SUSTAINABLE PROCESSING IN THE

APPAREL INDUSTRY

BF Tech (Sem 3)

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 CONTENTS
Page number
• Sustainability - definition 3
• Need of sustainability in apparel 4-5
production
• The stages of apparel production 6
• Various chemicals used in the industry 7
• Achieving sustainability in apparel 8
industry
• Benefits of organic clothing 9
• Steps to be taken for sustainable textile 10
processing
• Alternate processing methods 11
• Examples in apparel industry 12-15
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 SUSTAINABILITY- DEFINITION
• Sustain means “to maintain” or “to uphold” .
• “To improve the quality of life while living
within the carrying capacity of ecosystems”
IUCN (The World Conservation Union), 1991.ss

The 3 principles of sustainability

• Environmentally Viable- It should have the

lowest possible adverse effect on the
environment.
• Social Desirable- It should respect the social
elements of fair trade and human rights of the
people involved.
• Economically feasible- It should be able to
Compete effectively in the global marketplace
against less sustainable products.
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 NEED OF SUSTAINABILITY IN APPAREL
INDUSTRY
• Consumption of natural resources has increased
dramatically in the last 40 years

• Issues like that of global warming, natural resource

depletion, toxic waste disposal, and increasing air, water
and soil pollution are of global importance.

• At every stage of textile production, vast amounts of

energy, clean water and chemicals are used to process the
textiles and apparel.

• Thus apparel industry also needs to eliminate

environmental hazards, improve process efficiency.
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A sustainable approach covers the following points:
• Minimum use of resources (water and energy
consumption during preparation, colouration and
finishing).
• Minimum chemical consumption.
• Minimum pollution load.
• Toxic chemicals eliminated from supply chain.
• Harmful chemical residues eliminated from final
textile.

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 The typical stages of apparel production, use
and disposal
Raw Material
E
DYES
Production of natural and synthetic fibers M
I
ADDITIVES
Production of yarn, filaments, fabrics.
S
Wet treatments (Pre-Treatments, Dyeing, Printing and Finishing)
S
I
WATER Garment Manufacturing O
N
Consumption
S
Waste

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 Various Chemicals Used In Each Stage Of
Processing
PROCESS CHEMICALS
Spinning, weaving and knitting Spinning oils, knitting oils, Lubricants
Sizing Sizes (Starches, Polyacrylates, Carboxy
methyl Cellulose)
Desizing, Scouring Sizes, Enzymes, Starch, Ammonia,
Disinfectants and insecticides residues,
NaOH, Surfactants, Soaps

Bleaching, Mercerizing Bleaching Agents(Oxidants) like H2O2 ,Alkalis,

Salts
Dyeing and Printing Dyes, Pigments, Salts, Alkalis,
Acidity/Alkalinity, Metals
Finishing Resins, Softeners, Flame retardants, Anti-
microbials , fluorocarbons

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 ACHEIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN APPAREL
INDUSTRY
In broader perspective sustainability can be
achieved by following 2 major steps-
1. Organic Clothing
It is made from materials raised in or grown in
compliance with organic agricultural standards.
The source of the clothing's fibre are free from
herbicides, pesticides, or genetically modified
seeds.
2. Recycling Fashion
Textiles that are discarded by consumers,
retailers or charitable organisations undergo a
discriminating process of sorting, grading and
separation into waste-free products which are
suitable for reuse.
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 BENEFITS OF ORGANIC CLOTHING
• No chemical pesticides are used.
• Organic cotton farming produces far less CO2
emissions.
• Organic cotton farming uses up to 60% less water than
conventional farming methods.
• Pesticide or herbicide residues are not entered
accidentally into the environment.
• Humans and animals are not exposed to chemical
pesticides or herbicides.
• When the fabric is discarded, pesticides and herbicides
are not returned to the earth in landfill, or enter
into recycling process.
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 STEPS TO BE TAKEN FOR SUSTAINABLE
TEXTILE PROCESSING
1. Eco-friendly Fibres
• Organic cotton
• Bamboo Fibre
• Alpaca Wool
• Recycled Polyester
2. Dyes Organic cotton Bamboo fibre
• Azo-free colourants
• Biodegradable dyes
• Chrome-free tanning
• Fibre reactive dyes
• Low-impact dyes
• Natural dyes

Yarn spun from Bales of PET bottles

alpaca wool 10
 ALTERNATE WET PROCESSING METHODS

• Chlorine-free bleaching
• Cold or low temperature dye processes
• Dye bath reuse
• Eco bleach
• Ink-jet printing
• Vegetable tanning
• Waste water recycling

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 EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY IN APPAREL
INDUSTRY
Levi’s
• Levi's is a brand of denim jeans, under privately held American
clothing company Levi Strauss & Co.
• Their Waste<Less line of jeans uses cleaned, sorted and crushed PET plastic
bottles and food trays to make polyester fiber.
• Then its blended with cotton and woven.

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WATER<LESS™JEANS THAT SAVES WATER

• Levi’s also designed the Water<Less

range, which uses less water in the
finishing stage in 2010.
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 Nike, Inc.
• Nike's Trash Talk Shoe, which had
been constructed in February 2008
from pieces of leather and synthetic
leather waste from factory floors.
• Its sole is composed of ground-up
rubber from a shoe recycling program
• NIKE Flyknit, introduced in 2012, The
technology uses knit construction that
allows for a lightweight upper that
reduces footwear waste.
• The Flyknit Lunar 1+ running shoe
reduces footwear waste by 80% on
average when compared to typical
NIKE running footwear.

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 CONCLUSION
The measurement and control of these inputs and
outputs can lead to
• Improved resource productivity.
• Improved co-efficiency.
• Improved cost efficiency.
• Improved customer satisfaction.
• Improved brand reputation.
• Improved environmental conditions.
• Better health conditions of the wearers and the
workers.
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Thank You

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