As they worry about losing a sizable portion of the market to the European Union’s Circulatory Doctrine, which according to research, lowers environmental impact 70 times more than new materials, cotton producers are increasingly implementing farming practices that minimize carbon footprint.
The adoption of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) among cotton producers is continuing to climb year over year, according to a new analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The global trend is credited to rising customer demand, awareness, and firms’ willingness to highlight their environmental credentials. After the pandemic’s uncertainties, IISD also points to the global cotton market’s consistent development.
According to further research commissioned by a division of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC), sorting and recycling clothing has a 70 times lower environmental effect than producing brand-new clothing.
The manufacture of new fibers and garments is a major factor in an item’s effect, according to lifecycle assessments (LCAs) done on virgin and used t-shirts of three compositions to understand their related emissions and water needs.
This study supports the potential for a global textile reuse and recycling market to address the growing problem of low-quality, non-reusable clothes, said Mariska Boer, president of EuRIC Textiles.
