Sustainability has grown as an area of concern in the apparel industry. Years ago the emphasis was on child labor and fair pay. More recently sustainability reviews have focused on the use and treatment of raw materials through manufacturing and shipment processes to retail. The potential careless use and management of toxic chemicals and the fate of garments and material not sold are being scrutinized and is leading many in the industry to change practices.

Spurred by Walmart and other partners, fashion industry heavyweights, including Gap, H&M, and Nike recently started a “Make Fashion Circular” initiative to change the “throw away” mentality and create business models to keep clothes in use longer, utilize safer, renewable materials, and implement operations to turn used clothes into new ones.

Reducing Solid Waste

A major sustainability issue affecting the apparel industry is solid waste. An estimated 75% of all fashion chain materials are disposed of and end up in landfills or equivalent. Less than 1% is recycled or re-purposed. The value of switching raw materials to those that can have other uses or are more easily recyclable is being communicated.

Earlier this year, several major clothing lines announced new programs addressing this issue, ranging from using a new organic wool clothing line to the growing use of sustainably sourced cotton to promoting a closed material cycle. In addition, other new programs being established emphasized recycling, such as re-use of discarded cotton and polyester fabrics and eliminating the use of virgin plastic.

Hemp As A Sustainable Apparel Material

With the legalization of cannabis across the U.S., people are taking another look at the hemp plant for its wide variety of uses, not just medicinal. Hemp has been cultivated for industrial purposes by many civilizations for well over 10,000 years. Hemp fiber was and is one of the strongest and most durable of all natural textile fibers. Hemp was the desired fiber used to manufacture clothing as well as other things including building materials, paper, rope, and canvas, until alternative textiles and synthetics for these purposes were discovered. But hemp is making a comeback in the apparel industry.

In terms of lifecycle, hemp doesn’t wear out, it wears in – holding its shape and stretching less than any other natural fiber — the ultimate when it comes to reducing waste. Since hemp is porous, it is very water absorbent and will dye and retain its color better than any other fabric. Hemp apparel is naturally cool to wear in warm weather and warm in cool weather. It is mildew resistant, is resistant to ultraviolet light, and softens with age. Apparel made from hemp incorporates all the beneficial qualities and will likely last longer and withstand harsh conditions. Hemp blended with other fibers easily incorporates the desirable qualities of both textiles. Not only is it an excellent yarn for clothing, but also an excellent yarn for bed and bath linens, and table linens.

Hemp is a renewable material, producing 250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax using the same amount of land. Hemp’s root system is strong, anchoring and protecting the soil from runoff, building and preserving topsoil and subsoil structures as seen in forests. Hemp leaves the soil in excellent condition for succeeding crops.
With such sustainable qualities like durability and the potential to be produced cheaply, hemp textiles are the wave of the future!

Dyeing and Finishing

Another major sustainability issue in this industry is use of chemicals in dyeing and finishing processes, which form highly-polluting and toxic gases which can adversely affect health of residents downwind of manufacturing facilities. The problem is that manufacturers do not want to change their chemicals or procedures lest the product change its appearance and be less attractive (and sell less) or the substitute chemicals or procedures be more expensive, a difficult cost to bear in a competitive market.

Despite these concerns, some firms have seen reducing or changing usage as an opportunity to save costs. Several firms have implemented new technologies to use much fewer chemicals in the dyeing or treatment process for jeans and other clothes.

“Re-Commercing”

A final growing sustainable movement in the apparel industry is re-commercing, taking clothing that does not sell, returning them to distribution or manufacturing centers to either wait until it may grow in demand or to modify them or use parts to manufacture other sellable apparel. Several major brands are instituting such programs.

CCES has the experts to help your firm develop economic and creative ways to improve your sustainability. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.

And for more information about hemp and how its use can help you in apparel and in many other applications, contact Ms. Bonnie Hagen of Bright Energy Services at 347- 470-7090 or at bonnie@brightenergyservices.com.