The question of ethical business is not a new one to the clothing industry and if something does not appear right to the western clothing consumer they will shout about it, media will dishonour the company in question, and brands can be ruined. Sweat shops, child labour, poor wages, forced overtime are all issues which are now addressed by nearly every exporter.
Now we have further challenges for the industry. Corporate social responsibility, eco-friendliness, sustainability, traceability of hazardous substances are all now required, and all throughout an elongated and complex global supply chain. From the issue of forced child labour in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, to the amount of water involved in dyeing tee shirts with different compositions of cotton, noxious chemicals used in the finishing processes, methane emitting sheep destroying the ozone layer, forced overtime in Chinese clothing factories. Every aspect of the supply chain has ramifications as to the acceptability of a garment. Texprocess from 24 to 27 May 2011 in Frankfurt am Main shows new systems and technologies helping to realize more sustainablitity in the textile and clothing industry.
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the ever increasing demands on resources, caused by human overpopulation, the
impact of contemporary western lifestyles, expanding industrialisation, the huge disparity between rich and poor, and other issues which are bringing widespread degradation and destruction of the natural environment on which all life ultimately depends. This concern is affecting all aspects of life, including the purchasing decisions of the end customers. They want to know that the garment they are buying, and the way it has been produced, is sustainable, i.e., it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; it embraces the main interdependent and indivisible areas of environmental protection, economic and social development.
The textile and clothing industry is a diverse one, as much in the raw materials it uses as the techniques it employs. At each of the six stages typically required to make a garment, the negative impacts on the environment are as numerous as they are varied. Spinning, weaving and fabric manufacture undermine air quality, use much electricity, and create noise. Dyeing and printing consume vast amounts of water and chemicals, and may release numerous volatile agents into the atmosphere and water that are particularly harmful to our health. Garment making tends to be carried out in low cost labour countries where labour ethics may still be questionable and certainly require monitoring.
A focus on textile sustainability enables the entire value chain to find cost savings and production efficiencies and pass those savings on to customers while reducing the impact of textile production on people and the environment.
Facts:
Textile waste occupies nearly 5% of all landfill space; one million tons of textiles will end up in a landfill every year.
According to the World Bank 20% of industrial fresh water pollution comes from textile treatment and dyeing. In 2009, the world used three trillion gallons of fresh water to produce 60 billion kilograms of fabric; it takes 700 gallons of fresh water to make one cotton t-shirt.
0ne trillion kilowatt hours is used every year by the global textile
industry which equates to 10% of total global carbon impact.
There is a request from more and more buyers around the world for goods and products to be acquired from suppliers whose key
parameters such as quality controls, compliance with mandatory standards, and presence of critical components or hazardous substances must be traceable up to and including the supply of raw materials. There is a wealth of eco-certification, and legislation such as REACH. Systems and controls need to be in place to monitor these, such as IT systems, RFID, and much else. Machinery and equipment is becoming more environmentally friendly with lower noise emissions, lower energy usage, and using less oil lubricant.
Much of this will be on show at the brand new biennial exhibition, Texprocess, which is being established by Messe Frankfurt as the new leading international trade fair for processing textile and other flexible materials. This event for the garment and textile processing industry will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 24 to 27 May 2011, parallel to the already well established Techtextil, the international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens. Texprocess will promote all the latest international technological innovations in the sector with products covering the entire supply chain from design, pattern production, cutting, making up and finishing to logistics, information technologies and technical accessories.
