This blog was originally published on ETinsights.com
The textile industry is one of the largest contributors to the triple crises of climate change, nature destruction and increased pollution. Concerns related to energy use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land and water use, hazardous waste and effluent streams in the value chain are pervasive. The industry accounts for approximately 2-8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is the second highest utiliser of water worldwide and a major contributor of microplastics entering the ocean!Clothing is an essential part of our daily lives, and as we become more conscious of the damage we have inflicted on the planet through our lifestyles, the importance of sustainable fashion has become more apparent.
The current rates of re-use and recycling of textiles are very low as compared to the high levels of production. Clothing production has approximately doubled in the last 15 years, while the number of times a garment is worn before being discarded has decreased 36%. Demand for clothing is expected to continue to grow, largely driven by emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
We face a challenging dilemma.
While the textile industry negatively impacts the environment and contributes negatively to the three planetary challenges (climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution), it also contributes to global and Indian economic growth in the short run. In the long run, the economic growth is highly dependent on the availability and costs for the environmental and natural resources.
The textile industry provides high levels of employment, foreign exchange revenue and products essential for human welfare. Globally, it employs over 300 million people, many of them women. In India, the textile industry occupies an important place as one of the first industries to come into existence. It also accounts for 14% of the total industrial manufacturing output.
In 2018-19, the Indian textile and apparel industry contributed 2% to national GDP, 12% to export earnings and held 5% of the global trade in textiles and apparel. The industry also employs around 45 million workers.
Understanding the important role of the textile industry, garment sector stakeholders came together in 2018 to commit to climate action through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. Signatories to the Charter committed to achieving a 30% GHG emission reduction by 2030 (from a 2015 baseline) and net-zero emissions by 2050.
India needs to gear up to reduce emissions and improve its resource efficiency. Shifting towards circular models is a critical tool in delivering sustainability. This will not only improve the environmental performance by increasing resource efficiency and reducing GHG emissions and waste, but also give a competitive advantage to the Indian textile industry over other countries in the region.
Sustainable and circular textiles will benefit business, society, and environment. Circularity goes beyond incremental improvements to include increasing resource efficiency, increasing recycling rates and decreasing hazardous chemical use, while at the same time ensuring higher utility – i.e. textiles’ value will be retained through processes such as remanufacturing, repair, reuse. What is required is a system-wide approach to transform the way textiles are designed, produced, consumed, and disposed of. A recently released UNEP study outlines three key areas in which coordinated action is required by all stakeholders across regions and changes at each stage in the value chain, involving players of all sizes and market segments. The findings of this global study are also relevant for India.
Firstly, India needs stronger governance and policies – including on-the-ground implementation of legislation and incentivization of innovative and improved technologies. Energy consumption in the manufacturing processes is a major contributor to climate change and policies aimed at channeling investments into renewable energy and increasing its supply to textile industry clusters will reduce impacts. Another critical issue is the use of chemicals in the dyeing and finishing process. Policies aimed at restricting the use of such chemicals backed by scientific knowledge and industry collaboration are needed to develop realistic implementation models. Water use in dyeing and finishing stage is another issue needing attention. Here, zero liquid discharge by dyeing units could be a perquisite condition for license to operate along with proper implementation and maintenance of Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) around unit clusters for enabling smaller enterprises to comply with zero discharge to water bodies. Common or combined effluent treatment plants, recycling plants, solar energy, and closing the loop locally with some of the circular supply chains could help to reduce the economic burden while improving the environmental and social impacts including jobs and gender.
Secondly, it is important to focus on collaboration and finance. Through new and strengthened collaboration platforms, we can provide education, skills, and support for scaling of circular and sustainable business models, solutions and technologies. Instruments such as fiscal policy, sustainable public procurements and regulations will go a long way in this direction. It is imperative to leverage funding from financial institutions and provide space for government collaboration.
Finally, we need to work towards bringing about a change in consumption habits. Government-backed campaigns such as ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ can bring about momentum change to nudge consumer behavior, promote use of sustainable products and services by improving consumer information tools. The mainstay is to instill habits that reduce climate impacts of garment care and build acceptance for product longevity.
Further to the high-level recommendations above, UNEP is also working on a shared roadmap which will lay out concrete priority actions for all textile value chain stakeholders, providing a vision of how the sector can move towards greater sustainability and circularity.
Sustainability and circularity in the textile value chain requires a holistic approach with novel and progressive ways of doing business by focusing on old saying, “think globally and act locally”. This will ultimately result in a sector that benefits business, society, and environment. There is increasing awareness and exploration of the potential for Circular Apparel in India. In recent years, several circular economy uptakes are voluntarily led by the private sector. This positive and dynamic scenario can easily lend itself to supportive and progressive Public Policy along with finance mechanisms as effective means to propel transformation and position India as an eco-friendly hub in the global textile value chain.
