Abstract
PurposeGarment production and use generate substantial environmental impacts, and the care and use are key determinants of cradle-to-grave impacts. The present study investigated the potential to reduce environmental impacts by applying best practices for garment care combined with increased garment use. A wool sweater is used as an example because wool garments have particular attributes that favour reduced environmental impacts in the use phase.MethodsA cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare six plausible best and worst-case practice scenarios for use and care of a wool sweater, relative to current practices. These focussed on options available to consumers to reduce impacts, including reduced washing frequency, use of more efficient washing machines, reduced use of machine clothing dryers, garment reuse by multiple users, and increasing number of garment wears before disposal. A sixth scenario combined all options. Worst practices took the worst plausible alternative for each option investigated. Impacts were reported per wear in Western Europe for climate change, fossil energy demand, water stress and freshwater consumption.Results and discussionWashing less frequently reduced impacts by between 4 and 20%, while using more efficient washing machines at capacity reduced impacts by 1 to 6%, depending on the impact category. Reduced use of machine dryer reduced impacts by < 5% across all indicators. Reusing garments by multiple users increased life span and reduced impacts by 25–28% across all indicators. Increasing wears from 109 to 400 per garment lifespan had the largest effect, decreasing impacts by 60% to 68% depending on the impact category. Best practice care, where garment use was maximised and care practices focussed on the minimum practical requirements, resulted in a ~ 75% reduction in impacts across all indicators. Unsurprisingly, worst-case scenarios increased impacts dramatically: using the garment once before disposal increased GHG impacts over 100 times.ConclusionsWool sweaters have potential for long life and low environmental impact in use, but there are substantial differences between the best, current and worst-case scenarios. Detailed information about garment care and lifespans is needed to understand and reduce environmental impacts. Opportunities exist for consumers to rapidly and dramatically reduce these impacts. The fashion industry can facilitate this through garment design and marketing that promotes and enables long wear life and minimal care.
Highlights
The clothing industry is responsible for substantial environmental impacts, and these are well understood in relation to the production, manufacturing and use phases of garment life cycles (Steinberger et al 2009; Glew et al 2012; Muthu 2014, 2015; Henry et al 2019)
The environment impacts per wear of a wool garment in the Current practice (CP) scenario were 0.17 ± 0.02 kg CO2-e for GHG emissions, 0.88 ± 0.18 MJ for fossil energy demand, 0.96 ± 0.42 L H2O-e for water stress and 2.93 ± 0.67 L freshwater consumption
The CP use phase was a hotspot for water stress (38%) and fossil energy demand (30%) in the full life cycle of a wool garment (Table 3)
Summary
The clothing industry is responsible for substantial environmental impacts, and these are well understood in relation to the production, manufacturing and use phases of garment life cycles (Steinberger et al 2009; Glew et al 2012; Muthu 2014, 2015; Henry et al 2019). While that study utilised average consumer survey data to determine the most common current garment use practices, a wide range in consumer behaviour was observed: the maximum garment use was much higher than the average, and washing practices varied substantially for the same garment in ways that are likely to influence environmental impacts. These findings suggest that opportunities exist for improvement by optimising garment care and use (here termed ‘best practice’ care). The objective was to provide recommendations for the fashion industry, authorities and consumers to minimise the environmental impact of wool garments
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More From: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
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