ECOFIBERS

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Making Informed Choices

Sustainable Fibers
Sustainabilityisaneconomic,social,andenvironmentalconceptthatinvolvesmee7ngtheneedsofthe presentwithoutcompromisingtheabilityoffuturegenera7onstomeettheirownneeds. ~BrundtlandCommission

SustainableFibers
Thecurrentlackofacommondeni3onforeco,sustainable,andgreenbersmakesitdicultfororganiza3onsto makeinformedberchoices.Inaccordancewiththeircompanyobjec3ves,organiza3onswillneedtodetermine anddenewhatgoalsandparameterstosetaroundtheirchoiceofsustainablebers. Naturalbersaresubdividedintotwoclassica3ons:animal(protein)bersandplant(cellulose)bers. Proteinbersincludewool,cashmere,alpacaandevensilk. Cellulosebersareproducedbyplants,andareproductsofagriculture.Fibersareeitherbast bers(thebersurroundingthestemoftheplantsuchasaxorhemp),orseedberssuchas coKon. Regeneratedbersaresome3mesknownasmanmadebers.Thesearebersthathavebeencreatedar3cially byusingthebuildingblocksprovidedbynature(e.g.proteinsorcellulose)asopposedtobersmadeen3relyby nature(e.g.coKon). Aregeneratedberwouldtypicallybeanaturalmaterialthathasbeenconvertedbywetchemicalprocessing thatallowstheproduc3onofcon3nuouslamentsthatcanthenbespunintober(e.g.viscose).Therearetwo primarytypesofregeneratedbers: RegeneratedbersfromcelluloseRayonandviscoseareregeneratedcellulosicbers.The issuethatisoPenbroughtupaboutregeneratedbersisthattheprocessingusesharsh chemicalsandisenvironmentallydamaging. Tencelisconsideredamoreenvironmentallyfriendlyregeneratedber,andithasdierentproper3esfromrayon. Itisasolventspunberinwhichthecelluloseisdirectlydissolvedkeepingthecellulosemuchclosertothatfound innature.TheberissourcedfromForestStewardshipCouncil(FSC)cer3edforests,andtheprocessingisdone inaclosedloopsystemwhereveryliKlepollu3onescapesintotheenvironment. RegeneratedbersfromproteinsourcesarecalledAzlonsandsourcesoftheproteinsinclude soy,corn,peanutsandevenmilk. Synthe3cbersarepolymersmadefromachemicalprocess;theyhavehistoricallybeenmadefrompetroleum based chemicals, however there are now new developments using agricultural products as raw materials. The mostwidelyusedsynthe3cbersarenylonpolyester,acrylic,acetate,olenandspandex.
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PLAisderivedfromcornstarch,butiss3llconsideredasynthe3c.Themanufacturingprocessconvertsthecornto sugarandthenchangesthemolecularcomposi3onintoahighperformancepolymercalledpolylac3de(PLA)and bersarethenextrudedfromthesepolymers.

NATURALFIBERS OrganicCo+on
Organic coKon is coKon that is grown to a cer3ed organic standard: without the use of toxic and persistent pes3cides or fer3lizers, sewage sludge, irradia3on or gene3c engineering, and is cer3ed by an accredited independent organiza3on. It is a system of farming that strives for a balance with nature, using methods and materialsthatareoflowimpacttotheenvironment.Theimpactsonpeopleandecosystemsareconsiderablyless thanintheproduc3onofconven3onalcoKon. As with all organic bers, cer3ca3on may apply only to the way the ber is grown, or to the full produc3on process. PleaseseehKp://www.organicexchange.org/standards_integ.phpformoreinforma3on.

RecycledCo+on
CoKoncanberecycledfromtwosources: Spinningwasteisrecycledinthesamespinningplant;thisisoPenmixedwithvirgincoKonto achieveausableyarn. Varioustypesandpercentagesofwastebers:scrapyarn,scrapfabric,garmentfalloutand scrapgarmentscanbeprocessedandrecycledintoyarn.

Linen
Flax,alsoknownaslinseed,istheplantthatproducesthebastberthatismadeintolinen.IntheUnitedSates, cer3ed organic ax seed for oil is grown, however, tex3legrade ax ber is imported. Cer3ed organic ax berismostlygrowninEuropeandChina.Organicaxcanbycer3edbyanyaccreditedthirdpartycer3ca3on organiza3on.

Hemp
HempisafastgrowingplantthatgenerallyrequiresliKleornochemicalherbicidesandpes3cides.Hempcanbe processedasabastber,orasaregeneratedber. Althoughcer3edorganicseedforfoodconsump3onisreadilyavailable,cer3edorganichempberisnotwidely available.Onlyhempthatisprocessedasabastbercanbecer3edorganic;itcannotbeconsideredorganicif itisusedtoproducearegeneratedber.

Wool
Woolistheproteinberthatistypicallyfromsheep,althoughotheranimalssuchasgoatsorllamascanalso producewool.Inorderforwooltobecer3edasorganic,theanimalsmustberaisedaccordingtoanaccredited organicstandardfororganiclivestockproduc3on. Thereareotherenvironmentalformsofwoolthataddressanimalhusbandry,landmanagementandprocessing. Thesetendtobeprivatecompanystandardsandwillvaryaccordingly.

Silk
Wildsilk,some3mesknownasTussahSilkisproducedfromsilkwormsthatfeedontheleavesofdwarfoaktrees andareallowedtoliveoutacompletelifecycleintheirnaturalhabitat.Thesilkwormsarehumanelycul3vated, meaningthewildsilkcocoonsareonlyprocessedusingnaturalmethodsandonlyaPerthemothemergesnaturally fromthecocoon.HumanelyproducedsilkisalsoknownasPeaceSilk. Conven3onalsilkisderivedfromsilkwormsthatfeedlargelyonmulberryleaves,usuallyindoorsinlargetrays. Thistypeofsilkiscalledcul3vatedandisproducedonlarge,industrialrunfarms.Cul3va3onincludestheboiling ofthecocoonwiththeworminsideinordertokillthewormbeforeitbecomesamothandemergesfromthe cocoon.

REGENERATEDFIBERS Tencel/Lyocell
Tencelisabrandedlyocellbersimilartorayonthatcomesfromthepulpofeucalyptustrees.Thetreesaregrown onsustainablyrunfarmscer3edbytheFSC.Thewoodpulpisprocessedinanontoxicorganicsolventsolu3on that is reclaimed and recycled in a closedloop spinning process that conserves energy and water up to 99 percentofthesolventisrecoveredandreused.

RayonfromBamboo
Bambooisusedasfeedstocktoproducerayon.Asoneofthefastestgrowingplantsintheworld,bamboogrows toitsmaximumheightinabout3monthsandreachesmaturityin34years.Itspreadsrapidlyacrosslargeareas. Becauseofrela3velyquickgrowing3meandtheabilitytobegrownwithoutfer3lizersorpes3cides,theber sourceiscurrentlybeingmarketedasanecogreensustainableber.Therearepoten3alrisksassociatedwith usingbambooasapolymersourceforrayonsincethereiscurrentlyalackoftransparencyinthesupplychain.Itis notalwaysclearwhichtypeofbambooisusedforber,whereitisgrown,howitiscul3vated,howitisharvested, etc.Todate,thereisnoknownorganiccer3ca3onofbamboo. Theprocesstomakeviscoseorrayonberfrombambooisthesameprocessusedtoproduceviscose/rayonfrom anyotherplantsource.Thecelluloseisextractedfromthebamboo,andthenmixedwithchemicalstoconvert
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theplantpulpintotex3lequalityber.Thisprocesscanbeverypollu3ngunlessitiscarefullycontrolled,andcan beinuencedbytheageandcondi3onoftheequipmentaswellaswhetherthereisanybyproductrecyclingor euenttreatment. Notethatinmostcountriesthebercannotbecalledbamboo,onlyrayonorviscosefrombamboo.

RecycledSynthe4cFibers
Therearefundamentally3ques3onsthatshouldbeaskedaboutrecycledtex3les:whatistheoriginofthewaste, whatisthemethodofconver3ngwastetochipsandhowdoyouknowtheproductisproducedfromrecycled materials?

OriginsoftheWaste
PostindustrialwastePolyesterthathaslePtheoriginalproducerandhasenteredintothenext phaseoffabricmakingorgarmentmaking.Theremayalsobewastesuchasfabricfalloutfrom garmentcugngandsewing. PostconsumerwasteProductthathasenteredintotheconsumerchainofsupplyandisthen disposedof,suchasplas3cboKles(madefromPET)andpolyesterclothing. Notethatmillwastewasteproducedintheoriginalberchipand/oryarnmakingprocessisgenerallynot consideredtobeavalidrecycledinput.

ConversionMethods
MechanicalrecyclingThisinvolvesmel3ngwasteandreextrudingitintoyarns.Itistheleast expensive,lowestenergymethodandgeneratesthesmallestnumberofimpacts.However, therearefeweryarndenier/lamentop3onsandpoten3alstreakinessindyeingdueto impuri3es.Furthermore,thisprocesscanonlybedoneafew3mesbeforethemolecular structurebreaksdownandbecomesunsuitablefortex3les. ChemicalrecyclingBasedondepolymeriza3onofwastepolyesterandthenrepolymeriza3on intoeec3velyvirginpolyester.Thisprocessingismoreexpensiveandconsumesmoreenergy; however,itdoesprovidealargerchoiceofdenier/lamentwithfewerimpuri3esandpoten3ally beKerdyeingoutcomes.Theresultantberisthesamequalityastheoriginalone,andwillnot degradeaPerbeingrecycledmul3ple3mes.

Verica4on
Therearenowseveralstandardsinplacethatsupportrecycledcontentclaims,developedbythirdpartycer3ca3on bodies (see resources sec3on for links). Some companies provide their own guarantees, while others do not provideanyvalida3onandshouldbetreatedwithcare.

RecycledPolyester
RecycledPolyesterispolyesterthathasbeenmanufacturedbyusingpreviouslyusedpolyesteritemssuchaPET boKlesorusedpolyesterclothing.Thebenetsofrecyclingpolyestercomefromthereducedenergyneededto producethenalber,reduceddependenceonoil,andthediversionofwastefromlandlls. Oneconsidera3onintherecyclingofPETisan3mony,whichispresentin8085percentofallvirginPET[10].Itis convertedtoan3monytrioxideathightemperaturesthatarenecessaryduringrecycling,releasingthiscarcinogen fromthepolymerandmakingitavailableforintakeintolivingsystems.

RecycledNylon
Likepolyester,virginnylonberismadefromcrudeoil.Recyclednyloncomesfrompostindustrialwasteberand yarncollectedfromspinningandprocessedintoreusablenylonber.Thebenetsofrecyclingnyloncomefrom thereducedenergyneededtoproducethenalber,reduceddependenceonoil,andthediversionofwastefrom landlls.Thenalproductcanberecycledagainattheendofitslife.

ComparisonofFibers
Itisverydiculttoevaluatetheoverallenvironmentalimpactofoneberoveranother;someinforma3onis verydiculttoaccessorappliesonlytoaspecicregionandjudgmentshavetobemadeonhowtoweightthe dierentimpactsofthesource,produc3onanduseoftheproduct.Thefactorsthataregenerallyconsideredina fulllifecycleassessmentofaberincludeenergyuse,greenhousegasemissions,wateruse,landuse,toxicityto humansandecosystems,usefullifeoftheproductandnaldisposal.

RESOURCES
UnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture(USDA)www.usda.gov

RECYCLEDSTANDARDS
Scien3cCer3ca3onSystemswww.scscer3ed.com ControlUnionwww.controlunion.com

REGENERATEDFIBER
www.lenzing.com/sustainability

FIBERCOMPARISONS
oecotex3les.wordpress.com

ORGANICCERTIFICATIONINFORMATION
www.organicexchange.org

MakingInformedChoicesseries,include: ClimateChange FairTrade GMO(Gene4callyModiedOrganisms) OrganicCo+on:YourHealthierChoice Pes4cides

OrganicExchange(OE)isanonprotorganiza4onwithstainovertencountriescommi+edtoexpanding globalorganicberagriculture,usingorganicco+onastheoriginalcatalyst.Improvingorganicco+on produc4onaddresseskeyenvironmentalissuesimpac4ngco+onandalsofacilitatesdiscussionsabout agriculturalissuesworldwideincluding:biodiversity,foodsecurity,povertyallevia4on,strengthening ruralcommuni4es,waterqualityandu4liza4on,soilprotec4on,andclimatechangeimpacts. OE brings together brands, retailers, supply chain partners, farmers, and other key stakeholders to learnaboutthesocialandenvironmentalbenetsoforganicagricultureanddevelopnewbusiness modelsandtoolsthatsupportgreateruseoforganicbersandsustainabletex4les.

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