Is All Rayon "Green"?

Q: I’ve heard that rayon is an environmentally responsible fiber, but I’m confused. I see all of these terms on apparel and home fashion labels -- viscose, rayon, tencel, bamboo, lyocell – are they all the same and are they equally environmentally responsible?

A: Excellent question! With all of the terms used to describe rayon, no wonder consumers are confused! Rayon was the first manufactured fiber, commercially introduced as “artificial silk” in the early 1900s. As a regenerated cellulosic fiber, its raw material is cellulosic and therefore comes from a renewable base material. However, not all manufacturing techniques for rayon are equal from an environmental perspective. There are three types of manufacturing techniques or generations of regenerated cellulosic fibers:
1.    Viscose process (first generation) for rayon: in this process, cellulose (wood pulp) is treated with caustic soda and carbon disulfide. Although chemicals do not remain as a residue on the fiber, disposing of the chemicals used in the processing can create pollution in wastewater. 
2.    High Wet Modulus (HWM) process (second generation) for rayon: HWM process increases the wet strength of rayon. Similar to the viscose process, disposing of chemicals used in the process can be polluting.
3.    Lyocell (third generation): according to the Federal Trade Commission, lyocell is the generic name for a “cellulose fiber obtained by an organic solvent spinning process” and is considered a sub-class of rayon (Federal Trade Commission, 1996). The lyocell process reuses up to 99.8% of the solvent and remaining emissions are broken down. 
Rayon (viscose and HWM) and lyocell are produced from renewable cellulosic plants such as beech trees, pine trees, and bamboo. All are bio-degradable; although all may not be made from plants harvested using environmentally responsible ways. Lenzing Viscose® and Lenzing Modal® HWM rayon are made from sustainably harvested beech trees certified by PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification).  
The lyocell process is the most environmentally responsible processing method among the processes for regenerated cellulosic fibers. This has sometimes caused confusion for fashion brands/companies and consumers. For example, in 2003 bamboo was introduced as an environmentally responsible fiber because the cellulose base (bamboo) was renewable. However, the viscose processing method was used. The Federal Trade Commission now requires that if the viscose method is used it must be labeled as rayon made from bamboo. 
Lenzing’s Tencel® lyocell is one of the most common lyocell fibers available.  Not only is Tencel® lyocell made from eucalyptus grown on land unsuitable for food crops, the plants require less water than cotton, non-toxic solvents are use, the filament fibers use a water-based bath, and solvents are washed from the fiber and re-used. In addition, Tencel® lyocell is more odor-resistant (prevents the growth of bacteria which cases odors) than viscose rayon, HWM rayon, or cotton. Therefore, products made with Tencel® lyocell do not need to be washed as often as those made from these other fibers.
So, if you are looking for an environmentally responsible rayon fiber – look for one labeled as lyocell or Tencel® lyocell!

Tackling Textile Waste

The news media is sparking renewed interest in the issue of textile waste and strategies for tackling textile waste.  A recent PBS news hour show focused on “how to stop 13 million tons of clothing from getting trashed every year” and the Huffington Post recently asked us to “Imagine a World in Which Nothing Gets Thrown Away” with strategies for creating a more “circular economy”. 
So, what exactly is textile waste and what are ways in which both consumers and companies are tackling the textile waste? There are three types of textile waste:

1.    Pre-consumer textile waste is created during the manufacturing process and includes fabric selvages, left over fabric from the cutting process, and other fabric scraps. Companies that use textile materials typically have a waste tolerance rate that they use when generating their production markers (pattern layout guides). In general, they want to waste as little fabric as is possible given their design parameters. For apparel companies, waste tolerance rates can be anywhere from zero to 15%; although to be honest, there are few companies that have a zero waste tolerance rate. 
2.    Post-consumer textile waste includes apparel and household textiles (e.g., towels, sheets, rugs) that are discarded by consumers. It also includes carpets, window coverings, hotel linens, upholstery and other textiles used in commercial settings and discarded. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that in 2013 approximately 15% of all post-consumer textile waste (2.3 million tons) was recovered (i.e., recycled, reused, etc.). This means that that approximately 85% (12.83 million tons) of all post-consumer textile waste was not recovered. Some have suggested that the amounts are higher; others lower. However, even with differing statistics, it is fair to say that a great deal of post-consumer textile waste is generated each year and most of it ends up in landfills. 
3.    Industrial textile waste is generated from industrial applications such conveyor belts, filters, geotextiles, wiping rags, etc. 

In the past, most of the strategies have focused on reducing post-consumer textile waste that ends up in landfills. However, more recently companies are implementing strategies to address pre-consumer textile waste. Both pre- and post-consumer textile waste materials can be converted for use in industry applications (e.g., wiping rags, filters, spill absorption).  Below are a few examples of strategies and resources for additional information.

Strategies around pre-consumer textile waste

•    Zero-waste fashion design: Zero waste fashion design takes fabric utilization to the extreme – creating patterns for a design that create a marker (pattern layout) that looks like a large jigsaw puzzle and results in 100% fabric utilization.  Successful zero waste fashion designers such as Timo Rissanen, Tara St. James (for Study NY), and Daniel Silverstein create unique and wearable apparel designs with zero fabric waste in the cutting process. The fashion brand, Tonlé, combines two strategies for zero-waste fashion: “creative pattern making that uses 100% of a given material, and generating garments from remnant materials.” Designers and production team members at Tonlé work side-by-side to create merchandise that results in only 2-3% waste fabric (which by any account is amazing!). However, they then take this waste fabric to create recycled paper. 

•    Materials made from reclaimed fibers and yarns. Reclaimed fibers from pre-consumer textile waste are the result of collecting fabric scraps and cuttings left from the cutting and sewing processes and processing them to create a new fiber. For example, 
ECO2cotton yarn is made from processing pre-consumer cotton knit cuttings to create denim fabric. Thread International combines reclaimed cotton (from pre-consumer waste) and post-consumer polyester to create new fibers and fabrics. Their jersey knit, for example, is made from reclaimed U.S. cotton and recycled plastic bottles collected in Haiti.  As part of their ZERO Landfill and No Fiber Left Behind campaigns, Martex Fiber Company offers services for utilizing reclaimed cotton fibers using pre-consumer textile waste.  

•    Materials made from regenerated fibers and yarns. Both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste textiles are also regenerated to create non-woven textile products such as acoustic textiles, insulation, roofing felt, filters, etc. For example, Martex Fiber creates materials for these types of products by recycling both pre- and post-consumer  textile waste.  

Strategies around post-consumer textile waste

Recovering post-consumer textile waste is a multi-billion dollar global industry. Numerous firms sort, reuse, repurpose, recycle, upcycle, and re-sell used clothing and other textile products.  The term recycle refers to processes by which waste materials are made suitable for reuse. The term repurpose refers to the process of using waste items again but with new purposes. The term upcycle refers to the process when the discarded items are transformed to create products with a higher value than what was being discarded without changing the composition of the original material. The website for the association, Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART) has a wealth of information about this industry.  

•    Donated clothing and textiles. The used clothing market is an important component for the post-consumer textile waste industry. Consumers are encouraged to donate all clothing and other household textiles (even worn or stained clothing) to charities such as Goodwill.  In the U.S. only about 5% of the textiles donated to these charities ends up in landfills; with approximately 20% of donated clothing sold in charitable shops and 75% reused, repurposed, and/or recycled. The Council for Textile Recycling has great information around these efforts.

•    University/industry upcycling collaborations. Being a former faculty member, I love to learn about university/industry collaborations.  San Francisco State University, PeoplewearSF, and the San Francisco Hotel/Non-Profit Collaborative collaborated on the Table Cloth Project in which used table clothes from hotels were used to create innovative tote bags. As another example, Columbia College Chicago, United Airlines, and Re:new Project collaborated in transforming large United Airlines banners into upcycled carry-on bags.

•    Recycled carpet. The carpet industry has been instrumental in organizing efforts to increase recycling of post-consumer carpet and encourage design and production of carpet that encourages its recyclability.  See Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) for more information about these efforts. 

•    Materials made from reclaimed fibers and yarns. Reclaimed fibers from post-consumer textile waste result from taking used clothing and textiles and processing them to reclaim their original fibers to be used again.  For example, wool from Miller Waste Mills, Inc. is made from 100% post-consumer fibers. In addition, new technologies have emerged for reclaiming cotton fibers. For example, Evrnu technology purifies cotton garment waste by first stripping dyes and other contaminants. The waste is then converted to a pulp, breaking it down to fiber molecules. The molecules are then recombined and extruded as a new fiber. Evrnu has recently partnered with Levi Strauss to create jeans from fabrics made with at least 50% post-consumer cotton waste. 

With all the attention textile waste has received, I’ve heard concerns that the focus on tackling the textile waste issue has taken away from the real issue which is reducing consumption of clothing and textiles. As the argument goes, if there were fewer consumer and commercial purchases of textile products, there would be less waste, so the focus should be on reducing consumption! However, rather than prioritizing the issues, let’s continue to explore ways to tackle textile waste in addition to reducing consumption! I’m encouraged to earn about new technologies, new companies, and new collaborations that are taking on this challenge!

Copenhagen Fashion Summit - Responsible Innovation

I have been following with great interest the media coverage of the 2016 Copenhagen Fashion Summit and, in particular, the Youth Fashion Summit also held in Copenhagen.  Here are a few of my favorite pieces. 

News article posted on i-D about Suzy Menkes' talk at the Youth Fashion Summit.  Rarely do we hear someone such as Suzy Menkes speak about sustainability. I hope more than just those attending the Youth Fashion Summit take to heart to what she had to say. 

Maybe it's the educator in me, but I have been extremely impressed by the work of the participants of the Youth Fashion Summit. Their work is truly inspiring!

As reported by businessoffashion.com, here is manifesto developed by 116 fashion and business students from 40 different nationalities. For three days, they worked on how to implement the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals in the fashion industry to promote a sustainable future. Or as they say “As inheritors of your roles, we demand….”

Youth Fashion Summit Manifesto — 7 Demands for The Fashion Industry, presented at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, 12 May 2016

1. As a group of CEOs, business and opinion leaders, academics and students, would you be here today without equal access to education? As inheritors of your roles, we demand empowerment and education of workers and consumers.

We realise you are very intelligent and influential. But you are kind of stuck in a system that is not really working anymore. So, we want to present our desired future.

In 2030, the fashion industry will have blended the line between work and education. Government, businesses and media will have created a positive symbiotic partnership that encourages the well being of all it touches. With an online learning platform, we will be able to train employees, allowing them to build their technical and personal skills. It will have a positive effect on employee contentment and overall productivity. This platform will be incentivised by governments and employed by businesses.

Moreover, we believe that education should not just involve the makers but also the wearers. The media has a huge impact and so does technology and innovation!

Government and businesses can, together with the media, educate and cultivate behavioural change amongst consumers through their influence and widespread reach.  This will create a feedback loop that in turn feeds back to the business.

With such an open system, education both within and across cultures will allow empowerment to be possible for all. I hope we have empowered you to join us on this journey!

2. As inheritors of your roles, we demand that the fashion industry takes drastic and immediate action towards implementing closed-loop water systems to ensure that the industry is not dependent on fresh water as a resource.

According to the UN, without immediate action from the fashion industry, clean water will no longer be an accessible resource by 2030 for half of the world’s population.

This is not acceptable. Instead, we imagine a future where the fashion industry is no longer the second biggest water consuming industry. We imagine a world where there is full awareness of the chemicals in our fresh water and their effects on 9 billion people.

We also imagine a drastic shift in how we use and value water, creating a culture that both respects and learns from the value of our resources.

The technology of water recycling is out there, so let us implement it today.

3. As inheritors of your roles, we demand a long-term investment in the well-being of the community as a whole, through: fair wages; improving infrastructure; ensuring food security.

I would like to tell you the story of a man that I am pretty sure you know already. His name? Brunello Cucinelli. Cucinelli is the living proof that creating a corporate culture that encompasses the local community is possible; as a matter of fact, it is happening as we speak — his commitment managed to revitalise an entire Italian village. Now, the community is part of the industry and the industry is part of the community. Working hand in hand and mutually gaining — they have not only increased the quality of the final product but, ultimately, the quality of living. In this new model that we consider should be the new normal, community and industry thrive together by respecting the hands and hearts involved in the garment's life cycle.

4. What do capital, profit and success mean to you? What if, by 2030, they meant something completely different? As inheritors of your roles, we demand you all to collaborate as active investors in a fashion industry where capital, profit and success are redefined and measured in more than monetary value.

By 2030, these concepts must be measured side-by-side with a holistic view of wellbeing, social security and global health.

The priority must be on collaboration, on knowledge sharing, on rethinking where we place our value and a lowering of the barriers between people, companies and countries which halt the flow of progress.

We want you to imagine a future wherein success can be measured not just through financial gains, but equally through the sharing and increasing of knowledge, technological innovation and social and environmental progress.

5. As inheritors of your roles, we demand that by 2030 fashion is no longer the second-largest polluting industry in the world.

You — global policy makers — must work together with NGOs, brands and corporations to create and implement legislation for no more land abuse. Invest in research and innovation.

It is vital that we take responsibility in restoring the air, water and land that we have altered.

Furthermore, we must create more opportunities for life. To let this world flourish, we must stop taking that which we cannot restore.

We are running out of resources.

6. As the next generation and inheritors of your roles, and our waste, we demand that designers, brands and governments collaboratively invest in the recycling technology and infrastructure that is needed to secure and enable a circular system. 

Products, fabrics and fibres will be infinitely cycled within and across industries. Today’s textile waste is tomorrows textile resource.

 We support the concept of mass balance and ask that brands give as much into the system as they take out. This encompasses the continual sourcing of recycled content and active collection of textiles. Government must support this through incentives and regulations, so that early adopters benefit from circular behaviour.

We want an industry that has zero waste practices embedded in its DNA and causes no unnecessary harm. This means a strategic cross-industry roadmap to eliminate post-industrial, pre-consumer and post-consumer waste.

We also demand that brands proactively support the system, by incorporating design for circularity as a driving philosophy in their work.

Our vision is a fashion world in 2030, where circularity is business as usual.

7. As inheritors of your roles, we demand economic consequences in order to reverse standards.

We need to reverse the profitability of being unsustainable. Sustainability should be rewarded. This is why we are addressing you, the companies, the governments, the game changers of tomorrow.

The world happiness report validates the notion that happiness does not increase with financial exponential growth. For this reason, our industry needs to look at other metrics of success.

We need to build a resilient infrastructure in order to create green cities.

In short, we are going to penalise reckless businesses and invest that money in sustainable fashion initiatives.

Through this, sustainability will be the standard in 2030. No one wants to be labelled as something negative, but in the future we want to expose the ones that are. Sustainability is the norm. Our industry has to reward the people that are making a change.

Putting a Face to Fashion: Cambodia

I have been reading a lot about Cambodia’s apparel industry lately, both positive and negative. On the positive side are the continued growth in its exports of apparel (7.6% in 2015) and the rise in pay of apparel workers (the average take-home pay of Cambodia’s garment workers rose to US$175/month). On the negative side are the continued challenges of sourcing in Cambodia (labor issues, strikes, lack of infrastructure) and the fact that even with the rise in pay for garment workers, the ILO still considers this pay very low. I struggled to find information or transparency about Cambodia’s apparel supply chain, despite the fact that many fashion brands work with suppliers/factories in Cambodia (e.g., H&M, Levis Strauss & Co, Gap). The closest I came was Nike’s interactive map of suppliers that shows the names and addresses of the five factories in Cambodia that produce apparel for Nike. Therefore, I was excited to learn about the fashion brand, Tonlé, which provides more complete transparency of their operations in Cambodia. 

Tonlé is a fashion brand of women’s apparel and accessories headquartered in Phnom Penh. Not only can you go online and meet the team of workers in Phnom Penh, you can see photographs of the team sewing, knitting, screen-printing, and hand weaving products. In addition, Tonlé merchandise combines two strategies for zero-waste fashion: “creative pattern making that uses 100% of a given material, and generating garments from remnant materials.” Designers and production team members work side-by-side to create merchandise that results in only 2-3% waste fabric (which by any account is amazing!). However, they were not satisfied -- they then take this waste fabric to create recycled paper. It is all here in their video.

I love it when I can put a face to fashion – Tonlé is a great example!

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