Holistic sustainability transformation is required across the booming fashion sector
Fashion consumption has doubled in the past 15 years and this trend is expected to continue, driven by developing markets in Asia and South America. The global $1.3trillion textile industry currently operates in a linear model of ‘take-make-use-dispose’, contributing to significant negative environmental and human impacts , leading to the acceleration of the climate crisis. This calls for radical transformation at all levels – from business models used to how materials are sourced, processed, products manufactured, transported, used by customers and disposed. The Covid-19 pandemic has also exacerbated human rights issues and further highlighted the poor working conditions in global supply chains. Fashion companies face significant reputational and regulatory risks that must be understood and addressed. The time for action is now and radical change is needed to pave the foundation for a sustainable future and prosperous business.
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Fashion
Grappling with complex sustainability issues in the fashion industry
Buying clothes has never been easier. Over 100 billion items of clothes are manufactured every year using thousands of different chemicals. Consumers are buying more garments, wearing them less often and disposing of them at an alarming rate. In Britain, more than 300 000 tonnes of clothes end up in landfill each year. It’s the fastest growing category of waste in the country. This however is a global problem. Expanding middle classes in emerging markets are hungry for more and cheaper fashion. How can the fashion industry continue to grow while addressing the environmental need for people to buy fewer clothes?
The boom in the fashion industry has made it the second biggest polluter behind oil and gas, bringing to forefront a myriad of sustainability issues. Our hunger for fast fashion is pushing animal species to the brink of extinction, destroying the habitats that provide us with clean air and polluting the rivers that give us fresh water. Carbon footprints are increasing, emitting about the same quantity of GHGs per year as the entire economies France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined.
These sustainability issues, coupled with increasing requirements from regulatory bodies, investors and consumers for transparency and disclosure of impacts, are putting pressure on fashion brands to look beyond the typical financial metrics and to also embed ESG metrics into the heart of the business. The big brands are setting ambitious sustainability strategies and leading the way in commitments to use recycled materials or sustainable fibres such as organic cotton, increasing the use of renewable energy across all operations, trialling methods to reduce textile waste through in-store collections. This is progress but not enough and the industry is called to collaborate and innovate to achieve a holistic transformation.
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Client success Stories
Bio-bean Ltd is an award-winning clean technology company that has industrialised the process of recycling waste coffee grounds (WCG) into advanced biofuels.
UK fashion brand Seasalt addresses the key environmental hotspots across its value chain by measuring its carbon, water and waste footprint, resulting in the creation of a strategic sustainability roadmap.
Belu’s purpose is to change the way the world sees water. In pursuit of this purpose, Belu invests all of its profits into saving carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, implementing a circular economy and bringing clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to everyone, everywhere.
Fashion
Sustainability Consultants
With a specialist fashion sustainability team, Avieco is well placed to support your business, your impact, and your sustainability challenges, to help you identify what really matters to you in your journey to becoming sustainable.
Corina Radu
Principal Consultant
Jessica Cresswell
Director
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more than a word.