Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Garments through Industrially Scalable Closed-Loop Recycling: Life Cycle Assessment of a Recycled Wool Blend Sweater
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Goal and Scope
2.2. Inventory Data
2.3. Scenario Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Recycled Wool Blend Sweater Impacts
3.2. Incorporating Best-Practice Garment Use and Care
3.3. Effect of End of Life Allocation Method
3.4. Effect of Varying the Closed-Loop Recycling Rate
3.5. Impacts of an Average Market Product
4. Discussion
4.1. Increasing the Circularity of Garment Life Cycles Reduces Environmental Impacts
4.2. Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Category | Material/Process | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Input | Wool rags | kg | 1068.4 |
Electricity, high voltage | kWh | 1372.6 | |
Water | L | 44.3 | |
HDPE, laminated | kg | 2.3 | |
Steel wire | kg | 0.9 | |
PET strap | kg | 0.5 | |
Alkyl benzoate | kg | 0.5 | |
Freight transport, lorry | tkm | 987 | |
Freight transport, ship | tkm | 6310 | |
Output | Wool fibre | kg | 1000.0 |
Water, to wastewater treatment | L | 44.3 | |
Short wool fibres, to municipal waste | kg | 68.4 |
Category | Material/Process | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Input | Wool fibre | kg | 1005.1 |
Electricity, high voltage | kWh | 420.7 | |
Coal | kg | 252.5 | |
Water | L | 4970.6 | |
Water, steam | L | 141.4 | |
Dyes | kg | 13.6 | |
Acetic acid | kg | 8.1 | |
Sodium chloride | kg | 3.6 | |
Sodium sulphate | kg | 7.4 | |
Formic acid (75%) | kg | 3.7 | |
Ethoxylate amine | kg | 3.7 | |
Packaging, undefined | kg | 0.4 | |
Freight transport | tkm | 31 | |
Output | Over-dyed wool fibre | kg | 1000.0 |
Water, to wastewater treatment | L | 4526.1 | |
Water, emissions to air | L | 444.5 | |
Short wool fibres, to municipal waste | kg | 5.1 |
Category | Material/Process | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Input | Over-dyed wool fibre | kg | 186.2 |
Pre-dyed wool fibre | kg | 875.6 | |
Over-dyed polyester | kg | 124.4 | |
Electricity, high voltage | kWh | 2447.0 | |
Electricity, self-generated solar | kWh | 6.6 | |
Lubricating/antistatic oil | kg | 166.1 | |
Water | L | 512.6 | |
Water, steam | kg | 430.5 | |
Cardboard cone | kg | 40.2 | |
HDPE, film | kg | 10.9 | |
Freight transport | tkm | 27.1 | |
Output | Spun yarn | kg | 1000.0 |
Water, emissions to air | L | 512.6 | |
Wool fibre, to recovery | kg | 111.3 | |
Short wool fibres, to municipal waste | kg | 74.9 |
Category | Material/Process | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Input | Spun yarn | kg | 1011.6 |
Electricity, high voltage | kWh | 3495.0 | |
Diesel | kg | 6.6 | |
Petrol, unleaded | kg | 6.9 | |
Output | Woven fabric | kg | 1000.0 |
Wool fibre, to recovery | kg | 6.5 | |
Short wool fibres, to municipal waste | kg | 5.1 |
Category | Material/Process | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Input | Woven fabric | kg | 1035.7 |
Electricity, high voltage | kWh | 990.3 | |
Coal | kg | 171.7 | |
Water | L | 3092.6 | |
Water, steam | kg | 56.0 | |
Washing detergent | kg | 10.8 | |
Milling agent | kg | 8.0 | |
Softener | kg | 5.4 | |
Acetic acid | kg | 1.9 | |
Ethoxylated alcohol | kg | 8.3 | |
Silicone | kg | 11.1 | |
Output | Wool fabric | kg | 1000.0 |
Water, to wastewater treatment plant | L | 3036.6 | |
Water, emissions to air | kg | 56.0 | |
Short wool fibres, to municipal waste | kg | 35.7 |
Impact Category | Relative Impact by Treatment (%) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Virgin Pure Wool | Virgin Pure Wool + Best Practice Garment Care | Recycled Wool Blend | Recycled Wool Blend + Best Practice Garment Care | |
Climate change | 99 | 99 | 94 | 93 |
Fossil energy demand | 97 | 97 | 93 | 92 |
Water stress | 99 | 99 | 98 | 96 |
Freshwater consumption | 99 | 99 | 97 | 95 |
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Wiedemann, S.G.; Biggs, L.; Clarke, S.J.; Russell, S.J. Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Garments through Industrially Scalable Closed-Loop Recycling: Life Cycle Assessment of a Recycled Wool Blend Sweater. Sustainability 2022, 14, 1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031081
Wiedemann SG, Biggs L, Clarke SJ, Russell SJ. Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Garments through Industrially Scalable Closed-Loop Recycling: Life Cycle Assessment of a Recycled Wool Blend Sweater. Sustainability. 2022; 14(3):1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031081
Chicago/Turabian StyleWiedemann, Stephen G., Leo Biggs, Simon J. Clarke, and Stephen J. Russell. 2022. "Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Garments through Industrially Scalable Closed-Loop Recycling: Life Cycle Assessment of a Recycled Wool Blend Sweater" Sustainability 14, no. 3: 1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031081