Does the earth have to be a fashion victim?

Every year, the fashion industry generates 10% of the world’s global carbon emissions. It’s why UCL scientists have pioneered a more sustainable method to help make propylene – a common ingredient in the fabrics and plastics of the clothes and shoes we wear. Find out more...

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The famous French designer Coco Chanel once said that: “In fashion, you know you have succeeded when there is an element of upset”.  An increasing complaint about the fashion industry is not based on style, but rather its environmental footprint.

What is the carbon footprint of our clothes?

According to the United Nations Environment Program, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions. That means it causes more upset to the climate than than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. And the problem is set to grow.

By how much? The world population is projected to reach 8.5 billion people by 2030, which could drive up the annual production of clothing from 62 million tonnes today to 102 million tonnes - more than 500 billion extra T-shirts-worth.

That adds up to a real problem for an industry that tends to avoid the same environmental scrutiny as rivals such as the chemicals, agricultural and energy sectors. But that is changing, says Teresa Domenech, an expert on sustainability and the circular economy at UCL says:

“The textile industry is now really looking at how it can improve its sustainability. I have been working with several companies on how they can reduce their impact on the environment across several stages of the manufacturing and production supply chain,”

Could we make our clothes zero carbon?

It’s just clothes – how hard can it be? In fact, it’s a complicated business, with many of the most polluting aspects of the industry not obvious to the average shopper. Take polypropylene – a plastic made from fossil fuels that is usually associated with the chemical industry. In fact, an increasing amount of polypropylene is made into artificial fabric, and much of that fabric is bought and used by clothing manufacturers. And, because of its source and the way it is made, polypropylene apparel comes with a colossal carbon footprint.

How come? Polypropylene fibres are made by linking together individual molecules of propylene. “And at the moment, propylene is created using expensive and energy-intensive processes,” explains Michail Stamatakis, UCL professor of chemical engineering. “How do they get the energy? With fossil fuels to a large extent in this process. So, making polypropylene has a high overall carbon footprint.”

Can that be improved? Working with colleagues around the world, Stamatakis is finding ways to make propylene at lower temperatures, which means the process uses less energy. By running quantum chemical simulations on supercomputers, the team can analyse the performance of possible new catalysts used to convert the natural gas propane (typically sourced from shale gas) into propylene. They can then test how well they work.

How does that reduce environmental impact? The team has developed new catalysts that can avoid some of the problems that currently plague the chemical conversion and make it less efficient. And this means the whole process can be run at a lower temperature.

The team has not yet scaled-up the process to show it works with the large quantities needed. “But we don’t expect any problems,” Stamatakis says.

That is one way to reduce the carbon footprint of products made from the propylene produced, including textiles. But, as Domenech points out, the fashion industry is large, diverse and relies on many complex supply chains. This means one solution is unlikely to be enough. That’s why other researchers are also working to reduce the demand for unsustainable clothing.

 

So, can we limit our growing appetite for fast fashion?

“Our research has focused on the consumer and what an individual person can do to extend the lifetime of clothes and how long we use them for,” says Jo Hale, a psychologist at UCL who works on ways to change people’s behaviour.

Hale has worked with colleagues and students at the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change to understand the various factors that can influence someone’s decisions to, say, buy second-hand clothes rather than new, and to repair garments to extend their usable life.

“We’re very influenced socially in relation to fashion,” she says.

“There are norms about what’s acceptable to wear and what’s desirable to wear and whether it’s aspirational to repair your clothes or to buy second-hand and whether those fit in with our social identities,” 

Hale says. “And obviously people express themselves through fashion and it can be very important to them. So, there’s an awful lot going on basically.”

The Centre for Behaviour Change's work has shown that sustainability is not always a priority concern when people consider the fashion industry. But Hale and others at UCL are working to change that.

“We all consume water and energy and food, and these things often dominate sustainability discussions,” she says. “But obviously we all wear clothes as well and that's just as embedded in our lives and our environmental footprint. We need to think about that.” And act as well. Everyone who buys clothes can contribute. By making do, mending and buying second hand, we can all help to make green very much the new black.