomorrow

By Maya Gandhi & Morgan Lee

What Consumers Can Do Now: Hemp-based Materials

Cotton is an extremely popular fibre, accounting for over half of the world’s fibre needs, but unfortunately, it is not the most environmentally friendly raw material. Conversely, hemp fibres, made from the waste output of the stalks of the cannabis sativa plant used in marijuana production, is both a better quality fabric and grows in significantly less intensive conditions than cotton, making it much more environmentally friendly. Investing in hemp to match, or even replace, cotton use will significantly reduce environmental impact and waste in the circular economy model.

Hemp fabrics possess all the material advantages of cotton - full biodegradability, durability, tensile strength, softness, antimicrobial features, and UV resistance. In fact, hemp is three times as tensile as cotton, while also being significantly less resource and time-intensive to produce and harvest. Additionally, hemp can be harvested up to 3 times a year, produces 200-250% more fibre for the same amount of land, and uses significantly less water than cotton. For the same two pounds of fibre, cotton requires 5280 gallons, while hemp requires only 80 - most of which is sourced through rainfall. Further, hemp plants require little to no pesticides or chemical treatment and absorb more CO2 during their lifecycle than most trees. Not only are hemp plants agreeable to a wide range of soils and climate, hemp also has phytoremediation characteristics that actively repair the soil it grows in.

Despite the lifecycle of hemp clothing being significantly more environmentally friendly than cotton, it is not without the common pitfalls of natural fibre. Hemp wrinkles and creases - a problem that is often remedied by blending with synthetic fibres. Hemp based clothing is also more expensive due to its current scale, demand, and popularity among consumers. Additionally, many consumers still associate hemp with a criminalized and stigmatized recreational drug, remaining uneducated and resistant to learn about the benefits of hemp. On balance, however, hemp is a raw material with the potential to play a substantive and disruptive role in enabling sustainable transitions in the clothing industry.

What the Future Holds: Paper Mill Sludge-based Materials

While envisioning a future where hemp is not the only option for a sustainable fibre, it isn’t odd that paper mill sludge-based materials come to mind. A 2021 study used paper mill sludge - a by-product of paper manufacturing - to produce regenerated cellulose filaments that can be used to create textiles. The study found that increasing the concentration of the paper mill sludge-based material could improve the filament properties, making it competitive with other less sustainable regenerated cellulose fibres.

Despite the study’s success, this filament regeneration method is still in its early stages and found that the high cost of the solvent was limiting to its commercial potential - a common barrier to sustainable innovation as producers often pass on the increased cost to the consumer, decreasing the motivation to purchase sustainably. While paper mill sludge-based materials could be a popular trend of the future, currently, sustainable fabrics are approximately 2.5 to 4 times more expensive than more common fabrics, making them largely inaccessible. Given this, hemp based clothing is where sustainable consumers should focus their energy for now.

]]><![CDATA[Sustainable Fashion Blog Series - 1/6]]>Sat, 09 Dec 2023 22:21:11 GMThttp://www.miriamldiamond.com/sustainable-fashion-env1114/introduction-to-the-textile-industry-15Introduction to the Textile Industry

The textile industry is a global, highly lucrative industry which is essential to the economies, livelihoods, and culture of countries across the globe. However, the historical boom in textile manufacturing has resulted in unsustainable growth, production, and consumption, introducing sustainability issues such as pollution and unfavorable employment conditions. These conditions are further complicated by the lengthy value chain throughout the textile industry which includes, 1) agricultural and chemical sourcing of fibres, 2) yarn and 3) textile manufacturing, 4) sewing, 5) distribution, 6) consumption, and 7) waste. Due to the varied nature of this process, each stage produces a range of waste products and pollutants:

The raw materials phase of the life cycle has significant impacts on the environment through the processes of eutrophication, land occupation, and land transformation. In addition, this phase of the life cycle involves the use of Persistent Organic Chemicals which harm ecosystems for long periods of time.
For the manufacturing phase, the use of toxic and polluting processes such as wet processing, and the excessive use of water, makes it arguably the most environmentally damaging portion of the textile lifecycle, and the most harmful to human health.
The role consumers play in this process is highlighted in the use phase of the lifecycle where the trends of overconsumption and decreasing garment lifespans, along with resource intensive laundering practices, lead to the creation of a significant amount of resource consumption during use, and waste after disposal.
The end of life phase of the lifecycle is marked by the excessive amount of post consumer waste generated after use. For example, roughly three-quarters of the textiles produced globally end up in landfill, while only approximately twenty five percent are reused or recycled. This issue becomes even more striking when it is noted that of all the garments discarded, only five percent truly need to be, with roughly sixty percent in a condition able to be reused, and thirty-five percent in a state that could be recycled in various ways.
Underwriting the whole lifecycle is the fashion supply chain, which leads to a number of negative externalities stemming from rapid production cycles and a requirement to meet the trend of overconsumption present in society. This is made more problematic due to the lack of transparency observed in fashion supply chains, particularly when looking at the fast fashion brands that currently dominate the landscape.

Due to these issues throughout each stage, a variety of solutions are needed to make the textile lifecycle more sustainable. These solutions will be explored in this blog series.

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