Eco-Friendly Fabrics and Sustainable Textiles

• The textile industry is considered the most ecologically harmful industry
• Eco-problems arise during production and carry forward to the finished product
• Production processes like bleaching and dyeing create toxins that harm the ecosystem
• Pollution control is vital, as is making products free from toxic effects
• The use of rayon in clothing contributes to the depletion of forests
• Petroleum-based products are harmful to the environment
• An integrated pollution control approach is needed to safeguard the environment
• Luckily there are substitutes

Eco-friendly fabrics

• Hemp, wool, organic cotton, soy silk, bamboo fabrics, jute, and corn fiber are considered eco-friendly
• They are available from nature without harmful chemicals or toxins
• Compared to synthetic fibers, eco-friendly fabrics are cheaper
• Textile chemical processing is moving to developing countries due to low-cost labor and minimal eco-restrictions
• Reasons are also because of various manufacturing processes undertaken by developed countries and awareness about health hazards
• Measures may be beneficial for the employer, but they are unsafe for society, control is needed

Cultivation of cotton

• Cotton cultivation requires large amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, and water
• 22.5% of insecticides are used globally for cotton cultivation
• Approximately 257 gallons (973 liters) of water are needed for one T-shirt
• Pesticides are biologically active chemical compounds that limit the growth of organisms like bacteria, fungus, algae, and insects
• Averting unwanted organisms improves crop yield and fiber quality
• Too much water in irrigation can increase land salinity and decrease fertility

Spinning

• In spinning, individual fibers float in the air, polluting the atmosphere
• These floating fibers are dangerous to human beings upon inhalation
• To minimize this, humidified air in the spinning department is filtered to remove floating impurities

Sizing/ stiffening

• Starch is used in sticky paste form to enhance yarn strength
• The starch paste contains preservations to protect it from microorganism attacks
• Preservatives like pentachlorophenol (from phenolic/chlorinated compounds) are toxic to human skin, so they should be avoided
• Using synthetic starch reduces the need for preservatives, decreasing health hazards

Loom

• The loom creates floating particles like fibrous substances and size particles, also noise pollution
• Without proper measures during weaving, oil stains can form
• These oil stains are removed before textile chemical processing by applying stain remover in the gray folding department
• Measures are taken to lessen oil stains, and the application of carbon tetra chloride products should be avoided in stain removers

Textile processing regarded as non-eco-friendly

• Chemicals like potassium dichromate, sodium hypochlorite or peroxide and sodium hypochlorite in desizing, scouring, and bleaching produce heavy Biological Oxygen Demands (BOD) in effluents
• Chlorine is not used in bleaching due to being possibly carcinogenic, e.g., chloroform
• The wool industry uses chlorine-based compounds for anti-shrinking, generating toxic effluent
• Oxalic acid, used to remove rust stains before bleaching, is harmful to aquatic organisms and increases COD and BOD
• Peroxide bleaching requires a stabilizer for identical and monitored bleaching

Dyeing

• Dyeing is a major polluting industry
• The German legislation consumer goods ordinance states list dyes that are forbidden in clothing, textiles, shoes, furniture, and general consumer goods

Printing

• The dyes used should be non-toxic and not based on forbidden amines
• Dyes with high fixation properties and modified printing processes requiring fewer washouts are recommended
• The use of kerosene in pigment printing has been significantly decreased and should be totally removed
• Urea use has been lessened by substituting it with other ingredients and modifying printing methods
• Citric acid should be substituted by optional chemicals in disperse prints
• Diethylene glycol is suitable as a replacement for phenol in nylon fabric printing
• Limiting formaldehyde-based fixers for pigment prints can decrease free formaldehyde in final fabric

Finishing

• Chemical formaldehyde for crease resistance and dimensional stability is among the most toxic chemicals
• Many countries set tolerance limits for free formaldehyde
• Formaldehyde in the atmosphere and waste-water is highly toxic, and formaldehyde scavengers (chemicals which neutralise toxic effects of formaldehyde) should be used
• Functional finishing (easy care, durable press, wrinkle-free finishes, softening, and enzyme/bio-finishing) adds value to cotton in fabric or garment form

Approaches for eco-friendly practices

• To move production toward clean production, an organized approach is needed

• Prevent: give up a process or product in favor of noticeably improving the environmental situation

• Decrease: reduce the pollutant load, exhaustion and fixation of dyes, responding to water and energy requirement

• Re-utilise: Re-use the dye bath

• Recycle: Recycling natural fibers has limited application due to natural degradation, but synthetic fibers can be recycled by melting down and regranulating

• This practice is most acceptable to 'green' organizations but limited by lack of uses for the recycled material

Eco-factors

• With respect to clothing textiles, the phrase 'ecology' can be classified into three groups:
• Production ecology: Includes cultivation/harvesting of natural/synthetic fibers, production of regenerated/synthetic fibers, production of yarns/twisted threads/fabrics and finishing
• Considers garment production using various agents like fertilizers, growth regulators, crop protection agents, textile chemicals, auxiliaries, and finishing agents

User Ecology

• Related to clothing textiles and the substances that give them beauty and performance characteristics during application

Disposal Ecology

• Refers to the disposal of textiles after application in the manner that ascertains the least probable environment effect.
• Factors for eco-standards are Formaldehyde, pesticide, carcinogenic dyestuff, skin neutrality, heavy metal content, -pH, fastness to perspiration

Eco-labeling

• Eco-standards and labels have gained significance in the apparel and textile industry
• Particular standards should be set, developed by analyzing the product's whole lifecycle from raw materials to production, packaging, distribution, use, and disposal
• An example for an Indian eco-label is the ECO MARK: ISO 14000

Function of ISO 14000

• The ISO 14000 series of international standards tackle issues dealing with the environment
• The main aims are the protection of natural resources, reduction/abatement of waste/emission, constant improvement, use of the best available technology, and compliance to environmental laws

Eco-management

• In India, each state has its own pollution control authority dealing with water pollution in the textile industry
• The aim is to ensure effluent water being discharged is not harmful to life forms
• Parameters of effluent water are matched to standards by effluent treatment plants
• For controlling air and noise pollution, authorities have taken subjective steps, but basically no steps are taken by pollution control
• Rigid rules and regulations set up by developed countries are increasing toxicity product awareness in India
• Systems followed in the textile industry include reuse of water and recovery/reuse of caustic soda used in mercerisation

Water pollution

• Textile industries use maximum water which becomes contaminated with chemicals and auxiliaries
• Polluted water is unsafe for flora and fauna due to high temperature, odors, turbidity, colors and toxic chemicals

Controlling water pollution

• Controlling water pollution is done by treating the effluent water in three steps
• Primary treatment: neutralization and elimination of suspended solids by sedimentation, flotation, flocculation and coagulation techniques
• Secondary treatment: presence of micro-organisms developed at the surface of sewage, sludge in the presence of chemical nutrients
• Tertiary treatments include chemical oxidation and carbon oxidation
• Chemical oxidation allows inorganic compounds to precipitate over restricted pH ranges
• Carbon oxidation provides a surface area to absorb organic material, with the reactivation of carbon

Management system

• Finalizing a clear-cut eco-policy is a step in the measures for an eco-friendly textile unit
• Recognizing that additional costs would be involved, attempts should be made to decrease these eco-costs at the expense of eco-standards the textile unit needs to maintain

Conclusion

• Textile industry plays a vital role in the Indian economy constituting nearly 30% of India's exports
• Globalization requires that its production techniques, procedures and product qualities satisfy global eco-standards
• Production steps taken to ensure they are done chemically but do not create any toxic effects
• Making appropriate changes in recipes, effluent treatment plants, and re-use of effluent needs to be done to meet effluent standards
• Choosing proper control on purchasing input materials, measuring the cost of effluent treatment as inevitable
• Not to decrease the cost, to dilute eco-standards, and introduce suitable audit systems to realize eco-standards