Evaluating Carbon footprint of Fabric made from Virgin Cotton Vs. Recycled Cotton: An LCA Case Study
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Main Presenter: Madhuri Nigam
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Background
Meeting consumer demand of clothing significantly strains natural resources, and solutions are needed to handle the large amounts of waste generated. New clothing has many environmental costs: CO2 emissions, chemical pollution, and high water and land usage. These make it crucial to explore the dynamics of recycling used clothing/post-consumer clothing. Over the years, researchers have come to emphasize on ethical sourcing, circular fashion principles, and awareness among consumers reflecting on a growing recognition of the need for systemic changes in the fashion industry.
Objective
The goal of this work is to understand the carbon footprint of cotton fabric which is the most used textile in the world. We aimed to study the sources of impacts – scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3. We also attempted to make a comparison of this textile vis-a-vis a fabric made from recycled/post-consumer/used clothing, to establish the potential benefits of replacing virgin cotton with the recycled one.
Approach and methods
This present work is the result of a LCA case study conducted at a textile recycling unit in Panipat with additional data from other SMEs in Mumbai. Our goal was to evaluate the carbon footprint of recycled cotton fabric as compared to virgin fibre based cotton fabric and determine how different modes of transportation can significantly have impacts on transport related emissions.
Key findings
The data collected from SMEs led to showing a potential reduction in total carbon emissions when we replace the raw material with recycled cotton, in terms of cost and market value. Developments in recycling technology allow recycled materials to get back into the production as raw materials. This reduces reliance on virgin materials and decreases the amount of waste, resource use and related carbon emissions thus paving the way toward a more sustainable and circular fashion economy.
Novelty or significance
● The work covers textiles, a very significant sector for the global sustainability journey; in the face of ever-increasing trends of consumerism and fast fashion. This work supports the call for circularity and resource efficiency.
● It highlights that if a vast amount of post-consumer clothing can be diverted to manufacturing it can help significantly add value to waste and reduce dependency on virgin materials, and also make the process of recycling profitable for companies.
● The information about environment impact created by SMEs can help in enhancing their potential market by displaying their product footprint and reduction values from the conventional.
Keywords: carbon footprint, circular fashion, textile recycling, textile waste
