A Circular Economy Handbook by Catherine Weetman

Author:Catherine Weetman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Kogan Page
Published: 2020-11-02T18:30:00+00:00

Renewable inputs

Whilst fibres from cotton, wool, linen and other plant or animal sources are renewable, pressure on land use, and the environmental impacts of production, undermine their suitability for a truly sustainable process. Wool can be a by-product from sheep meat production; however, over centuries, specific breeds of sheep, such as merino, were bred to provide wool fibres suited to clothing, thus producing high quantities of wool instead of meat. Natural fibres may also have mineral sources, such as asbestos – which does not meet our ‘safe’ criteria for a textile fibre!

To minimize the use of land, we should follow a hierarchy of priorities for biomaterials, using agricultural or manufacturing waste flows, followed by post-consumer waste, then looking at crops that can grow on poor land, or perhaps from sustainable forests (harvesting some leaves, cork bark, etc) without displacing food crops.

Plant-based

Natural fibres produced using organic farming methods have lower environmental footprints. The Textile Exchange, a non-profit organization, has a website dedicated to organic cotton. It explains that cotton is often grown in water-scarce areas using irrigation, whereas organic cotton is 80 per cent rain-fed, which reduces pressure on local water sources.45 Organic farming does not use synthetic pesticides, meaning water running off the fields is cleaner and safer. Organic farming uses 80 per cent less energy and thus produces 80 per cent fewer GHG emissions. Organic fibres may be linked to food crops: cottonseed oil is used in a variety of food products and is also fed to livestock. Every cotton garment made by outdoor brand Patagonia, from 1996 onwards, is organic.

Improvements in natural fibres include hemp and other ‘bast’ fibres (plant fibres collected from the phloem, or outer skin of certain plants, such as ramie, hemp or nettle). Patagonia says it blends hemp with TENCEL® lyocell and organic cotton for superior strength and durability, creating a soft, lightweight and breathable material.

Camira, a UK textile company, uses nettles and hemp to make textiles for upholstery, health care, transport and domestic sectors. Camira highlights the inherent fire-retardant properties of its wool and bast fibre ranges, also including flax and jute recycled from coffee sacks. These need ‘no chemical treatments to meet the main contract and domestic flammability standards’.46

Choosing fibres that can be a co-product of food production helps make better use of land and production resources, and may reduce problematic waste at the farm.

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