Few industries are responsible for more environmental issues than the fashion industry. According to the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA), 17 million tons of textile waste was generated in 2018, only a small percentage of which was recycled. Recent research estimates that the manufacturing, processing, and shipping of clothing produces more than 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, and that number is expected to grow to nearly 3 trillion by 2030.

These alarming statistics can be largely attributed to the rise of fast fashion, a relatively new trend with the potential to significantly worsen the fashion industry’s impact on the environment.

What’s wrong with fast fashion?

Fast fashion involves the rapid production of high volumes of cheap clothing inspired by the latest fashion trends. As soon as an item becomes trendy, fashion brands will rush to put the item in consumers’ hands as quickly as possible before another new trend steals consumers’ attention.

Popular fast fashion items like athleisure wear are often made with synthetic fabrics, which contain plastic microfibres that break down into toxic chemicals. The dyeing process for fabric uses toxic chemicals as well. In fact, approximately 17 to 20 per cent of global industrial water pollution can be traced back to the dyeing process.

Water pollution

The toxic chemicals generated by synthetic and dyed garments end up in the drinking water of local communities before eventually finding their way to our oceans. As a result, it’s estimated that 35 per cent of the microplastics found in the ocean come from the fashion industry.

At Claros Technologies, we help companies safely reintroduce their wastewater back into the environment by capturing and detoxifying harmful pollutants. In our experience, we’ve found that prioritising sustainability at a manufacturing facility requires a combination of environmentally conscious resources and production practices.

With this in mind, here are a few ways fashion brands can effectively reduce their impact on the environment:

1. Use sustainable materials

Arguably the most important step towards establishing an environmentally friendly fashion brand is to use sustainable materials, which come from renewable resources and do not damage the environment during production or disposal.

Lyocell, for example, is a natural material that comes from the cellulose of wood pulp. Its fibres are biodegradable and compostable, and its production involves no toxic chemicals. Materials like lyocell are generated without pesticides or fertilisers, nor do they contain the plastic fibres that pollute our oceans.

For this reason, we’ve observed a collective shift in fashion towards natural fibres, which can be derived from numerous agricultural sources, such as leaves and fruit rinds. These materials also eliminate waste, as many sustainable resources are by-products of existing manufacturing processes.

2. Minimise waste

Regardless of the type of materials involved, fashion brands can make massive strides in sustainability by only using appropriate amounts of their resources. We often tell our clients that any product-based companies can do their part in combating pollution by improving their ability to forecast demand and plan production accordingly.

In fashion, brands can harness 3D printing to work out design details without wasting materials on multiple physical samples. Innovative techniques such as zero-waste cutting can also ensure that every inch of fabric is incorporated into production. A Dutch company called DyeCOO has even developed a dyeing process that uses carbon dioxide waste instead of water and harsh chemicals, a process that produces no wastewater and recycles 95 per cent of the aforementioned CO2 waste for further use.

3. Create sustainable facilities

A key aspect of sustainable fashion brands is the location of their manufacturing facilities. Fashion brands have traditionally opted to outsource manufacturing to countries with loose environmental regulations. However, larger brands may be able to build their own facilities on land that has previously been damaged by construction in underdeveloped regions. This would essentially recycle the damaged land while revitalising the local community.

Another way for brands to contribute to struggling local economies is restoring derelict buildings that would otherwise lie fallow. In 2017, a company called Renewcell converted an abandoned pulp mill in Sweden into a textile factory.

4. Pursue environmental remediation services

Sustainability is particularly challenging for facilities that release chemicals into their wastewater known as PFAS, which stands either for perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances. Due to the health risks of PFAS, several US states have proposed or enacted regulations governing the presence of PFAS in textiles. Fashion brands with US facilities may need to introduce PFAS destruction into production very soon to avoid costly fines and litigation.

Like other human-made pollutants, PFAS are difficult to break down and destroy. Claros proprietary technology, for example, concentrates PFAS waste by more than 100,000x before reducing these toxins into harmless byproducts. ClaroSafe™, a highly customised approach, offers a full suite of PFAS-related services: testing and analysis, capture, concentration, destruction, and ongoing monitoring of PFAS and other pollutants. In order to safely meet PFAS regulations, brands need to be sure that they are not only destroying 100 percent of all PFAS compounds, but also in a manner that doesn’t release other pollutants into local waterways in the process.

5. Increase supply chain transparency

A major obstacle towards sustainability is greenwashing, when companies provide misleading information about the environmental impact of their products and operations. One solution is increased transparency. Consumers should be privy to the materials, chemicals, and production practices that went into creating their favourite items.

Blockchain technology can also help companies ensure transparency by recording a garment’s lifecycle. The designer Martine Jarlgaard recently launched a blockchain system that placed a QR code on the labels of her items. When consumers scanned the code, they could view each phase of the item’s production, from raw materials to finished garment.

Ideally, sustainability and transparency should go hand-in-hand. Fashion brands that claim to be sustainable but offer zero transparency into their production practices should be called out, and in the future increasingly will be. Brands that can prove their sustainability will gain the loyalty of environmentally conscious consumers.

Fast fashion is not sustainable

In order to make a collective shift towards sustainability, the fashion industry must come to the realisation that fast fashion needs to go. Sustainability is a much more sensible long-term strategy that rewards all parties involved.