In the Textile Industry, Old Is Increasingly Becoming New

The economic recovery from COVID-19 offers a rare opportunity to dramatically shift the trajectory of many industries, including textiles.

“Tying financial stimulus packages to actions that align with the Sustainable Development Goalsand the Paris Agreement will lock in long-term resource efficiency and decouple economic growth from environmental degradation,” said Archana Datta, a Project Coordinator for India, at the SWITCH-Asia initiative, which promotes sustainable production and consumption.

Circularity and sustainability also make economic sense for businesses, data suggests. Even before Covid-19, just 60 per cent of garments were sold at full price, creating billions of dollars of lost revenues. Smart product design has the potential to eliminate production waste and reduce pollution across the processing phase, helping businesses save money.

Circularity would also be good for the climate. Switching to more circular business models, including fashion rentals, re-commerce, repair and refurbishment, could help the industry cut around 143 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030.

A green recovery

A UNEP study recently found that in order to make the fashion industry more sustainable, there needs to be stronger “governance” of the sector, more financing for planet-friendly innovations and a concerted effort to change the consumption habits of consumers.

Several promising initiatives are already helping with the latter. Through a smartphone app, Ireland-based Nuw allows users to swap rarely worn clothes instead of tossing them away. In the Philippines, apparel company Phinix collects waste textiles and transforms them into footwear and bags. Their products have just 10 per cent of the carbon footprint of regular apparel. Finally, by upcycling and avoiding plastic packaging, among other things, Brazil fashion house Refazenda has eliminated its solid waste.

UNEP is creating a roadmap to help other textile companies follow the lead of those businesses. Set to be released in June 2021, it will showcase concrete actions that textile companies can adopt to green their business. 

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. It brings together representatives of the 193 Member States of the UN, businesses, civil society leaders and other stakeholders to agree on policies that will tackle climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

The fifth session of UNEA (UNEA-5) will be held online on 22-23 February 2021, followed by an in-person meeting in Nairobi in February 2022. The theme is “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, emphasizing the central role nature plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It also underlines how a low-carbon recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic can accelerate sustainable development.

*SOURCE: UNEP. Go to ORIGINAL.