We need clothes. This is a fact. In our modern world, it is simple enough to get our clothing. We purchase an item, wear it several times, and then dump it.
Although the actual cost of our t-shirts, jeans, or dresses is still not widely calculated or communicated.
According to the global collaborative platform Fashion for Good, on average, we buy 60% more clothing than we did 15 years ago. However, we keep each item for only half as long. Moreover, it is estimated that nearly 60% of all the clothes produced end up being burned or in landfills within one year of being made.
Besides consumption, production and raw materials are just as essential to make the fashion industry sustainable.
Exploring organic waste in sustainable fashion
The change in the fashion industry is a must, and it has to start from the very beginning of the current fashion system. To deal with the environmental impact of this sector, the European Commission introduced a plan to make it greener, more competitive, and resistant to global shocks. The EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles was adopted in March 2021, including proposed actions to change how clothes are produced and consumed.
In accordance with this approach, academia, the non-profit sector, and clothing brands are working together to find new sources of textile fibre. It means producing garments from alternative raw materials.
Using agricultural waste in the fashion industry might sound far-fetched at first.
Still, recent research, the Spinning Future Threads report, commissioned by the Laudes Foundation, shows enough usable agricultural residue streams from farming in South and Southeast Asia to produce large-scale natural fibre textiles. After looking at more than 40 crops, the study concluded that large quantities of agricultural residues in eight countries would be available for fashion fibre production.
“To reduce its growing dependence on fossil fuels, the fashion industry must prioritise and accelerate its transition to a circular and regenerative system. There is an incredible opportunity to create value out of waste. This report looks at the huge potential of agricultural residue as a possible feedstock for textile fibre, outlining not just suitability but also the hotspots,” said Anita Chester, Head of Materials at the Laudes Foundation.
The Untapped Agricultural Waste Project launched by Fashion for Good is strongly linked to this area.
The initiative aims to explore how to acquire new natural fibres from agricultural waste to blend with conventional ones while building on the findings from the Spinning Future Threads study that identified in these residues an opportunity to develop new materials for the fashion supply chain.
“The extraction and processing of virgin, conventional fibres such as cotton and polyester account for up to 39% of greenhouse gas emissions in the textile supply chain. Raw material innovation is essential to reducing these emissions. The next generation of materials is key if the industry is to decarbonise its supply chain,” points out Jothi Kanayalal, Innovation Associate at Fashion for Good.
According to Fashion for Good:
“Up to 92 million tonnes of agricultural waste is burned annually in India alone, which in 2017 resulted in approximately 149 million tonnes of CO2. At the same time, the extraction and processing of virgin, conventional fibres such as cotton and polyester accounts for up to 39% of greenhouse gas emissions in the textile supply chain.”
Next steps in making fashion circular
We are used to wearing clothes made with polyester, modal or cotton. However, some of these materials are obtained from fossil fuel origins. Others demand massive resources such as water, chemicals, intensive land use -including deforestation of endangered forests- and unfair labour relations.
The sustainable textile industry demands new raw materials to become environmentally friendly. The Spinning Future Threads research found that agricultural residues from Asian countries are an available raw material resource for the textile sector. This continent accounts for 63% of the global agricultural value and has the largest share of cropland. Moreover, the massive volume of agricultural residues represents a formidable environmental threat.
Currently, rural communities clear their fields for the next season by burning large-scale crop wastes. This practice led to environmental damage and pollution.
“Agri-wastes in the fashion industry have the potential to reduce extensive crop incineration, generate additional revenue streams for low-income agricultural communities and activate long-term sustainable resources that are less land, water, and energy-intensive for textile production”, marks Kanayalal.
The Fashion for Good ethos highlights, “Good fashion is not fashion that simply looks good or is mostly good. It is good in five important ways”.
“The Five Goods represent an aspirational framework we can all use to work towards a world in which we do not simply take, make, waste, but rather take, make, renew, restore,” says William McDonough, Co-founder of Fashion for Good.
Good Materials – safe, healthy and designed for reuse and recycling
Good Economy – growing, circular, shared and benefiting everyone
Good Energy – renewable and clean
Good water – clean and available to all
Good Lives – living and working conditions that are just, safe and dignified
The future of fashion innovation: A t-shirt made of banana peel?
The ‘Untapped Agricultural Waste Project’ is an 18-month program to assess the technical feasibility of creating and preparing new materials for broader adoption in the fashion supply chain.
Six innovator companies- AltMat, Bananatex, Chlorohemp, Agraloop by Circular Systems, HempTex India, and 9Fiber - are exploring how to blend traditional natural fibres such as cotton with the highest percentage possible of agricultural waste. Mixing is necessary because agro-residue-based fibres lack softness and flexibility. With catalytic funding provided by Laudes Foundation, they are working together with Adidas, Bestseller, Vivobarefoot and Birla Cellulose.
For instance, Bananatex® is the world’s first durable, technical fabric made purely from naturally grown Abacá banana plants.
Currently, the project is developing strands with hemp, banana, and pineapple waste to create blends for different applications in the apparel and footwear industry.
“This ambitious project explores a new source of feedstocks for the fashion industry that, if scaled, will help drive both the agriculture and textile industry towards net-zero.
We see great potential for these various agriculture waste streams that would otherwise have few secondary uses. By applying innovative technologies to develop natural fibres, we can diminish the pressure on existing natural fibres and shift away from unsustainable materials and sources,” added Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good.
Future innovation in this field could research better blends to improve new materials' durability, flexibility, and elasticity while increasing the percentage of agro-residue-based fibres over conventional ones.
A successful experiment could appeal to industry and brands to incorporate these new approaches into their products. Moreover, this is a step toward achieving a textile industry in balance with the planet, workers, and consumers.
This article was produced by Business Spirit News and published by Profit with Purpose Magazine.