Environmental sustainability of fashion product made from post-consumer waste: impact across the life cycle

Abstract

The fashion industry has a detrimental environmental impact throughout its supply chain operations that needs immediate attention. Limited work focuses on measuring the environmental sustainability of clothing products made from post-consumer waste in the circular economy. This research aims to evaluate the environmental sustainability of fashion products made from post-consumer waste using the Higg Index tool developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. Three t-shirt manufacturers—namely factory A (LEED certified), factory B (non-LEED certified), and factory C (Sub-contract) were considered as case studies. Data were collected through practice-based qualitative questions to manufacturing practitioners, which were supplemented by triangulations, and scores were obtained using the Higg Index product environmental sustainability tool. The findings highlight significant variations in most subsection analyses for product environment sustainability dimensions, scoring 369.5 (73.9%), 277.6 (55.5%), and 153.5 (30.7%) out of 500 by factories A, B, and C, respectively. Findings reveal significant differences in scores (from low to high) for the three t-shirt manufacturers. Various subsections revealed deficiencies in actual policies including product design, materials selection, manufacturing operations, and priorities regarding subcategories. Products made in a green factory and embracing the circular economy achieved the highest score, while the sub-contractor factory product obtained the lowest score. Findings highlight poor and emerging sustainable practices, identify challenges, and suggest improvement in the above-mentioned categories. The research urges stakeholders to embrace sustainable practices for fashion products to reduce environmental impact through life cycle stages and benefit the industry.

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