The textile sector is an important sector for economic development. It provides employment to millions of people. Compared to other sectors, much more intensive labor is needed in this sector. It is known that approximately 13 million people in the world work full-time in supply chains just to meet the textile and shoe needs consumed by 27 countries in the European Union in 2020. The textile, ready-made clothing and leather products sectors in Turkey employ approximately 1 million people (registered), according to 2021 records. This makes the textile industry the third sector in the world in terms of employment source. The first two sectors are the food and housing sectors. Most of the production takes place in Asia. In these countries, occupational health and safety standards are generally not at the required level.
Textile Consumption
We know that there is high mobility in the textile industry. Europe is an important exporter and importer. 45% of the textile products imported by Europe are ready-made clothing products. Home textile and shoe imports also follow this. Europe makes most of its imports from China, Bangladesh and Turkey. According to calculations made for Europe, annual textile consumption per person reaches 15 kg. 6 kg of this consists of clothes, 6.1 kg of home textiles and 2.7 kg of shoes. Industrial textile products and carpets are not included in this figure.
Environmental Burden
The production and consumption of textile products creates a significant burden on the environment and makes a major contribution to climate change. The effects start to be seen from the very beginning, from the production stage of the fibers. The effects of land and water use, fertilizer and pesticide use during the cultivation and production of raw materials such as cotton, flax and hemp are great. When you use synthetic fibers such as polyester and elastane, you create a burden on the environment by consuming energy and chemicals.
High amounts of energy and water are also used in the manufacturing process of textile products. In addition, the chemicals used increase the environmental burden in the production process. Transportation emissions and packaging waste also occur in distribution and retail processes. Electricity, water and detergent used in washing, drying and ironing processes continue to increase the environmental burden. Meanwhile, microplastics and chemicals continue to pollute the water. On the other hand, we start to accumulate textile waste. The resulting waste either ends up in incineration plants or landfills.
Deciding to collect and recycle textile waste separately from the waste pile and doing what is necessary also requires significant effort. Reusing or recycling separately collected textile waste is only possible if the quality and composition of the waste are appropriate. According to a study conducted in 2017, less than 1% of the textile waste generated in the world was recycled to obtain a new product.
Large amounts of raw materials are used in textile production. It was calculated that 391 kg of raw materials were used per person for textile products purchased in Europe in 2020.
Water Consumption
One of the most important environmental burdens of the textile industry is water use. This sector especially uses water classified as blue water. This water is the water that accumulates in lakes, rivers and reservoirs, including drinking water. It is also water drawn from groundwater aquifers. We can use blue water in our homes and workplaces. Blue water is also used in agricultural irrigation. Agricultural practices use 70% of blue water. The textile industry also loves this water. For example, it does not use gray water.
The amount of blue water used for clothes, shoes and home textile products purchased in Europe in 2020 was calculated as approximately 4 billion m3. This means 9 tons of water per person. This puts textile production in third place in terms of water use, after food and recreational use. In addition, 20 billion m3 of green water was used for cotton production. This increases green water consumption per capita to 44 m3. While we see blue water in the production of clothes, shoes and other textile products, we see green water used in growing fibers such as cotton.
Land Need
The production of textile products, especially natural textile production, requires a high amount of land. It has been calculated that 400 m2 of land per person was used in the supply chains of textile shopping in Europe in 2020. Only 8% of this area was used from European land. Land use for the production of animal-based fibers such as wool is also high.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The production and consumption of textile products leads to the formation of greenhouse gas emissions. Especially processes such as extraction of resources, production, washing, drying and waste incineration create this effect. It has been calculated that the per capita greenhouse gas emission resulting from the consumption of textile products is 270 kg CO2e. It is known that 75% of these greenhouse gas emissions caused by textile consumption in Europe occur outside Europe. 80% of the contribution of textile products to climate change occurs at the production stage. There is a greenhouse gas emission rate of 14% during the use phase, 3% during the distribution and retail phase and 3% during waste management. It is known that the greenhouse gas impact of textile products, especially those produced from natural fibers such as cotton, is lower than synthetic fibers.
What to do then?
Since there is a high environmental burden at every stage of the textile production process and the continuation of our life on the planet as humans depends on reducing this burden, there seems to be no choice but to change our production and consumption patterns. The need to produce less and more responsibly is overdue. Since our consumption preferences will shape the production processes, there is no choice but to consume less and more responsibly!
What should the industry do?
It should produce less but produce durable. The industry should design its products in such a way that those products never die. When manufacturing that product, clean resources should be used. When designing that product, its ability to be reused, repaired and recycled should be taken into account.
Otherwise, we, as the human race, will continue to cut the branch we are sitting on.