Apparel production

Raw Materials. PVC is inherently a hard and brittle material and very sensitive to heat it thus must be modified with a variety of plasticizers, stabilizers, and other processing aids to form heat-stable flexible or semiflexible products or with lesser amounts of these processing aids for the manufacture of rigid products (see Vinyl polymers, vinyl chloride polymers). Plasticizer levels used to produce the desired softness and flexibihty in a finished product vary between 25 parts per hundred (pph) parts of PVC for flooring products to about 80—100 pph for apparel products (245). Numerous plasticizers (qv) are commercially available for PVC, although dioctyl phthalate (DOP) is by far the most widely used in industrial appHcations due to its excellent properties and low cost. For example, phosphates provide improved flame resistance, adipate esters enhance low temperature flexibihty, polymeric plasticizers such as glycol adipates and azelates improve the migration resistance, and phthalate esters provide compatibiUty and flexibihty (245). 

The Business for Social Responsibility (2002) Restricted Substances in Apparel Products Implementation Resources. [Online - accessed 1 May 2007] Available from URL http //www.bsr.org/ CSRResources/Environment/RSLImplementationResources.pdf... 

Collins, M. Aumonier, S. Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of Two Marks Spencer Pic Apparel Products. Environmental Resources Management, Oxford, 2002. 

A two part mailed questionnaire was used to ascertain subject responses. Part 1 was limited to the Illustration of protective apparel products, with descriptions and fabric samples for each. 

Open- and closed-loop recycling of textile and apparel products... 

Synthetic fibres, followed by cotton, are the most common in apparel production. Although cotton consumption has risen steadily in the past two decades, synthetic consumption has grown much faster and now dominates global fibre production. Cotton accounts for 32.9% of global textile production, synthetic fibres including polyester, acrylic, nylon (polyamide) and polypropylene for 60.1%, wool 2.1%, flax (linen) 1.0% and other ceUulosic 3.9% (Shui and Plastina, 2013). In the apparel context, manufactured fibres can be engineered to mimic natural fibres in handle, function and aesthetic, which makes them attractive for both apparel manufacturers and end consumers. 

In apparel production, primary recycling is the collection of pre-consumer offcuts of fabric from production. The nature of cut-and-sew manufacture of apparel means that there is significant textile waste resulting from the leftover fabric between individual pattern pieces. Rissanen (2008) estimates this as up to 15% of the yield required for each garment. 

After the raw material is recycled, it can be further classified according to the new product stream it enters. These two classifications are OLR and CLR. In OLR, a garment reaches the end of its useful life and the fibre is reclaimed for use in different products, therefore entering into a new product fife cycle (Curran, 2012). This may also be termed downcycling if the new product is of lesser economic value. Similarly, pre-consumer textile offcuts from apparel production may be collected and recycled into fibre for use in other products. 

PET bottles to fibre is an OLR method in which PET bottles are recycled into PET flakes, re-spun into fibre and then woven or knitted into textiles. Unlike the method described above, where textile waste enters a second product life cycle, this OLR approach sees waste fi om other product cycles (i.e. bottles from the food and beverage industries) being utilised in textile and apparel production. 

Pre-consumer waste such as offcuts from the cutting process results in relatively clean and sortable fabrics, as one type of fabric can be reclaimed over a production mn and will be of a uniform colour and fibre type/blend. For this reason, recycled yams that are then returned into the apparel product cycle are more likely to be manufactured using pre-consumer textile waste. This also applies in the case of upcycling whole fabric pieces into new apparel. 

Cotton is generally called the King of fibres and has a wide variety of applications in general apparel and technical textiles. In apparel, cotton fibre is used to produce shirts, T-shirts, inner wear, trousers, jeans, etc. In most of the apparel products, cotton fibres are used alone or in blends with other fibres such as polyester, viscose, etc. In apparel purposes, cotton fibre is preferred because of its higher thermal and tactile comfort, which is suitable for a range of weather conditions. 

Evaluate hotspots across the full life cycle of two merino outdoor apparel products (Table 10.3) ... 

Collins,M., Aumonier, S., 2002. Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of Two Marks Spencers pic Apparel Products. Environmental Resources Management, Oxford, de Coverly, E., Mcdonagh, P., O malley, L., Patterson, M., 2008. Hidden mountain the social... 

From 1960 to 1970, acrylic fiber consumption continued its rapid growth with a 19% increase in consumption worldwide, peaking at almost 2.1 billion pounds in 1970. Acrylics found wide use as a wool replacement fiber in carpets, home furnishings, and knitted apparel products. The world market share claimed by both acrylics and polyester increased sharply over this period primarily at the expense of wool and nylon. For acrylic, this increase was from about 14% of the world market in 1960 to approximately 23% in 1969. In the next decade, however, the growth rate decreased to around 8%. This was due primarily to the maturing of the wool replacement market in the United States. In addition, nylon became the dominant carpet fiber, reducing the acrylic market share from 25% at its peak to just 6% by 1976. Fibers and blends, such as polyester-cotton, also cut into the acrylic share of the synthetic fibers market. By 1980, the world market share held by nylon had fallen to approximately 30% from over 60% in 1960. Polyester now accounts for roughly 50% of the world market, while acrylics continue to hold approximately 20%. 

Currently, the purpose of the Higg Index is to guide the decision making of brands and manufacturers on an internal basis. In other words, it is a tool used by companies to self-assess their environmental and social performance, identify areas of strength and weakness, and opportunities for improvement. Future plans of the SAC for the Higg Index include development of a methodology to use the Index to communicate to consumers and other public stakeholders the social and environmental impacts of apparel product manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal. 

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