Impact of additional carbon storage of natural plant fiber on product carbon footprint: A case study of cotton/kapok blended T-shirt VS pure cotton T-shirt

Abstract

Researchers have drawn their attention to natural plant fibers in recent years owing to the significant energy consumption and detrimental environmental impact of textile and apparel industry and the imperative of environmental protection. While the potential for mitigating carbon emissions of apparel products deriving from woody versus herbaceous fiber crops remains unclear. Moreover, extant studies only take limited processes as a case demonstration, rather than exploring the impact of additional carbon storage throughout the whole life cycle. Therefore, this study extended the system boundary to the whole life cycle of products from the raw material extraction to the end-of-life disposal stage, conducted a whole life cycle carbon footprint (CF) analysis of cotton/kapok blended T-shirts and pure cotton T-shirts at each stage of their life cycle based on carbon storage accounting method. The results revealed that the CF of 1 kg pure cotton T-shirt is 9.469 kg CO2eq, while for 1 kg cotton/kapok blended T-shirt, it's −24.249 kg CO2eq. Correspondingly, the carbon storages of these T-shirts are −15.653 kg CO2eq and −43.442 kg CO2eq, respectively. This proved that long-term additional carbon storage may possess relatively higher carbon storage due to woody crops' multi-annuality compared with herbaceous crops. When considering carbon emissions during industrial manufacturing and consumer use stages, it's recommended to opt for heavier T-shirts when fabric thickness between pure cotton and cotton/kapok blended T-shirts are comparable, as this choice may align better with environmental considerations, and adopting appropriate washing and caring practices such as choosing lighter-weight garments, utilizing appropriate washing program and detergent dose, opting for air-drying and avoiding ironing when caring for clothing are also advised. The study results affirmed the feasibility of achieving carbon neutrality in apparel products and could provide methodological guidance for future assessment for future research.