Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780081001875
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Management
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of textile products, from raw material extraction, through fibre processing, textile manufacture, distribution and use, to disposal or recycling. LCA is an important tool for the research and development process, product and process design, and labelling of textiles and clothing. Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing systematically covers the LCA process with comprehensive examples and case studies.

Part one of the book covers key indicators and processes in LCA, from carbon and ecological footprints to disposal, re-use and recycling. Part two then discusses a broad range of LCA applications in the textiles and clothing industry.

• Covers the LCA process and its key indicators, including carbon and ecological footprints, disposal, re-use and recycling
• Examines the key developments of LCA in the textile and clothing industries
• Provides a wide range of case studies and examples of LCA applications in the textile and clothing industries

Part One

Key indicators and processes in LCA

Outline

1. Carbon footprints in the textile industry

2. Energy footprints in the textile industry

3. Ecological footprints in the textile industry

4. Measuring the reusability of textile products

5. Environmental impacts of the use phase of the clothing life cycle

6. Open- and closed-loop recycling of textile and apparel products

7. Life cycle assessment method for environmental impact evaluation and certification systems for textiles and clothing

8. Environmental impact assessment methods for textiles and clothing

1

Carbon footprints in the textile industry

G. Peters¹, M. Svanström¹, S. Roos^1,2, G. Sandin^1,3, and B. Zamani^{1 1}Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden ²Swerea IVF, Mölndal, Sweden ³SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås, Sweden

Abstract

Climate change is a key environmental challenge of our time. Carbon footprinting is a key environmental accounting tool for business managers, policy makers and non-governmental organisations attempting to identify mitigation measures that reduce the threat of climate change. The textile industry is increasingly engaged in carbon footprinting as a part of policy development and product design. As is the case for any accounting tool, there are a number of methodological issues that need to be handled by analysts producing carbon footprint calculations, and by the consumers of such information, in order to ensure that the information is meaningful in its particular context. This chapter describes these key challenges, the standardisation processes that have arisen to meet them, the outcomes of practical carbon footprint calculations for textile manufacturing facilities and textile products, and recent work on carbon labelling of products. It also attempts to describe current trends and attempts to qualitatively extrapolate future developments in this field.

Keywords

Carbon footprint; Labels; Methodology; Standards; Textile processes; Textiles

1.1. Introduction

Anthropogenic climate change has damaged overall agricultural productivity, has pushed species out of their normal habitats, and is expected to accelerate species extinctions on our planet (IPCC, 2014). If political activity is an indication, climate change is considered to be one of the most important environmental problems of the last 100 years. Few issues associated with the chemistry of our environment have motivated the same level of international engagement, with some exceptions like the efforts in relation to the protection of the stratospheric ozone layer (resulting in the Montreal Protocol) and the elimination of some persistent chemical compounds (resulting in the Stockholm Convention).

It is no wonder then that assessing textiles and other products with respect to their contributions to climate change is increasingly popular (Shen and Patel, 2008; Peters et al., 2014). Carbon footprinting is the central method for doing this, and it takes into account the relative importance of different greenhouse gases (discussed further below). Another key feature of carbon footprinting is that it typically attempts to take a perspective of emissions that encompasses the entire life cycle of a product or service. So in the case of a T-shirt, this means considering the greenhouse gas emissions all the way from the cultivation of cotton through to the ultimate disposal of the T-shirt (see Muthu, 2014, for more detail on the elements of the life cycle).

Carbon footprinting is a simplified form of product environmental footprint (PEF) calculation, and both tools are ultimately based on ISO14040, the global standard for life cycle assessment (LCA). Carbon footprinting is simplified in the sense that only one impact category (climate change) is considered, while a PEF or LCA will typically consider other resource, environmental and human health categories, like energy consumption, impacts on habitat and the emission of carcinogens. International standards are discussed further in Section 1.3 of this chapter. Baumann and Tillman (2004) produced an easily read, classic guide to LCA, which is a good place to learn the basics of carbon footprinting. What follows in the remainder of the introduction is a very brief description of the method.

ISO14040 describes LC...