Textile Industry Sustainability In 2024
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 18 January 2024 04:59
As the fashion industry continues to grapple with sustainability challenges, Catherine Salvidge, the Strategic Technical Manager for Textiles at the non-profit organization WRAP, provides insights into what lies ahead in 2024. In 2023, despite some positive steps taken by brands and retailers to enhance sustainability in design, manufacturing, and recycling, the environmental impact of the fashion industry remained substantial.
In 2024, a key focus will be on increasing circularity in design, adopting circular business models, and minimizing production volumes. The Textiles 2030 Annual Progress Report by WRAP revealed that although carbon and water impacts were reduced by 12% and 4%, respectively, between 2019 and 2022, an overall increase in production and consumption by 13% offset these gains.
Circular Design and Business Models: Catherine emphasizes that up to 80% of a product's environmental impact is determined during the design phase. Initiatives like the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, with eco-design requirements, aim to hold brands accountable. WRAP predicts that circular design, particularly focusing on product durability, will be a crucial aspect of sustainability efforts in 2024.
Addressing Overproduction: The fashion industry's increasing production levels pose a significant challenge. Brands are urged to report on production volumes, and legislation is being developed to ban unsold stock from being sent to landfill. Retailers need to explore ways to reduce and manage surplus and unsold products through improved forecasting, on-demand production models, and technologies like 3D body scanning.
Closing the Loop on Materials: Urgent financial support is needed for the reuse and recycling sector to scale and innovate. Projects like the UK Research and Innovation-funded Automatic-sorting for Circular Textiles Demonstrator and Project Re:claim aim to advance recycling technologies. Partnerships between brands and recyclers, like Zara's collaboration with Circ, are crucial for scaling these initiatives.
Water Footprint: The industry's water footprint is a growing concern, driven by cotton use and increasing production volumes. Collaboration is needed to identify and stimulate the market for sustainable alternatives, such as organic, regenerative, and recycled cottons, and next-gen manmade cellulosic fibers.
Collaboration and Partnerships: Given the complexity of sustainability challenges, collaboration and partnerships are key to driving systemic change. Initiatives like Textiles 2030 aim to unite organizations across the textiles value chain for a more sustainable future.
In summary, 2024 is expected to witness a heightened focus on circularity, addressing overproduction, closing the loop on materials, and tackling the industry's water footprint, with collaboration and partnerships playing a central role in achieving meaningful progress.