Diego Peñaloza is a senior life cycle assessment researcher at RISE, Sweden’s research institute. He works mainly with textiles and garments, biobased materials and construction products. Diego is part of the EU-funded New Cotton project that uses novel technology to recycle textile waste into a fibre very similar to cotton.
What are the environmental and climate impacts of the textile industry?
Diego Peñaloza: The issue with textiles is the amount of consumption, but it also depends on what type of impact you are looking at: with cotton, the water footprint is a huge deal, while with polyester fibres, which are fossil based, it is the climate impact that is a big issue.
Then there are other fibres, as viscose where there are issues related to biomass feedstock, which may have a large water footprint and require chemicals in their manufacturing.
So it depends on the fibres being used and then also on their processing, like spinning yarns, weaving or knitting fabrics, which then need to be finished, treated, bleached or dyed. There can be significant impacts in there as well, for example in terms of the chemicals in finishing and dyeing which can cause pollution and have ecotoxicity impacts.
You work on life cycle assessment, what is this exactly?
Diego Peñaloza: Life cycle assessment is a systems analysis tool used to analyse the environmental impact of a product from the cradle, so the moment raw materials are extracted, all the way until the product’s end of life. You need to account for all the processes that are in between: in transport, manufacturing, use, how it is washed, etc.
Then, one very important aspect of life cycle assessment is that you have a functional unit, where you calculate environmental impact per function.
So, for example a T-shirt that is bought and used twice, then all of these impacts I described are huge, as they are allocated to just two uses of the T-shirt, which would be much more than if it were to be used ten times. Then, there is also what happens next, if instead of throwing it out it is given to second hand shop and someone else uses it. So function is a key component of life cycle assessment.
How can the textile industry become more sustainable?
Diego Peñaloza: It’s very important that we make fashion more circular, because a big share of the impacts come from the production of fibres, be it cotton cultivation and production or the extraction of oil to make polyester and other fossil-based fibres. But if you make the fibres out of waste textiles, then you will reduce the environmental impact, as you will skip parts of the value chain and their impacts.
You then also need to make sure that the next steps are also better, such as having a cleaner finishing or bleaching process.
One risk to be aware of when making fashion more circular, is that we shouldn’t then become more relaxed with environmental measures. So if I buy a T-shirt that is made of recycled fibres, I shouldn’t just use it once and throw it away.
It doesn’t matter how good we are with the fibres, we need to make sure that the products are made of good quality and can have a long life and be used many times. Then we can really have something that fulfils its function with a lower environmental impact and is truly more sustainable.
Where does the impetus for this greater sustainability need to come from? For example, the Extended Producer Responsibility proposed as part of the revision of the Waste Framework Directive aims to discourage fast fashion practices in companies, is this a step in the right direction?
Diego Peñaloza: Yes, because that will make them think twice about putting out products that are difficult to recycle, because that’s another big problem right now. One of the challenges is that we have so many blended fabrics and we also have very poor information about the true composition of garments.
For example, sometimes a garment will contain elastane but it will not be on the label. That makes the recycling process very difficult. So if companies are made responsible for this, they will make products that are easier to recycle, as well as products that last longer and can be reused more, so in the end they have to pay less. I am not sure how this responsibility will be enforced, but I think it is positive.
Can you tell us about the Horizon 2020 funded New Cotton project?
Diego Peñaloza: We used a novel technology, a pilot plant to recycle post-consumer textiles. I think the most innovative, more ground-breaking part of the technology is that the output it produces is very close to actual cotton.
Currently when you recycle cotton, it involves chemical recycling of the cellulose and from that you most commonly get viscose. When that viscose is used to make a garment and the time comes to recycle it again, it is very difficult to recycle viscose.
So the fact that the output [of New Cotton] is so close to cotton and they were able to put it in the market through the project, that means we could successfully have a permanent loop.
Are there limitations to textile recycling? What other solutions are needed?
Diego Peñaloza: Textiles and fashion, it’s a complex sector as there are all sorts of different types of fabrics with different properties and purposes – and so there cannot be only one solution. With blended fabrics, for example a cotton-polyester blend, you need to figure out how to separate the different components, and then do something with each part, but recycling cellulose and polyester is very different. So there are myriad different potential solutions and you may end up with lots of waste streams if recycling post-consumer waste. One thing to keep in the mind is that in the future we are going to need a very good sorting system, because to sort these streams we need faster and more reliable sorting to ensure the quality of the recycling outputs.
What is your outlook for the future of sustainability in the textile industry?
Diego Peñaloza: I am optimistic in the sense that I see a lot of focus, at least in the European Union, on regulating and policy. I think that is very important, otherwise things will continue as they are.
It is a big challenge, but there are lots of benefits to be had from just small improvements; only around 1% of textile waste output is recycled, but that means there is lots of room for improvement which could then have huge consequences downstream.
Policies are very important, as are companies, as they’re the ones who put out the products. But I think us as consumers, we need to be smarter, not only in the awareness of the environmental impact of the clothes we wear, but also of the quality of the products we buy.
If companies are forced to take responsibility, then that will increase the prices of garments, especially those of lower quality, which will make consumers think more about their pockets, that is the most effective way to affect consumer behaviour.
Then there are also the social ramifications of these cheap clothes, that they are cheap because they are made by workers in poor conditions. Another thing that makes me feel positive is the amount of research being done and funding available for textiles, which is very important.