Abstract
Abstract This study presents the environmental impact of apparel consumption in Australia using life cycle assessment methodology according to ISO14040/14044:2006. Available published references, the Ecoinvent v3 dataset, the Australian life cycle assessment dataset and apparel country-wise import data with the breakdown of apparel type and fibre type were used in this study. The environmental impact assessment results of the functional unit were scaled up to the total apparel consumption. The impact results were also normalized on a per-capita/year basis. The Total Climate Change Potential (CCP) impact from apparel consumption of 2015 was estimated to be 16 607 028 tonnes CO2eq and 698.07 kg CO2eq/per capita-year. This study also assessed the impact of acidification potential (AP), water depletion (WD), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP) - fossil fuel and agricultural land occupation (ALO) using the same methodology. The market volume of cotton apparel in Australia is 53.97 %, which accounts for 45 %, 96 %, 40 %, 46 % and 79 % of total CCP, WD, ADP, AP and ALO impact, respectively. Apparel broad categories of cotton shirt, cotton trouser, polyester shirt and polyester trouser have a high volume in the apparel market as well as a high environmental impact contribution. These high-volume apparel products can be included in the prioritization list to reduce environmental impact throughout the apparel supply chain. It was estimated that from 2010 to 2018 the per capita apparel consumption and corresponding impact increased by 24 %.
Highlights
According to the fashion industry report by Global Fashion Agenda & the Boston Consulting Group, the global apparel consumption was about 62 million tonne in 2015 [1]
This study addresses this research gap by applying an life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to assess the environmental impact of apparel consumption in Australia
Apparel consumption can be estimated according to the report of the European Commissions Joint Research Centre [22] as follows: Net Consumption = National Production + Imports – Exports In Australia, demand for clothing and apparel is mainly met through imports, which account for about 92 % [31]
Summary
According to the fashion industry report by Global Fashion Agenda & the Boston Consulting Group, the global apparel consumption was about 62 million tonne in 2015 [1]. The worldwide apparel consumption continued to rise with population growth and it is expected to rise by 63 %, from 62 million tonne to 102 million tonnes by 2030 [1]. Textile and apparel products include home textile (bed linens, table linens, curtains, kitchen linens, towels, etc.) and apparel textile (T-shirts, trousers, sweaters, jackets, etc.). The demand for textile and apparel products, and textile and apparel production, is increasing. The production of the textile products is associated with environmental impacts, including emissions and resource depletion
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