Sustainability cotton textiles

In the present scenario, sustainability is one of the world s key issues. For all products, either newly developed or existing, sustamabUity has to be evaluated. LCA has been used as a tool to evaluate the environmental impacts and sustainability of various products including cotton textiles. 

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, sustainabUity represents the type of developments that meet the needs of present generations without comprising the ability of future generations to fulfil their needs. The use of natural resources and the generated outputs and environmental effects are two important aspects of sustainability. Products or processes that use higher nonrenewable resources as well as produce detrimental effects on the environment are considered to be less sustainable. As discussed in the previous sections, LCA has been used to identify, quantify and evaluate the environmental impacts (inputs and outputs) of products made from cotton textiles and this information can be utilized to determine the sustainability of cotton textiles and to compare that with other textile fibres (Rana et al., 2014a,b). 

According to the World Health Organization, around 20,000 deaths occur in the developing countries due to pesticide poisoning. Many of these deaths are related to the cotton sector (Pal, 2009). With the use of organic cotton, the use of fertilizers can be reduced and pesticide use can be avoided. There are a number of factors that are governing the sustainability of cotton textiles. The factors related to the cultivation of cotton fibre follow in the next sections. 

Khatri, A., 2011. Use of biodegradable organic salts for pad-steam dyeing of cotton textiles with reactive dyes to improve process sustainability. Int. Proc. Econ. Dev. Res. 18, 84-89. 

The goals of cotton textile processing for producing sustainable products are to reduce water use, energy use, and chemical use use safer/ greener chemicals and minimize inputs to the enviromnent (air, water, solid waste). Post-harvest handling/processing of cotton includes ... 

The starting point in the textile supply chain is the raw material preparation. Textile fibres are obtained from two main sources natural (cellulose or animal) fibres or synthetic fibres. Natural cellulosic fibres include conventional and organic cottons, rayon, linen, hemp, jute, ramie and sisal. Cotton is used to produce 40% of world textile products (Saicheua et al., 2012). The major environmental concern in cellulosic fibre production, especially for cotton fibre, is the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used during cultivation. The second concern is the high level of water consumption (Dave and Aspegren, 2010 Muthu, 2014). Cotton is one of the most popular natural fibres used in the world. Three percent of the world s cultivated land is used for cotton production and 16% of the world s insecticides are used on this crop alone (Saicheua et al., 2012 Muthu, 2014). Moreover, the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, machinery and electricity causes some human health and environmental problems. Also cotton growing requires 7—29 tonnes of water per kg of raw cotton fibres (KaUiala and Nousiainen, 1999). Other types of cellulosic fibres are hemp and flax, which can be considered to be the most significant sustainable fibres in the non cotton natural fibre sector (Werf, 2004 Muthu, 2014). 

Holistic approaches (sustainable labels) dealing with social and environmental issues. These labels are relatively new but have recently gained in popularity. The pertinent examples of sustainable labels applying to clothing and textiles are GOTs, Better Cotton Initiative or very recently the STeP standard proposed by OEKO-TEX . 

Another property used to compare the flammability of textile fibers is the limiting oxygen index (LOI). This measurement quantity describes the minimum oxygen content (%) in nitrogen necessary to sustain candle-like burning. Values of LOI, considered a measure of the intrinsic flammability of a fiber, are listed in Table 12.28 in order of decreasing flammability. Acrylic fibers, it can be seen, are similar in flammability to cotton. Modacrylics, on the other hand, are somewhat less flammable than any of the synthetics, except 100% PVC, and are substantially less flammable than cotton and wool. 

With respect to sustainability and waste management, the implementation of human-made, biodegradable polymers in textile coating is also examined. Palanikkumaran et al. (2008) developed waterproof breathable coatings based on polyvinyl alcohol for cotton fabrics. 

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