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Environmental Footprints and Eco-design

of Products and Processes

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu


Miguel Angel Gardetti Editors

Green
Fashion
Volume 1
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design
of Products and Processes

Series editor
Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu, SGS Hong Kong Limited,
Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13340
Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu
Miguel Angel Gardetti
Editors

Green Fashion
Volume 1

13
Editors
Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu Miguel Angel Gardetti
Environmental Services Manager-Asia Center for Studies on Sustainable Luxury
SGS Hong Kong Limited Buenos Aires
Hong Kong Argentina
Hong Kong SAR

ISSN 2345-7651 ISSN 2345-766X (electronic)


Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes
ISBN 978-981-10-0109-3 ISBN 978-981-10-0111-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015955381

Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London


© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
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Printed on acid-free paper

Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media
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Preface

Sustainable or Green fashion (also called Eco fashion) is one of the most hap-
pening trends in the field of sustainability. The fashion industry is facing a severe
threat due to its vulnerable environmental impacts and ruthless social impacts.
One of the ways to address this threat is to inculcate “Green” or “Sustainable”
or “Eco” practices in the entire fashion industry supply chain and in the entire
life cycle of fashion products. Green fashion enforces environmental and social
responsibility considerations from the creation and production processes of a
fashion product and ensures the same till the entire life cycle of the product under
question. This is again a very vast topic and includes a huge list of elements. The
agenda of Green fashion is pretty big and we try to cover it in two volumes. This
is the first volume of the Green Fashion book, which aims to cover a good range of
topics with the aid of nine lively and well-written chapters.
This book disseminates the knowledge on Green Fashion to the readers via nine
informative chapters in Volume 1: Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation:
A Diagnosis; Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods with State-
of-the-Art Digital Print Technology, A Sustainable Design Case, Understanding
Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing Market: Model Development
and Verification; The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool;
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-Retail Initiatives: An Exploratory
Study of Slow and Fast Fashion Businesses; Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn
Rejuvenates Nature and the Sustainable Fashion Industry of Korea; Sustainable
Production Processes in Textile Dyeing; and Developments in Sustainable
Chemical Processing of Textiles.
We are highly confident that readers of the book will get a lot of very useful
information pertaining to Green fashion from this contribution. We would like to
record our sincere thanks to all the authors who have contributed the nine chapters
in this book for their time and priceless efforts spent.

v
Contents

Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Miguel Angel Gardetti
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods with
State-of-the-Art Digital Print Technology, A Sustainable Design Case. . . 25
Kelly Cobb and Belinda Orzada
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable
Clothing Market: Model Development and Verification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Malgorzata Koszewska
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Erica Meier and Tina Waliczek
Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare
in the Global Beauty Care Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Nadine Hennigs, Evmorfia Karampournioti and Klaus-Peter Wiedmann
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives:
An Exploratory Study of Slow and Fast Fashion Businesses. . . . . . . . . . . 127
Rudrajeet Pal
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature
and the Sustainable Fashion Industry of Korea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Kyung Eun Lee and Eulanda A. Sanders
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
L. Ammayappan, Seiko Jose and A. Arputha Raj
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles. . . . . . . . . . 217
A. Arputharaj, A.S.M. Raja and Sujata Saxena

vii
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation:
A Diagnosis

Miguel Angel Gardetti

Abstract Cubreme® is a small textile company created by designer Alejandra


Gottelli whose purpose is to promote the use of organic and natural textiles
by designing classical contemporary garments that transcend fashion trends.
Therefore, the collections are not divided into 6-week “seasons” that change con-
tinuously, but rather they are featured in line with cold and warm seasons. The
brand was conceived in response to the designer’s need to express creatively the
culture of Argentine native communities. The fibers used by Alejandra Gottelli
come from the shearing of domestic species, such as animals from the sheep,
camel, and goat families from the Andean–Patagonian and Andean–Cuyo regions
of Argentina, which are bred in their natural habitat. The fibers obtained from
shearing animals from both the camel and sheep families, as well as the harvest of
vegetable fibers are treated in premium spinning mills that develop highly refined
products on a very small scale. Fabrics are developed using handlooms, and craft
tailor shops are in charge of the final tailoring to give garments a haute couture
finish; this helps keep a small production line, using renewable resources and
contributing both actively and voluntarily to social, economic, and environmental
improvement. This case study introduces Cubreme and then shows the model of
sustainable value creation that integrates four elements: environment, innovation,
stakeholder management, economic value and potential of growth (Hart, Harvard
Bus Rev 75: 66–76, 1997; Capitalism at the Crossroads, 2005; Capitalism at the
crossroads: capitalism at the crossroads—aligning business, earth, and humanity,

The author would like to thank Mrs. Ana Laura Torres for her contributions to this chapter.

M.A. Gardetti (*)


Center for Studies on Sustainable Luxury, Av. San Isidro 4166,
PB “A”, C1429ADP, Buenos Aires, Republic of Argentina
e-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.lujosustentable.org

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 1


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_1
2 M.A. Gardetti

2007; Hart and Milstein, MIT Sloan Manag Rev 41:23–33,1999, Acad Manag
Exec 17: 56–67, 2003) as a tool to diagnose the brand, ending with an analysis of
the company in the light of the above model and a few conclusions.

Keywords Fashion · Sustainability · Cubreme® · Argentina

1 Introduction

In terms of environmental pollution and social impact, fashion is one of the most
harmful systems (Fletcher 2008, 2014; Kozlowsky et al. 2012; Muthu 2014). Over
the past years, these negative effects have been heightened by a phenomenon
known as “fast fashion,”1 which is having an impact even at a cultural level. In this
regard, this phenomenon is sometimes called “McFashion,”2 given its total
homogenization resulting from the sector’s globalization (Lee 2003).
Factors such as scale expansion and increased time to market, in addition to the
division of labor, and consumption patterns, have deeply influenced how fashion is
produced (Hawley 2011).
The fashion production system, basically driven by economic factors, is caus-
ing an intensive use of resources3 and large volumes of textile wastes with a great
impact on the planet’s capacity to regenerate (McCann 2015). Retailers and multi-
national brands have embraced practices based on trend-oriented design, and a
lower production cost policy that has taken the massive search for supplies to
developing countries. Therefore, this significantly reduces both clothes pricing and
quality (Cataldi et al. 2010).
From the consumer’s perspective, the continuous cycle of purchase, use, and
disposal of clothes also has serious consequences for both society and the environ-
ment4 (Gwilt and Rissanen 2011). Due to their eagerness to follow the latest
trends and attracted by affordable prices, consumers’ demand is driving the pur-
chase of clothes beyond their actual needs, which results in overconsumption.

1According to Cataldi et al. (2010), this term refers to the clothing industry focused on low-cost

mass production where seasons change every 6 weeks instead of following the two traditional
annual seasons. It is sold by retailers at very low prices and based on the latest trends, which
encourage consumers to purchase more than they really need, thus resulting in both social and
environmental impacts.
2The term McFashion—the textile equivalent of fast food—was coined making an allusion to the

fast food restaurant chain to refer to this fact whereby it is possible to find the same garment in
any of the major cities in the world.
3An emblematic example is the drought of the Aral Sea due to the indiscriminate and inefficient

use of water for cotton crops, among others (Allwood et al. 2006; Fletcher 2008).
4As an example, a research study conducted by Cambridge University reveals that, on aver-

age, English consumers send 30 kg of garments and textiles per capita to landfills every year
(Allwood et al. 2006).
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 3

Likewise, consumers have lost their ability to claim their own sense of style,
following instead the mandates of brands and trendsetters (Hawley 2011).
­
According to Cataldi et al. (2010), consumers have taken a leading role in the
development of the current fast fashion system due to their attitude and behavior in
line with production speed.
As described thus far, fashion has become the very antithesis of sustainability
(Fletcher and Tham 2015). Fashion needs to escape the fate of being a tool that
often encourages excessive economic growth to the detriment of the environmental
and social impact. In Fletcher’s own words (2008), fashion “should help cultivate
new aspirations” (p. 118).
This case analyzes the company under the model of sustainable value creation
developed by Professor Stuart L. Hart (Hart 1997; Hart and Milstein 1999, 2003;
Hart 2005, 2007) that integrates four aspects: environment, innovation, stake-
holder management, and potential for growth.

2 Methodology

In order to develop this case, the author first made a bibliographic compilation on
this topic and then researched information about Cubreme® on two levels: through
trade media and, on the other hand, through semistructured interviews with
designers.

3 Understanding “Sustainable Fashion”

The term “sustainable development” dates back to the United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment in 1972 where it was first coined. Sustainable devel-
opment is a problematic expression on the meaning of which few people agree.
Each person can take the term and “reinvent” it considering his or her own
needs. This is a concept that continuously leads us to change objectives and pri-
orities because it is an open process and as such, it cannot be reached definitely.
However, one of the most widely accepted definitions of sustainable development,
although diffuse and nonoperating, is the one proposed by the World Commission
on Environment and Development (WCED) report, Our Common Future, which
defines sustainable development as “the development model that allows us to meet
the present needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs” (WCED 1987: 43). At its core is the notion that all natural sys-
tems have limits and that human well-being requires living within those limits.
The essential objective of this development model is to raise the quality of life
with the long-term maximization of the productive potential of ecosystems with
the appropriate and relevant technologies (Gardetti 2005).
4 M.A. Gardetti

According to this report the three pillars of sustainability would be “people,


profit and planet” (Bader 2008). Sustainable development is not only a new con-
cept, but also a new paradigm, and this requires looking at things in a different
way. It is a notion of the world deeply different from the one that dominates our
current thinking and includes satisfying basic human needs such as justice, free-
dom, and dignity (Ehrenfeld 1999).
Although the term “fashion” refers to products such as clothing and accessories,
according to Fletcher (2008) and (2014) fashion is the way in which our clothes
reflect and communicate our individual vision within society, linking us to time
and space. Clothing is the material thing that gives fashion a contextual vision in
society (Cataldi et al. 2010). According to Hethorn and Ulasewicz (2008), fash-
ion is a process that is expressed and worn by people, and as a material object,
has a direct link to the environment. It is embedded in everyday life. Therefore,
sustainability within fashion means that the development and use of some thing
or process is not harmful to people or the planet, and once put into action, such
thing or process can enhance the well-being of those people who interact with it,
and the environment within which it is developed and used. But this is not always
the case. One of the most worrying social effects in the current fashion system
is that to meet the market’s expectations in terms of turnaround and competitive
prices the conditions in which clothes are made fail to comply with minimum labor
standards: respect for workers, fair salaries, working hours, breaks, and health and
safety standards in the work environment (Oxfam GB, Clean Clothes Campaign &
ICFTU 2004). Clothing manufacture has moved to countries that pay lower sala-
ries and where there are neither stringent pollution controls nor laws that punish
textile companies that cause it (Hethorn and Ulasewicz 2008).
The textile and fashion industries use large quantities of water and energy (two
of the resources of major concern worldwide), and also generate waste, effluents,
and pollution. Both manufacture and consumption of textile products are signifi-
cant sources of environmental damage.5
Furthermore, another environmental implication of the current fashion system
is associated with transport. More than in any other industry, a textile or fash-
ion product is made up of different components that come from every corner of
the world. The fiber/yarn is produced in one country, then shipped to be spun in
another country, then shipped again to separate production and finishing processes,
before finally being made up into garments somewhere else (Earley 2007). This
certainly increases CO2 emission rates, which ultimately have a negative impact
on climate change (Muthu 2014; Farrer 2011).
Fashion at its worst promotes materialism, because marketing and advertising
techniques have helped it be perceived as a means to achieve both success and
happiness. It is also involved in very serious health conditions, such as bulimia and
anorexia (Fletcher 2008, 2014). Moreover, the pressure of constantly reshaping

5Other authors and organizations have studied and analyzed the textile and clothing industry

environmental impacts too. Some of them are Slater (2000), UK Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (2008), Ross (2009), Dickson et al. (2009) and Tobler-Rohr (2011).
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 5

our personal identity, incited by changing trends, creates both personal insecurity
and stress. To us, the meaning of fashion may be to purchase things that we do not
really need, use them very little, and quickly dispose of them. A vast proportion of
clothes are now bought in supermarkets, and new collections arrive in High Street
stores every 6–8 weeks. Although purchasing new products other than what we
really need supports a production system based on economic growth, it has a nega-
tive impact on the resource base and undermines personal satisfaction. The ongo-
ing shaping and reshaping of our identity through fashion consumption is both a
distinctive feature of the times we live in and a key cause of the sector’s lack of
sustainability (Earley 2007).
The strategy implemented in the design of contemporary manufactured
goods—aesthetic obsolescence6—ensures that producers continue producing and
consumers continue buying (Fuad-Luke 2004–2005).
Some authors, such as Walker (2006) and Koefoed and Skov (year unknown),
have studied the contradictions between fashion and sustainability: sustainability
requires a drastic reduction in our ecological footprint, and increasing a product’s
useful life. Fashion, on the other hand, suggests a passing trend or fad: something
transient, superficial, and often rather wasteful. But, beyond these contradictions,
fashion should not necessarily come into conflict with sustainable principles.
Indeed, fashion plays a role in the promotion and achievement of sustainability, and
it may even be a key to more sustainable ways of living. Thus sustainable fashion
is an approach to the fashion system intended to minimize negative environmental
impacts, and, in turn, maximize positive impacts (benefits) for workers and their
families all along the value chain, hence playing a decisive role in poverty reduc-
tion. For this reason, Kate Fletcher (2012) in the preface of the book, Sustainability
in Fashion and Textiles: Values, Design, Production and Consumption, wrote, “For
me the fostering of alternatives to the status quo in fashion and textiles is essential
if we are to deeply engage with the process of sustainability…” (p. ix).

4 Creating Sustainable Value

The challenges associated with global sustainability, viewed through the appro-
priate set of business lenses, can help identify strategies and practices that pro-
mote the creation of value. Michael Porter and Mark R. Kramer in their work
“Creating Share Value” of 2011 say, “[T]he purpose of the corporation must be
redefined as creating shared value, not just profit per se…It will also reshape
capitalism and its relationship to society.” That is, there is a connection between
the social dimension and economic growth (Porter and Kramer 2006; Fatemi

6Term that Vance Packard made popular in The Waste Makers (1963) to refer to manufacturers’

strategy to render products outdated, nonfunctional, or useless after a period of time, estimated in
advance during the design phase. The purpose of planned obsolescence is to get quick economic
profit.
6 M.A. Gardetti

and Fooladi undated; Gholami 2011), and this is demonstrated in the work,
“Sustainability and Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study of Value
Creation,” conducted in 2011 by Gupta and Benson on American companies.
Value creation needs to be broadly defined to acknowledge the strategically rele-
vant stakeholders of a corporation, and the definition of value creation is an inter-
active process that includes stakeholders (Freeman 1984; Freeman et al. 2007;
Post et al. 2002; Sachs et al. 2008; Sachs and Maurer 2009). For all this, the sus-
tainable enterprise represents the potential for a new approach in bringing the
private sector closer to development, including poverty, the respect for cultural
diversity, and the preservation of ecological integrity (Hart 2005, 2007).

4.1 The Creation of Value

With this model, both short- and long-term value is created using two variables: a
spatial variable and a temporal one.
The temporal variable reflects the firm’s need to manage “today’s” business,
while simultaneously creating “tomorrow’s” technologies and markets. In contrast,
the spatial variable reflects the firm’s need to nurture and protect “internal” organi-
zational skills, technologies, and capabilities, while simultaneously providing the
firm with new prospects and knowledge from “outside” stakeholders (Hart 1997,
2005, 2007; Hart and Milstein 2003).
The combination of these two variables (see Fig. 1) results in four different
dimensions, crucial to the creation of value (Hart and Milstein 2003):
• Internal dimension and immediate term, such as cost and risk reduction
• External dimension and immediate term (building of legitimacy)
• Future dimension (or long term) and internal (innovation and repositioning)
• Long-term dimension and external (credible expectations of growth)

Fig. 1  Dimensions for value Spatial Variable


creation. Source Designed
by the authors (Adapted Internal External
from Stuart L. Hart and Future
Mark Milstein, Creating
Temporal Variable

Sustainable Value 2003)

Value
Creatio

Present
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 7

To maximize value creation companies must act efficiently and simultaneously in


the four dimensions.

4.2 Global Drivers for Sustainability

According to Hart (1997), (2005), (2007) and Hart and Milstein (2003), there
are four groups of drivers related to global sustainability shown in Fig. 2 and
explained below.
The first group corresponds to the growth of industrialization and its associ-
ated impacts, such as consumption of materials, pollution, and waste and effluent
generation. Thus, efficiency in the use of resources and pollution prevention are
crucial to sustainable development.
A second group of drivers is associated with the proliferation and intercon-
nection of civil society stakeholders, with high expectations placed on business
performance beyond their economic action. To achieve sustainable development,
companies are challenged to operate in an open, responsible, and informed
manner.
The third group of drivers regarding global sustainability is related to emerg-
ing technologies that would provide radical and “disturbing” solutions and that
could render many of today’s energy- and material-intensive industries obsolete.

Drivers Group 4
Drivers Group 3 (population,
(disruption, clean poverty and
tech and footprint) inequality)

SUSTAINABILITY

Drivers Group 1 Drivers Group 2


(pollution, waste (civil society,
and consumption) transparency and
connectivity)

Fig. 2  Sustainability drivers. Source Designed by the author


8 M.A. Gardetti

Thus, innovation and technological change are the keys to achieving sustainable
development.
Finally, the fourth group of drivers is linked to population growth. In addition,
economic globalization affects the local autonomy, the culture, and the environ-
ment, causing a growing decline in developing countries (Hart 2005, 2007; Hart
and Milstein 2003). A long-term vision that incorporates (the traditional economic
aspects) social and environmental aspects is essential for the achievement of sus-
tainable development.

4.3 The Sustainable Value Structure: Connecting Drivers


with Strategies

Global sustainability is a complex multidimensional concept that cannot be


addressed by any single corporate action. The creation of (sustainable) value
implies that firms have to manage the four groups of drivers (Hart 1997, 2005,
2007; Hart and Milstein 2003). Each group of drivers has a strategy and practice,
which correspond to a particular dimension of value creation.

4.3.1 Growing Profits and Reducing Risk Through Pollution


Prevention

Problems about consumption of raw materials and the generation of waste and
pollution associated with industrialization raise opportunities for firms to lower
costs and risks, by developing skills and capabilities in eco-efficiency and pollu-
tion prevention (Hart 1995, 1997, 2005, 2007).

4.3.2 Enhancing Reputation and Legitimacy Through Product


Stewardship

Product stewardship integrates the voice of stakeholders into business processes


through an intensive interaction with external parties. It therefore offers a way
to both lower environmental and social impacts across the value chain, and to
enhance the firm’s legitimacy by engaging stakeholders in the performance of
ongoing operations (Hart 1995, 1997, 2005, 2007).

4.3.3 Market Innovation Through New Technologies

New technologies and sustainable technologies refer not to the incremental


improvement associated with pollution prevention, but to innovations that leap-
frog standard routines and knowledge (Hart and Milstein 1999). Thus rather
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 9

than simply seeking to reduce the negative impacts of their operations, firms can
strive to solve social and environmental problems with the internal development
or acquisition of new capabilities that address the sustainability challenge directly
(Hart 1997, 2005, 2007; Hart and Milstein 2003).

4.3.4 Crystallizing the Growth Path Through the Sustainability Vision

The vision of sustainability, which creates a map for tomorrow’s businesses, pro-
vides members of the organization with the necessary guidance in terms of organi-
zational priorities, technological development, resource allocation, and design of
business models (Hart and Milstein 2003).
This model highlights the nature and magnitude of those possibilities associ-
ated with sustainable development and relates them to the creation of value for the
company. This appears in Fig. 3 which shows the strategies and practices associ-
ated with the creation of both short- and long-term value.

4.4 A Tool for Diagnosis

In order to choose which strategy(s) to promote (see Fig. 4) and analyze the best
way to manage it or them, the sustainable value structure may be used as a simple
but important diagnosis tool. By evaluating a company’s activity in each of the
quadrants, the portfolio balance level can be evaluated (Hart 1997, 2005, 2007).

Fig. 3  Strategies and Spatial Variable


practices associated with the Internal External
creation of short- and long-
term value, and the essential Future
elements for its development. Skill Sustainable
Source Designed by the Development Vision
Temporal Variable

for the Future


authors (Adapted from Stuart
L. Hart and Mark Milstein,
“Creating Sustainable Value”
2003)

Emissions
Stakeholder
(1) and Waste
Present Management
Reduction
10 M.A. Gardetti

Spatial Variable
In-house External
Future
Does our brand vision
Is the sustainability of our promote the resolution of
products limited by our social and envionmental
exiting competency base? Is problems and guide the
there potential to realize development of new
major improvements? technologies, markets,
products, and processes?
Time Dimension

Sustainable
Value
Creation
Where are the most
significant waste and What are the implications for
emission streams from our product design and
current operations? Can we development if we assume
lower costs and risks by responsibility for a product’s
eliminating waste at the entire life cycle? Can we
source or by using it as useful reduce the impact of our
input? products?
Present

Fig. 4  Evaluation of each of the sustainability portfolio quadrants. Source Designed by the
author (Adapted from Stuart L. Hart, “Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World,”
1997; Stuart L. Hart and Mark Milstein, “Creating Sustainable Value,” 2003 and Stuart L. Hart,
“Capitalism at the Crossroads,” 2005 and 2007)

5 Cubreme®

“Sustainable fashion is for the long term. It’s a path made by experimentation.”
“I’m tenacious when I believe in something, in this case, blending fashion with
sustainability.”
“I don’t follow the crowd.”
“I’ve never liked settling for what’s available.”
“I am a believer in a change of paradigm. I do my utmost for it.”
Alejandra Gotelli, Founder and CEO, Cubreme®

This small textile company (adhered to the United Nations Global Compact7
and, for some years now, certified with B8 System) was created by designer
Alejandra Gottelli whose purpose is to promote the use of organic and natural tex-
tiles by designing classical-contemporary garments that transcend fashion trends.

7www.unglobalcompact.org.
8http://www.sistemab.org/ingles/home.
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 11

Therefore, the collections are not divided into 6-week “seasons” that change
­continuously, but rather they are featured in line with cold and warm seasons.
The brand was conceived in response to the designer’s need to express the cul-
ture of Argentine native communities creatively. Her sister was a biologist who
lived for a long time in Ethiopia and who told her stories about aboriginal com-
munities of that country. After listening to the tales and appreciating the fabrics
and decorative pieces that her sister used to bring, Alejandra compared the African
handicrafts to those from the north of Argentina, and that stirred up her interest in
developing a project to create a 100 % Argentine-made textile product, thus reval-
uating a sector of the economy hit hard mainly during the 1990s due to the then-
prevailing economic situation. That idea was the kick-off of a learning process that
took her to different places in the country.
The animal fibers used by Alejandra Gottelli come from the shearing of domes-
tic species, such as animals from the sheep and camel families from the Andean–
Patagonian and Andean–Cuyo regions of Argentina, which are bred in their natural
habitat. Vegetable fibers such as agro-ecological cotton come from the provinces
of the northeastern region of Argentina (Chaco and Corrientes), where small pro-
ducers grow their crops using a biodiversity approach, protecting the environment,
and ensuring the livelihood of farming families and communities.9 Therefore,
Cubreme is a proposal based on agro-ecological principles and an inclusive devel-
opment model, with both autonomy and equity. Currently, a change is in process
towards organic cotton from Peru.
Fabrics are developed using hand looms, and craft tailor shops are in charge
of the final tailoring to give garments a haute couture finish; all this helps keep
a small production line, using renewable resources and contributing both actively
and voluntarily to social, economic, and environmental improvement.
Her premise was to create from the raw material at hand. Although she decided
to use hand looms, which are traditional in Latin America and have the potential
to preserve ancient techniques and practices that promote social inclusion, her
goal was to avoid developing telluric products but, instead, items imbued with an
“urban, light, and versatile” style.
Little by little, all the links in the chain—raw material producers, spinners, and
weavers—became bound together. All these players know one another and the rest
of the chain, which largely helps them appreciate both other people’s and joint
work.
At first, Cubreme was focused on creating coats using loom-woven fabrics,
but soon the designer noticed that there was a yarn remainder which could not be
woven on the loom due to technical reasons (small volumes). Then, she developed
a knit line, employing knitters who were at home and use their semi-industrial­
knitting machines or who were working part time. In addition, she purchased
machines lent for use agreement to some knitters in order to optimize garment

9Worked with Cooperativa Agroecológica del Litoral Ltda., certified with the Fair Trade Label

Organisation (FLO), Native dyeable Cotton.


12 M.A. Gardetti

production and quality, and to cut down working hours using more efficient,
­functional, and modern knitting machines.
Her value chain consists of the following.
Raw Materials
Renewable raw materials are made up of Argentine natural fibers from agricultural
producers associated with cooperatives. Alejandra Gottelli believes that coopera-
tivism is an inclusion model and a tool for the social transformation of small pro-
ducers and workers. She also uses linen from Belgium and Brazil, bamboo from
China, and organically certified llama fiber from La Carolina, in the Province of
San Luis (Argentina).
Animal fibers, such as wool from Merino sheep, are sourced from OVIS 21.
This company is focused on increasing cattle-raising profitability and regenerating
grazing lands. It offers training, consulting, and product certification services. As
the hub of the Savory Institute, it specializes in holistic management, in addition to
having vast experience in sheep and wool.
Cubreme obtained a permit from the national agency in charge of wild fauna
in order to use vicuña and guanaco fibers to develop a luxury clothing line. For
such purpose, the company began working with Cooperativa Payun Matrú, which
is engaged in the protection and preservation of guanaco populations, as well as in
improving the lives of the inhabitants of the Reservation La Payunia, in the prov-
ince of Mendoza.
Figure 5 shows the shearing of sheep, on the left, and the (Fig. 6) shearing of
guanacos, on the right.
Spinning Process
The fibers obtained from shearing animals from both the camel and sheep fam-
ilies, as well as the harvest of vegetable fibers are treated in premium spinning
mills, Almafuerte, which develop highly refined products at very small scale, in
compliance with the controls and standards of organic certifications (Organización
Internacional Agropecuaria, OIA [International Agricultural and Cattle
Organisation], and Global Organic Textile Standards, GOTS).
Handcraft Tailoring
In line with the designer’s guidelines, fabric creation is in charge of weavers with
vast experience thanks to a long track record in hand loom weaving, training, and
even loom make. Figure 7 shows a hand loom.
This process is intended to have a new appreciation of local handicrafts, giving
each fabric a unique and impeccable finish. For instance, garments are cut one at a
time. Before cutting, fabrics are bonded10 and decatized11 in order to provide them
with structure and softness. Cubreme works with two workshops that combined
allocate five people to this task.

10Finishing process which consists in “bonding” the fabrics to improve their structure.
11Process which results in a smooth, wrinkle-free, and soft finish for worsted or woolen yarn
fabrics.
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 13

Fig. 5  Shearing of sheep (left)

Fig. 6  Shearing of guanacos (right). Source Cubreme®. Published with the designer’s authorization
14 M.A. Gardetti

Fig. 7  Hand Loom. Source


Cubreme. Published with the
designer’s authorization

Final Product
Garment design and tailoring take place at local craft tailor shops (both for men
and women) and spinning mills. Each model is carefully developed relying on
an approach to caution and responsible consumption. The designer is actively
involved in the entire process. Figure 8 shows a tailor at work, and final products
are shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
Over the past few years, Cubreme has developed a home decor line consisting
of llama hair rugs, throws (for bed and couch), aprons, and beach mats, the last
two made of “native” cotton.
Customers
Most customers are tourists with a strong sustainable awareness, both Americans
and Europeans who jointly account for 70 % of revenues. Thirty percent are local
customers, defined as captive by the designer, as they “feel the spirit of the brand.”
As to the age group, Alejandra Gotelli explains that it is highly diverse: from
young people to 60-year-olds.
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 15

Fig. 8  At the tailor’s. Source Cubreme. Published with the designer’s authorization

Fig. 9  Finished product (woman’s coat). Source Cubreme. Published with the designer’s author-
ization
16 M.A. Gardetti

Fig. 10  CS overcoat and ghorvat coat. Source Cubreme. Published with the designer’s authorization

Alejandra Gottelli believes that “[I]t takes too much time and dedication to
develop natural fibers, and they are so difficult to get that garments must have
durability: clothes are conceived to be worn for 10–20 years.” These concepts
reflect the values intended to be conveyed through the clothes: the distinction
and loyalty of durable items. Thus, at her store, the designer and entrepreneur
explains to her customers that “Sustainable fashion shouldn’t be a fad: it should
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 17

be a transformation path. This involves creating a network, trying to find solutions


co-created by organizations, cooperatives, companies and designers who share the
same philosophy.” In her opinion, sharing information is the only way to help sus-
tainable fashion to grow.
From an economic perspective Cubreme has been over its break-even point
since 2010, less than a year from when this undertaking was kicked off. Three per
cent of sales income is donated to Nutri Red, an organization that acts as a meet-
ing point, an information node for organizations working around the malnutrition
issue in Argentina.

6 Creating Sustainable Value in Cubreme: Diagnosis


and Conclusions

It is not easy truly to apply the concept of sustainability to the fashion system.
Many companies in the fashion industry regard this concept as one more trend and
resort to it as a marketing strategy to get quick economic benefits.
Far from this distorted and reductionist approach, the design of truly sustain-
able fashion means changing this goal and striking a balance between economic
profitability and the promotion of environmental and social quality. In the fashion
system, these are complex issues and improvements result from a mix of creativ-
ity, good judgment, and information about the processes dealt with and the ability
to take a life cycle approach to bring about change. Working with environmentally
friendly materials is not enough. Designers should acquaint themselves with not
only their processes, but also with those of their value chain, developing a holistic
and comprehensive approach that identifies interdependences and synergies, and
helps find opportunities for whole-system improvement (Fletcher 2008, 2014).
Cubreme is taking this path by combining sustainable sourced natural raw mate-
rials and promoting cooperativism and fair trade as a way further to improve the
quality of life of local communities. Each link in the value chain offers an oppor-
tunity to implement environmental and social considerations: from the use of natu-
ral fibers as raw materials, through the spinning process in certified spinning mills,
and the fabric creation stage that rescues the craft of loom weaving, to the final
garment tailoring phase that revalues the tailor’s trade. Therefore, the designer
manages to achieve a perfect blend of her sensitivity and her social and environ-
mental commitment in the fashion creative process.
It should be noted that, because the brand adheres to both the UNGC and B
System, it gains—through joint network-coordinated work within the framework
of these two initiatives—new capabilities that help it innovate and have a sustain-
able vision of the future. Figure 11 shows a brief summary of the strategies and
practices currently developed by the brand in order to create sustainable value.
To maximize sustainable value creation Cubreme must act efficiently and
simultaneously in the four dimensions so it is worth seeing to what extent this is a
18 M.A. Gardetti

Spatial Variable
In-house External
Future

Development of new
capacities through Sustainable Vision
collaboration with the (through collaboration
UNGC and B System with the UNGC and B
System)
Innovation
Time Dimension

Sustainable
Value
Creation
Supply chain deep
Quality and dialog.
environmental valuable
products Diversity integration:
“know-how-to-do”
Sustainable (and
natural) raw materials Alliances with
stakeholders

Present

Fig. 11  Strategies and practices for creating sustainable value in Cubreme. Source Designed by
the author

balanced model. Based on Fig. 4 and the questions on that figure,12 this evaluation
is made by assigning a score to each quadrant and their questions. For example,
(1) nonexistent, (2) emerging, (3) set, and (4) institutionalized.13
In connection with the lower left-hand quadrant (internal-today), although
Cubreme uses natural (“sustainable”) raw materials, it should review the use of
organic cotton due to the huge water consumption and land use required by this
kind of fiber.13 The brand has no water consumption, power, or process-generated

12This analysis has a limitation as it only uses the questions contained in Fig. 4 and some degree

of bias from the author when each quadrant is evaluated.


13If we focus, with a holistic vision (as required by sustainability), on the food crisis that has

afflicted humanity for many decades now, which is only looming larger, we should take into
account that organic cotton production requires significantly more land (and more water?) than
conventional cotton, as well as more work. This obviously results in higher costs, thus becom-
ing a quasi-exclusive product, and restricting its access to a small population segment. This
may seem morally questionable if we think that the areas where both types of (conventional and
organic) cotton are grown are, generally, regions with high poverty rates and, sometimes abject
poverty. Source: Reflexiones sobre el Algodón Orgánico, unpublished document, Gardetti MA
and Torres AL, 2012.
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 19

emission assessment, mainly in terms of those raw materials sourced from other
counties (organic cotton from Peru, linen from Belgium and Brazil, and bamboo
from China), or from Argentina though from places far away from Cubreme oper-
ations (e.g., wool from Merino sheep from OVIS 21). Based on the above, it may
be qualified as an “emerging” (2) quadrant.
As to the lower right-hand quadrant (external-today), the brand has the capaci-
ties required to innovate, and thus, to reduce the impact of its products. However,
there is an evident flaw when it comes to the entire product life cycle. Cubreme is
closely related to both the B System and the UNGC, however, it would be advis-
able eventually to build relationships with other stakeholders so as to help the
brand include greater “diversity” missing today. The stage of this quadrant would
be somewhere between “nonexistent and emerging” (1.5).
In terms of the upper left-hand quadrant (internal-tomorrow), the firm has the
potential to implement creative improvements, but if we take the life cycle of the
product it develops, to a certain extent product sustainability may be limited by the
current competence base. It is an “emerging” (2) quadrant.
As to the upper right-hand quadrant (external-tomorrow), the designer is on the
right track to make her vision promote social and environmental solutions. As a
designer, Alejandra Gotelli is more focused on design, product, and processes. Her
ideas could be shared with other designers in order to take her vision to the next
level. Moreover, she fails to develop new markets more in line with her products’
quality, characteristics, and prices, which would include “sustainable luxury.” This
quadrant might be located very close to the “emerging” status (approximately 2).
Figure 12 depicts the balance degree of the sustainable value creation model.
This balance can be defined as “reasonably balanced,” which means that Cubreme
is simultaneously performing in the four quadrants14 in a balanced way. Figure 13
shows the practices and strategies that the brand should integrate into a process,
setting priorities to improve its sustainable performance.
As pointed out by Farrer (2011), it might be utopian to think that sustainability
is possible in terms of mass market in the current fashion industry, which is highly

14An unbalanced portfolio (model) is a sign of problems. A model tilted to the lower part sug-

gests the brand is well positioned, but it may be vulnerable in the future. A portfolio tilted to the
upper part indicates there is a sustainability vision, but it lacks the operating or analytical abili-
ties for implementation. A model titled to the left quadrant indicates a concern about social and
environmental challenge management with improved internal processes and technology develop-
ment initiatives. Finally, a portfolio tilted to the right runs the risk of being considered socially
and environmentally shallow, because the main operations still cause serious environmental dam-
ages (Hart 1997, 2005, 2007). An unbalanced portfolio also suggests missed opportunities and
vulnerability. There are still few fashion labels that recognize sustainability strategic opportuni-
ties. These companies focus on and allocate their time to the lower half of the portfolio, which
implies short-term solutions considering the existing products and the different stakeholder
groups (Hart 1997, 2005, 2007).
20 M.A. Gardetti

Spatial Variable
In-house External
Future
4 4

3 3

2 2
Time Dimension

1 1

SVC

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4
Present

Fig. 12  Diagnosis (model balance) in Cubreme. Source Designed by the author. Note SVC
­(Sustainable Value Creation)

globalized and features extremely fragmented production processes. Nevertheless,


the stage is set for the onset of a new fashion system in which the message that it
is possible, and necessary, to develop both new business models and lifestyles is
brewing among producers and users. In such a scheme, designers play a major role
in promoting a different production system whereby the industry is made up of
small volumes as in the case of Cubreme.
Even today, many companies do not recognize the strategic opportunities that
result from sustainability. They are normally focused on, and allocate their time
to, short-term solutions, looking at the existing products and the different groups
of stakeholders. However, Cubreme is developing sustainable ideas that need to be
supplemented by other practices and strategies to create more sustainable value.
Author’s Note
Once the development and presentation of this case was completed, People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a complaint for animal cruelty
against the firm OVIS21 which provides “sustainable” wool to Cubreme. Due to
Cubreme® and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis 21

Spatial Variable
In-house External
Future Development of
4 sustainability-aware markets 4
Development of
(sustainable luxury)
competences that provide
for a better sustainable 3 3
performance of its products

2 2
Time Dimension

1 1

SVC

1 1

2 2 Product Life Cycle Analysis


Relationship with other
3 Water footprint calculation stakeholders
3
Carbon footprint calculation
Power consumption
4 (Future) Elimination of 4
Present organic cotton

Fig. 13  Practices and strategies missing in Cubreme for improved sustainable performance.
SVC (sustainable value creation); red dotted lines Cubreme’s potential improvement in each
quadrant by implementing the strategies and practices shown in the figure. Source Designed by
the author (color on online)

such complaint, some brands, such as Stella McCartney and Patagonia, made their
own assessments and decided to stop buying wool from OVIS21 as they found
animal cruelty in 1 of 26 factories. This issue involving Cubreme will be included
in future reviews of this case.

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Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional
Dye Methods with State-of-the-Art Digital
Print Technology, A Sustainable Design
Case

Kelly Cobb and Belinda Orzada

Abstract “If indigo was invented today, we would never approve it.” Reflecting
on this statement by Andrew Olah related to a 2014 Just Style publication on envi-
ronmental textiles for apparel led our team of six apparel design scholars into a
sustainable design challenge. Our study offers a collective model of sustainable
design wherein faculty in a university fashion and apparel program combined
efforts and talents to develop a solution for reducing the environmental impact
of indigo (while retaining aesthetic richness) through the integration of tradi-
tional and digital design. A case study method is adopted as a specific, unique,
and bounded system (Stake 2008) that frames the creative process so as to capture
best practice within a collective design working model. Within this model we ana-
lyze historic dye processes and relevant literature, as well as emergent technolo-
gies to define criteria for the resulting design output. Qualitative data in the form
of observations, as well as our personal reflections as designers and educators, are
transcribed and analyzed.

Keywords Collaborative design · Digital printing · Apparel design · Sustainability ·


Innovation · Textile dyeing · Creative design · Design process

1 Introduction

In 2014, the apparel design faculty of Fashion and Apparel Studies at The
University of Delaware received funding to explore digital print technology with
students through a product development project. The project “LEUCO STATE”
engaged student and faculty designers by pairing tradition with innovation through

K. Cobb (*) · B. Orzada


Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies, The University of Delaware,
202 Alison Hall West, Newark, DE 19716, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 25


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_2
26 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

the theme of indigo dye. The faculty portion of the grant, which is detailed here,
focused on skill-building in print technologies, and the opportunity to conduct
research along with the students into textile history and traditional dye methods.
We explored ways to combine traditional techniques with innovative applications.
Through this project we applied design research into emerging print technology
through the lens of the tradition of indigo and developed an opportunity for six
faculty members to work collaboratively during the textile and apparel design
processes.
Significant to the collaboration was the invitation to the apparel design faculty
to think, make, and learn together. As colleagues we “collaborate” to solve cur-
ricular and departmental issues; yet, in terms of research, our work is often con-
ducted in solitude. Our ways of working are diverse. As design educators, we
have much to teach and to learn from one another. This project challenged us to
take that opportunity. The faculty design team consisted of Kelly Cobb, Belinda
Orzada, M. Jo Kallal, Adriana Gorea, Katya Roelse, and Martha Hall, all profes-
sors and instructors of apparel design at the University of Delaware.

1.1 Background/Context

Throughout history, dyes have been valuable trade commodities, but in many cases
have led to horrific exploitations of both people and the environment, as occurred
in the indigo and logwood trades (Flint 2008). Indigo-dyed products are part of
our global culture. Indigo is one of the oldest natural coloring substances used for
textiles. The traditional indigo dyeing process and the subsequent garment laun-
dering (dye residues) distress the environment. Emerging digital textile printing
technologies are leading to significant paradigm shifts in design processes and
print/surface design aesthetics. New modes of application, production, distribu-
tion, and consumption are being introduced. The first section of this chapter dis-
cusses the components of our project: indigo dyeing and the environment, digital
printing, and collaborative design. This is followed by a discussion of the theoreti-
cal framework used in our collaborative design process and how our work fits into
this framework. Finally, we share reflections of the experience.

2 Importance of Indigo

Indigo is one of the oldest natural coloring substances used for textiles, a prime
source of color. Preparations focusing on indigo are found in ancient chemi-
cal documents dating back to 300 BC. At certain periods in history, Indigo has
wielded more power than firearms. Kings, poets, and protesters have all donned
indigo cloth. Tribal chieftains of Africa, the Middle East, and South America
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 27

wore dark blue indigo-dyed robes as did members of the ruling classes of China,
Japan, and Indonesia. On the other hand, traditionally faded blue work clothes
have been chosen deliberately as an antiestablishment political statement (Gordon
2011). During the American Revolution, cubes of indigo replaced paper currency
(McKinnley 2011). The fact that a majority of the people in a majority of the
countries of the world are wearing blue jeans on any given day constitutes global
ubiquity (Miller and Woodward 2011). Known as a living color, indigo’s own pro-
cess of decomposition yields its color. The process of imparting color from the
indigo plant is so powerful that it has its own creation myth, a Liberian legend
about how the properties of indigo were discovered:
In those days the people grew much cotton and the weavers wove much cloth. All of it
was white and they had a hunger for color, especially the blue of the sky, but they did not
know how to make that blue go far down and come into the cloth and stay there…. The
water spirits come to Asi in a dream. They tell her that for blue to come down to earth and
stay, these things are needed: salt, urine, and ashes to live with the leaves of the indigo
(Dendel 1995, p. 41).

2.1 Indigo Properties and Process

Indigo dye is produced in a vat process in which chemical reactions, includ-


ing fermentation, reduction, and oxidation occur. It imparts a distinctive blue to
cloth that has inspired people around the world for thousands of years. Unlike
most dyes, vat dyes are not water soluble and require a chemical process, acti-
vating the dye and thus attracting it to the fiber. The process of converting these
dyes to a soluble leuco form requires an alkaline, oxygen-reduced bath. In this
bath, the vat dye changes from its insoluble form to its leuco form. In its leuco
form, the dye color attaches to the fiber and when the fiber is removed from the
dye bath, the dye oxidizes on the fiber, returning to its insoluble form and color
(Brackmann 2006, p. 133).

2.2 Natural Versus Synthetic Indigo

Dye is extracted from the indigo plant through a process of fermentation involving
plant matter and water with the addition of a caustic agent. Fermentation meth-
ods were replaced by synthetic indigo in the last century. Synthetic processes were
adopted to accommodate the new scale and speed necessary for mass production.
The chemicals used in producing synthetic indigo pigment, and throughout the
manufacturing process include aniline, sulphur, sodium hydroxide, hydrosulphate,
and formaldehyde, which can be harmful both to humans, through inhalation, and
to the environment where they are discharged after dyeing (McGinn 2013).
28 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

3 Textile Industry Environmental Impacts

The textile industry is a chemical-intensive industry. After agriculture it is the


number one polluter of clean water (Cao et al. 2014). According to a 2005 report
by the Hazardous Substance Research Center, an estimated 17–20 % of industrial
water pollution comes from textile dyeing and finishing treatments given to fabric.
Some 72 toxic chemicals have been identified in water solely from textile dyeing,
30 of which cannot be removed. Considering both the volume and the composition
of chemicals in textile effluents, such as the massive presence of dyes, salts, addi-
tives, detergents, and surfactants, the textile industry is rated as the most polluting
agent among all industrial sectors (Anastas and Zimmerman 2003).

3.1 Pollution and Effluents

Dyeing and finishing one ton of fabric can result in the pollution of up to 200 tons
of water according to Glausiusz (2008). Textile mills discharge millions of
gallons of effluent each year, full of chemicals such as formaldehyde (HCHO),
chlorine, and heavy metals (including lead, mercury, and others) which are
significant causes of environmental degradation and human illness. Water ­samples
taken downstream from textile plants in Tehuacan, Mexico, a major denim-
producing region, have been shown to contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and
selenium. Local farmers complain of chemically burned seedlings and sterile soil
(Glausiusz 2008). A 2011 internal wastewater study undertaken by Patagonia
(Chouinard and Stanley 2013) found that it takes a textile mill about 500 ­gallons
of water to produce enough fabric to cover a couch. To grow the cotton, then
weave and dye the fabric for a single Patagonia pima cotton shirt uses over 600
gallons, the equivalent of a day’s drinking water for 630 people. And 15 years
from now, between a third and half of the world’s population will be living in
areas plagued by drought. According to Patagonia, pollution of the Pearl River
where it flows into the South China Sea is visible as an indigo color on Google
Earth. Indigo is the color of denim and likewise of the discharge from the world’s
major jeans factories upstream in Xingtang (Ibid.).

3.2 Textile Industry Innovations: Digital Printing

“Much creativity consists of a new combination of existing ideas. Where the exist-
ing ideas are present in different people, it requires some kind of interaction to
produce the combination” (Langrish 1985, p. 12). Combining computer technol-
ogy with traditional hands-on design methods has become a common practice in
textile and apparel design. Garment patterns are designed through draping or flat
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 29

pattern methods, then digitized into a CAD system for production. Hand-drawn
illustrations are scanned in and enhanced through a computer graphics system.
The idea that computer technology supports or facilitates creativity is supported
by many researchers (Bye and Sohn 2010). Polson et al. (2015) note that print-on-
demand digital textile printing provides designers, “the potential for economic and
creative independence while reinforcing and sustaining cultural identity and craft
traditions” (p. 95). In their research on creativity in apparel design, Bye and Sohn
explored the use of computer technology and traditional design methods at three
different apparel companies. “The personal perceptions of this group of designers
indicate a range of feelings regarding how technology and hands on methods influ-
ence their creativity. It is a positive promise for the future that the majority believe
that they can be creative using both methods, often with a synergistic effect” (Bye
and Sohn 2010, p. 215).
“The blurring of the boundaries between production tool and metamedia in
the domain of printed textile design is resulting in changes in working processes,
development of new hybrid craft techniques and a changing visual language
of pattern and colour on cloth” (Tredaway 2004, p. 258). Use of digital printing
technology to enhance the textile and apparel design process has been explored
by a number of scholars. Campbell and Parsons (2005) share their design method
which incorporates photography and personal artwork manipulated using graphic
design software, enhancing digital printing with hand embellishment, and manipu-
lation or scaling of the image to fit a garment pattern design.
Digital textile printing has influenced both style and definition of textile printing.
Emerging new looks in prints are possible, because design effects can be developed via
computer software. Digital printing also provides quicker sampling for mills, and lim-
ited runs for small manufacturers and consumers (Ujiie 2001). Digital print-on-demand
systems are designed to minimize fabric waste and ink use (Spoonflower 2015). Digital
printing allows print-on-demand options for small lengths of fabric, and printing only
what is ordered. Therefore, there is no wasted printed fabric. The printing system mixes
color as the fabric is printed (from four to six basic colors), as opposed to the screen-
printing process which requires colors to be mixed in advance of the print process.
Additionally, wet postprocessing is not required in the digital print process therefore no
water is consumed during printing.

4 Collaboration

Collaboration is a purposeful relationship (Rubin 2002). This creative and experi-


mental process leads much to more complex design thinking and analysis than is
possible with only one designer (Campbell and Parsons 2005). Through collabora-
tive practice there is an opportunity to mesh skills and expertise, offering entry
points into meaningful opportunities for shared exploration. Collaborators plan,
decide, and work jointly on an activity to generate a shared process that results
in the product. According to Poggenpohl and Sato- (2009), collaboration is poorly
30 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

defined because it exists in multiple domains of exploration resulting in diverse


outcomes. In an analysis of the varied definitions of collaboration, key charac-
teristics emerge, including the sharing of knowledge, the bridging of disjointed
knowledge, and the production of something not otherwise possible, by reacting,
cooperating, and participating in a spirit of trust.
Where contribution prevails, participants’ roles are more narrowly defined and
ownership of process and product autonomous. By contrast, collaboration is inter-
active in the sense that ownership of specific aspects is relinquished for the sake of
an integrated whole. Collaboration involves working together “through shared deci-
sion-making, the give and take of ideas exchanged and explored, the integration of
multiple perspectives and a synthesis that integrates hitherto isolated or incompatible
ideas” (Poggenphol and Sato- 2009, p. 142). In terms of design collaboration Block
and Nolert (2005) suggest that collaboration should result in an outcome that could
not be achieved alone by individuals, and the work in the end reflects a blending of
all participants’ contributions. A sock, for example, can be viewed as just one tangi-
ble result of collaborative efforts of diverse sectors within the apparel supply chain.

4.1 Collaboration in the Apparel Industry

A recent economic survey of 1,656 executives from 100 countries revealed that
collaboration is vital to future successes. A defining feature within a model of sus-
tainable business is the movement from traditional top-down hierarchies to col-
laborative flat models of organization. Abrams (2005) suggests that contemporary
work demands collaboration, communication, speed, interaction, teamwork, and
creativity and that the new office demands the networking of intelligent autono-
mous individuals as a prerequisite to problem solving. Regarding the discipline
of design, the designer is not the lone genius “outlier,” producing solitarily at a
specific stage of business procedure, rather she is an equal stakeholder, integrated
with management, shaping what organizations have to offer and express (Jevnaker
in Poppenpohl and Sato- 2009, p. 29) Designers as equal stakeholders that exist
beyond their own creative silo are critical to the industry agenda. A case in point
is the recent Outdoor Retailer Summer Market (a comprehensive outdoor buyer
demographic for the outdoor apparel market). Their 2015 speaker series, “Can’t
We All Just Get Along? Great Design Requires Collaboration,” focused on the
theme of collaboration within the industry and generated dialogue with industry
stakeholders seeking to demystify the myth of the lone genius.

4.2 Collaboration in the Creative Scholarship of Apparel


Design

Business and social science have different viewpoints on collaborative action;


business, in large part, attends to product and procedure, as well as to performance
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 31

and output, whereas social science focuses on individual and group insights that
lead to social process (Poggenpohl and Sato- 2009, p. 137). Surprisingly, col-
laboration as a topic of apparel scholarship is not well represented in the litera-
ture. Collaboration is described in niche models of design (e.g., Dilys Williams’
2014 reference to BOUDICCA in Fashion Practice). In academic projects, col-
laboration refers to interactions between educators, students, and industry partners
(Karpova et al. 2011; Byun et al. 2012).
There is scant research articulating collaborative actions (specific to apparel)
among design scholars. Campbell and Parsons (2005) discuss collaborative pro-
cess within the design process, but they do not define collaboration. As educators
of fashion design students we collaborate to solve curricular and departmen-
tal issues; we collaborate in the classroom to facilitate learning, yet in terms of
research, our work is often conducted alone. The connection here to the myth
of the lone wolf is significant but is not elaborated upon except to infer that the
notion of the solitary expert creating in an information silo is obsolete in aca-
demia as well as business. Collaborative action is the sustainable model moving
forward. Academia offers incentives for interdisciplinary interactions with science,
the arts, business, and engineering, as the mode of engagement that generates new
knowledge while stabilizing the discipline. For the sake of this project, we define
collaboration as a shared action involving activities such as sharing, motivation,
communication, diversity, support, and problem solving.

5 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework for our design process was based on the
Design Council’s stages of the Double Diamond design process model
(http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/design-process-what-double-dia-
mond). The Design Council takes a holistic approach to design, breaking down the
design process to four commonalities in the creative process. These are discover,
define, develop, and deliver. The visual map of the design process is in the form
of a double diamond (Fig. 1). Divergent and convergent thinking are visualized
by the broad and narrow areas. Developing a number of ideas or prototypes, then
narrowing down the possibilities, happens twice in this iterative process model
(Hunter 2015).
The discover stage of the double diamond model is the beginning of the pro-
ject. Designers explore, research, try out various methods, and keep their eyes
open for a broad range of ideas and opportunities. Activities to assist the dis-
cover stage are suggested, such as creating a dedicated project space, observation,
journaling, brainstorming, being your user, surveys, fast visualization, and more
(Hunter 2015). In the define stage, “Designers try to make sense of all the pos-
sibilities identified in the Discover phase. Which matters most? Which should we
act on first? What is feasible? The goal here is to develop a clear creative brief
that frames the fundamental design challenge” (Hunter 2015, np). Activities
32 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

Fig. 1  Adaption of double


diamond design model.
(Courtesy of Authors 2014.)

recommended in this stage include: holding focus groups, and developing assess-
ment criteria. The develop stage provides designers the opportunity to create solu-
tions or concepts, and is the time when prototypes are tested and iterated. It is a
trial-and-error process of idea refinement. Developing use scenarios and physi-
cal prototyping contribute to the refinement that occurs during the develop stage.
Delivery is the final stage of the double diamond model. In this stage the project
is finalized and readied for production, or exhibition. Final testing and evaluation
of the project occur here. Designers must evaluate whether the project meets the
design and use criteria (Hunter 2015).

5.1 The Design Process

The stages of collaborative design experienced by our team followed Salonen’s


(2012) interpretation of the double diamond model. Salonen frames his discussion
of the discover, define, develop, and deliver stages as a framework for designers to
explore, test, and innovate in a collaborative or team setting. Ultimately, we devel-
oped an open and flat organizational system in which each designer contributed to
the process and developed a portion of the final ensemble. A Google blog site was
developed to enhance communication between the designers.

5.2 Discover

Initial goals of our project were to explore the indigo dye process, to be inspired
through textile dyeing and surface design opportunities, and to create an opportu-
nity for creative scholarship for the apparel design faculty. The additional opportu-
nity for collaboration was very loosely defined in the beginning and evolved over
time.
The designers were each at different levels in their experience with dye pro-
cesses, surface design techniques, and natural dye knowledge. Our exploration
of these began by attending an indigo workshop given by master dyer Christina
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 33

Roberts at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA. The design-
ers worked alongside master dyers to formulate two vats to test: an organic fruc-
tose vat, as well as a chemically reduced vat, from which basic samples were
developed.
Following these workshops, the designers individually researched surface
design techniques in preparation for a planned dye studio day. Each designer
explored inspirational images and researched the history and process of indigo
dyeing. Several designers were directed to shibori techniques as surface design
methods often used with indigo dyeing. Each designer utilized the blog space to
share inspirational images, mind maps, sketches, and thoughts about the early
direction of his or her ideas (Fig. 2).
Traditional crafts have often been sources of inspiration and appropriated by
Western craftsmen and designers (Hedstrom 2000). Our team of designers like-
wise was inspired by tradition within indigo dyeing. We applied traditional shi-
bori resist methods to develop multiple surface design samples, testing various
combinations of technique, material, and process. Within our group the extent to
which traditional techniques were explored varied greatly. Gorea and Kallal were
very inspired by shibori techniques. After researching shibori techniques, Gorea
found herself attracted to many of them and realized she could “incorporate sev-
eral wrapping styles into something that can look very simple, but otherwise is

Fig. 2  Concept of discovery inspiration mindmap. (Courtesy of authors 2014.)


34 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

very difficult to achieve via traditional techniques.” Kallal developed a number of


different traditional shibori stitched samples to dye.
Roelse, on the other hand, visualized the traditional techniques as a “process
on a pedestal.” She sought to keep the “experimental and traditional stage small
and contained, and by using these discoveries only as a jumping off point—a seed
from which to design new fresh designs—the outcome will only be vaguely remi-
niscent of its beginning.”

5.3 Define

“Collaboration is not a one-dimensional idea. It’s the result of using the right tools
in a well-thought out process” (Charbin 2010). To facilitate a multidesigner collab-
oration, we chose to work within the parameters of a clothing “ensemble”. Each
designer would develop a textile print and a portion of the multicomponent ensem-
ble. The process involved collaborative work sessions in the department textile lab,
individual work sessions in personal studios, and interaction within the multiau-
thored project blog.
As Salonen (2012) notes, collaboration also adds another level of complexity to
a project. At different stages in the design process, the structure of the project and
the mode of collaboration varied. Collaborators met face-to-face during several

Fig. 3  Preliminary design sketches. (Courtesy of authors 2014.)


Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 35

Fig. 4  Garment flat sketches. (Courtesy of Designers 2014.)

site visits and studio days, yet a second, and primary, site of interaction existed
virtually on a multiauthored project blog as designers posted regarding inspiration
and process and others commented on colleagues’ posts. Through these discus-
sions, we shared opinions and worked through design ideas for both our textile
design and garment design. Initial sketches of several design ideas were produced
(Fig. 3).
Our use of indigo and shibori surface design techniques initially led some
designers to Japanese-inspired garment shapes. Further discussion led to each
designer sharing his strengths and preferences for developing a certain portion of
the ensemble and preliminary decisions on textiles. Kallal and Roelse each used
graphics software to scale their shibori prints into garment flat sketches (Fig. 4).

5.3.1 Develop

Developing both textile print and garment designs in a collaborative work and
decision process was a key consideration in the design concept and the collabo-
rative process. Indigo-dyed fabric samples using shibori and other surface design
36 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

Fig. 5  Digital design variations. (Courtesy of authors 2014.)

techniques were manipulated using graphics software to develop fabric prints.


Sample fabric yardage was digitally printed to test color and proportion of the sur-
face design (Fig. 5).
Each designer individually and in collaboration began work on three-dimen-
sional prototype development. Two designers, Kallal (bolero) and Hall (pants),
explored zero waste pattern design as an additional sustainable design criterion
for their individual garments. They each tested paper and/or muslin prototypes to
work through silhouette, fit, and proportion. Orzada (bustier) recycled blue jeans
by draping and fitting pant legs directly on a dress form to determine the garment
shape. Gorea mathematically planned the pleating process and length of fabric
needed for her pleated skirt.
Once we had each reached the prototype stage, we met in the studio to share
our work. Visual analysis of the garment prototypes, partially completed garments,
and digitally printed sample fabrics allowed us to discuss proportion and final
garment details as a group. Cobb had the idea to incorporate another texture in
the look by using leather dyed with shibori techniques and Orzada made plans to
incorporate a leather strip as the center back lacing of the bustier. Gorea and Cobb
collaborated to incorporate Cobb’s textile into the skirt design.
There was “give and take” experienced by all during the collaboration process.
Hall noted, “[A] danger of working with several talented designers, is that we
each want to create something unique and strong. However, speaking for myself, I
could see very quickly that I was ‘over-designing’ and needed to edit my ideas to
be in dialog with, rather than fighting with, the other garments in the ensemble.”
Roelse states, “[T]hinking about my overall approach to the creative process and
working in a group, I try and let go of my personal vision and see what is needed
instead. It’s good practice not to have a ‘precious’ design.”
Gorea found this editing necessary as well; she states “while draping my mus-
lin over Martha’s pants I realized I will have to… add fabric fullness.” She felt
piecing the print in the back would be too predictable, “so I thought of using a
strip of the border print vertically to create a wrap like effect (Fig. 6).”
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 37

Fig. 6  Image of skirt


prototype. (Courtesy of
authors 2014.)

5.4 Deliver

Composed of many prints and garments, the result is a visual, tactile, and dynamic
form of conversation. The outcome is a creation of one-off garment pieces (in
print and silhouette) that work in conversation with each other as an ensemble.
The layering of pattern and garment into one “look” is aesthetically significant.
Considering the balance of all pieces, Orzada noted that the rawness of the bust-
ier with its frayed edges, ingrained soil, and hand stitching “provides a great bal-
ance to the preciseness of other pieces in the ensemble. The solid background was
needed as a relief to all the varied prints, and provided a canvas for using every-
one’s prints to connect them all.”
The design team submitted the ensemble to the International Textile and
Apparel Association’s 2014 juried Design Exhibition. Cloud Eater was awarded
the 2014 Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices Award for
Sustainable Apparel Design (Figs. 7 and 8).
38 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

Fig. 7  Final ensemble


image, front view. (Courtesy
of authors 2014.)

6 Reflections

Designing for sustainability is a daunting task. As designers, the project was an


invitation to problem solve issues collectively, experiment with new ways of work-
ing, to guide and be inspired by designer collaborators. In working together, the
team achieved a sustainable solution that was beyond the scope of individual
inquiry.
Through collaborative applied research, the team developed a design solution
to reduce the impact of indigo (while retaining the aesthetic richness) through the
integration of traditional and digital design. Design scholars developed an applied
knowledge of collaborative design that considered the potential of technologies
from multiple perspectives. In the collaborative design process, it was important to
develop an opportunity for us to be reflective practitioners, engaging in an exami-
nation and evaluation of our own work. Establishing an outlet for communication
through a blog provided this opportunity. There was varied success to this part of
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 39

Fig. 8  Final ensemble


image, detail. (Courtesy of
authors 2014.)

the design process. Some designers contributed often to the blog, others not as
regularly, or in as much detail. This is a potential area for growth in future pro-
jects. Deliberate practices could be set up to gain regular insight during the design
process.

7 Mapping and Compositing Our Process

In the process of design, collaborator Jo Kallal modified Newman’s “design squig-


gle” to represent her design process. As a team we adopted the squiggle as a for-
mat to view our process of codesign. Specifically, our interest was in capturing
how each design process aligned and diverged and as a method for visualizing our
collaborative design approach (Fig. 9).
40 K. Cobb and B. Orzada

Fig. 9  Facets design squiggle. (Courtesy of Authors 2014.)

7.1 Benefits and Limitations

The Facets collaboration yielded a collection of repeat pattern yardage produced


via an “on demand” digital print firm. Innovation of traditional textile pattern
creation through resist methods was achieved through digitally iterating smaller
scale resist-dyed samples. Our design scholarship involved small batch production
of digital textiles, purporting to (1) limit greenhouse gas emissions in compari-
son with traditional screen printing, as well as (2) generate less production waste
(Kujanpää and Nors 2014). Further research (as in a life-cycle analysis) would be
necessary to validate claims of sustainability quantitatively. The opportunities and
limitations inherent in the scalability of digital printing is another area worthy of
further research.
Benefits of the resulting design include retention of the more spontane-
ous results of hand-dyeing along with the reduction of indigo deposits in water.
Innovation of traditional dye methods was achieved with the adoption of digital
printing methods, thus lowering the amount of water waste in the dye process.
However, digitally printed textiles are pretreated with chemicals, which add to
impacts in production. Expanding this initial design study into environmental
performance evaluation comparing traditional resist-dye methods with samples
digitally integrated into printed yardage would add to the emerging canon of
knowledge on digital printing as a sustainable practice.
Facets of Indigo: Combining Traditional Dye Methods … 41

Digital compositions expand the potential for more quickly developing a com-
plex pattern (i.e., taking a few good “moments” from dye samples and creating
patterns in Photoshop rather than producing more yardage using the original tech-
nique). Limitations of the design results include the fact that printed fabrics have
a white background; this made it difficult to tear/stitch some fabrics or to use the
reverse side of the fabric. In our process we missed the tactile qualities of hand
dyeing, as some of the complex variations that arise in dye work cannot easily
be digitally duplicated. A further study on the aesthetics of traditional hand dye
methods in comparison to digital iterations might also prove consequential to the
growing field.
Collaboration as a topic of apparel scholarship is not well represented in the
literature. We have much to learn by engaging in design with others from different
backgrounds within design, different interests and working methods at different
stages in one’s career. In terms of the collaborative working model, our designers
reflected that it was an intriguing opportunity to use like-minded, yet diverse back-
grounds, experiences, and perspectives to produce an eclectic look. Each designer
was able to gain new skills and experiences, while at the same time draw on her
individual backgrounds, textile design, and pattern-making skills to produce
results that reflected strong outcomes both individually and collectively. Their con-
tributions balanced their foundation of strengths as apparel designers, and the col-
laboration required that we push those skills forward and acknowledge the skills
of others.

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Understanding Consumer Behavior
in the Sustainable Clothing Market:
Model Development and Verification

Malgorzata Koszewska

Abstract The main purpose of this study is to expand the knowledge of consumer
behavior in the market for sustainable clothing and to build a theoretical model
of this behavior based on the review of the relevant literature and the author’s
own research. The model is to provide a wider perspective on consumer behav-
ior with respect to textile and clothing products with ecological and social char-
acteristics, as well as describing the relationship between the consumer and the
manufacturer of textiles and clothing pursuing a strategy founded on the principles
of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The selected elements of the theoretical
model are verified empirically by means of structural equation modeling (SEM)
using a representative sample of 981 Polish customers. The research findings show
that consumers’ attitudes towards apparel shopping have a significant and posi-
tive influence on their willingness to pay a premium for sustainable products, on
the recognizability of ecological and social labels, and, finally, on the actual pur-
chase of sustainable clothing. These results give additional evidence pointing to a
prominent role of the recognizability of ecological and social labels in purchasing
sustainable apparel. The results of the study allow better understanding of factors
determining consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing and suggest practical
solutions to their producers.

Keywords Consumer behavior · Model · Sustainable consumption · Structural


equation modeling · Clothing · Green fashion

M. Koszewska (*)
Department of Materials and Commodity Sciences and Textile Metrology,
Team of Market Analyses of Product Innovations, Lodz University of Technology,
Ul. Zeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 43


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_3
44 M. Koszewska

1 Introduction

Despite significant theoretical and empirical advancements of studies into con-


sumer behavior and growing interest in sustainable development and corporate
social responsibility (CSR; Ogrean and Herciu 2014), studies exploring the tex-
tile and clothing market are still few. In the last few years, though, the number
of studies focused on consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable textile and cloth-
ing products has clearly increased interest and new models of consumer behavior
in the market for these products have been developed. Yet, most of them address
only some selected aspects of consumer behavior rather than attempting to present
a comprehensive picture of the relationships between producers and buyers. This
chapter has been designed with a view to reducing this gap.
There are several reasons why consumer behavior in the sustainable clothing
market should deserve more attention from researchers.
First, gradual environmental degradation, shrinking of nonrenewable resources,
lower quality of life, and social and ethical problems are directly or indirectly
arising from snowballing consumption and in the case of textiles and cloth-
ing sector from the fast-fashion trend. These unfavorable processes will not stop
unless consumption patterns are modified. Manufacturers may use new designs
and technologies to minimize the impact of a product on the environment and
to make production more sustainable but their efforts are pointless if consumers
do not buy more sustainable goods and do not change their consumption habits.
Therefore analysis of immediate connections and influences of the demand side
of the market (consumers) and the supply side of the market (producers) is crutial
(Koszewska 2011b; Muthu et al. 2013).
Textile and clothing products accompany people “from cradle to grave,” giving
them comfort and protecting their health. Although many industries are faced with
the challenges of sustainable development, few of them are exposed to demands
from consumers, the media, and NGOs to act on the principles of sustainability
as much as the textile and clothing industry is. The author is of the opinion that
for the demands to be met consumer behavior and its determinants must be thor-
oughly analyzed.
Accordingly, this study has been designed to review factors determining con-
sumer behavior towards sustainable textiles and clothing1 and to develop and test a
model of this behavior.2

1In the chapter, sustainable textiles and clothing products are meant to be products that are:
• M anufactured in a socially responsible manner, that is, in a way satisfying the economic
requirements and addressing the environmental and social aspects. These innovative products
naturally contribute to sustainable development, and are
• Made to be used by individuals; this means that clothing represents the bulk of them but
home textiles such as carpets, curtains, bedclothes, tablecloths, towels, and the like are also
significant. For convenience, a collective term of sustainable clothing is used in this chapter.
2For the purposes of this study, customer behavior is understood as all actions and perceptions of

an individual causing his or her to want to buy a product, to choose a product, and finally to buy it.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 45

When a new model of consumer behavior is being created or one that already
exists is being adapted, the special characteristics of the analyzed market or of its
segment must be taken into consideration. This is important, because the socially
responsible behavior of consumers may differ significantly depending on the type
of goods (McDonald et al. 2009) and because fashion consumers differ from other
consumers in ethical consumption decision making (Niinimäki 2010). Last, mod-
els dedicated to particular markets are more likely to be used by firms for business
purposes.
The structure of this chapter is the following. Section 2 discusses the classifica-
tion of consumer behavior models and positions the model proposed by the author
among the existing ones. Section 3 presents a comprehensive theoretical model of
consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing based on a literature review. The
model describes relationships between consumers and the manufacturers of sus-
tainable products. The model has three theoretical dimensions, namely:
• The supply side: sustainable production systems and sustainable clothing they
deliver
• Barriers to the purchase of sustainable clothing
• The demand side: sustainable consumption models
They are discussed in Sects. 4–12, respectively.
Section 13 focuses on the empirical verification of the demand side of the
model and on the factors that significantly contribute to the purchase of sustain-
able clothing. The chapter ends with a discussion, final conclusions, and the limi-
tations of the research.

2 Consumer Behavior Models: Theoretical Background

Consumer behavior models are crucial to disentangling the complexity of relations


between consumers and the market, and to understanding how consumers make
decisions. They are designed as the simplified representations of consumers’ real
behaviors, so is it quite natural that they contain many assumptions and suffer
from many limitations (Kiezel 2010). The literature on this subject provides many
models explaining consumer behavior in the market, and consequently many clas-
sifications of the models created based on different criteria (Smyczek and Sowa
2005):
• Simple and complex models
• Structural, stochastic, and simulation models
• Descriptive, prognostic, and normative models
• Theoretical and empirical models
• Static and dynamic models
• One- and multifactor models
• Verbal, schematic, and mathematical models
46 M. Koszewska

The above list is not complete. The set of the classification criteria is substantial,
therefore the list of the types of consumer behavior models can be much longer
than the one above. At the same time, the lines between particular classifications
are blurred.
Bettman and Jones have divided consumer behavior models into four broad
categories:
• Information processing models of consumer choice
• Stochastics models
• Experimental and other linear models
• Large system models (Bettman and Jones 1972)
Considering the purpose of this chapter, particularly noteworthy are information-
processing models that are very frequently employed to analyze consumer behav-
ior towards sustainable products, and large system models. Bettman and Jones
have described the large system models as models with a broad general struc-
ture of postulated interrelationships, with a somewhat simplified formal model fit
within the framework (Bettman and Jones 1972).
The proposed model, too, presents a wide panorama of the relations between
producers and consumers. Considering their complexity, only selected elements of
decision-making processes performed by customers will undergo empirical verifi-
cation. The empirical verification is based on the wealth of theoretical and empiri-
cal knowledge of structural modeling with latent variables.3
A landmark model in the development of structural modeling with latent vari-
ables is the Howard–Sheth model. Its authors proposed a model containing latent
variables (i.e., theoretical, unobservable variables) and the rules for relating them
to their observable indicators. The Howard–Sheth model initiated a series of stud-
ies into the formation of relations between the amount of information available
and a buying decision that is crucial in analyzing consumer behavior towards sus-
tainable products.
The introduction of latent variables into consumer behavior models allowed
accounting for personal values, beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions (the
values–attitudes–behavior models), as well as for controlling various mediation
and moderation aspects (Sagan 2011).
Jeff Bray has named five major theoretical approaches used in consumer behav-
ior studies (Bray 2008):
• Economic man
• Psychodynamic
• Behaviorist

3Models with latent variables are one of the main types of models that have been used for more

than 30 years now in consumer behavior studies. They owe their popularity to the fact that they
allow for considering latent variables representing the unobservable characteristics of consumers
and for analyzing the regressive dependencies between them.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 47

• Cognitive
• Humanistic
Each of them posits alternate models of consumer behavior and emphasizes the
need to examine quite different variables (Foxall 2004).
The majority of empirically validated models described in the literature on con-
sumer behavior and sustainable products refer to the cognitive orientation, which
is closely associated with the already mentioned information processing theory, a
basic system of reference for structural modeling in the study of consumer behav-
ior developed in the 1980s. The cognitive orientation encompasses, inter alia,
the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and the theory
of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen 1991). These classic theories have been exten-
sively adopted to create models explaining consumer behavior towards sustainable
clothing. Many of the models have been verified empirically in the framework of
structural equation modeling (SEM), for example, the model of environmentally
sustainable textile and apparel consumption (Kang et al. 2013), the model of inten-
tion to purchase personalized fair trade apparel (Halepete et al. 2009b), the model
of consumer choice in sweatshop avoidance (Shaw et al. 2007), or the model of
green purchasing behaviors of urban residents in China (Liu et al. 2012).
The use of the cognitive orientation and the SEM technique for the empirical
testing of the models of consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing are dis-
cussed more specifically in the next section of this chapter.
The literature contains models that have been created to describe some aspects
of consumer behavior towards textile and clothing products (Eckman et al. 1990;
Shim and Kotsiopulos 1992; Lea Wickett et al. 1999; Visser and Du Preez 2001;
Du Preez 2003; Du Preez and Visser 2003; d e Klerk and Lubbe 2008). There
are also empirical studies investigating sustainable consumption behavior with
respect to textiles and clothing (Butler and Francis 1997; Kim and Damhorst 1998;
Blowfield 1999; Shaw et al. 2007; Brosdahl and Carpenter 2010; Ha-Brookshire
and Norum 2011; Kang et al. 2013; Hassan et al. 2013; Halepete et al. 2009a;
Chan and Wong 2012; Hyllegard et al. 2012; Lee et al. 2012; Han and Chung
2014). However, none of them addresses the ecological, social, or ethical aspects
of consumer behavior, nor does it comprehensively explain the extremely complex
relationships between producers and consumers. See Fig. 1.
The proposed model is an attempt to provide a more efficient explanation of
consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing and to give insight into the rela-
tionship between its producers and consumers.
48 M. Koszewska

PROPOSED MODEL
of consumer behavior
Trudel, 2011 in the sustainable
clothing market
Booi-Chen,
Thøgersen ,
2011 Osterhus, 1997
2000
Young et al.,
Paço et al.,
2010
2013
Bhattacharyav
& Sen, 2004
Kang et al., 2013
Brosdahl & Carpenter 2010
Butler & Francis 1997
(Ha-Brookshire
Hye-Shin & Ozcaglar-Toulouse et
&Norum, 2011)
Damhorst, 1998 al., 2006
Shaw, 2007
Hassan et al.,
Du Preez De Klerk &
2013
2003 Lubbe, 2008 Halepete et al., Balderjahn et al., 2013
Visser and 2009a1
Shim & Blowfield ,
Du Preez
Kotsiopulos, 1999
Wicket et
Kim et al., 2002
al., 1999
Du Preez and
Visser, 2003Eckman et al., 1990 Engelet al.., 1986

Fig. 1  The position of the proposed model among the existing models of consumer behavior.
AU Bold label should read “Textiles and Clothing” for consistency (no &). Source Developed by
the author

3 Theoretical Model of Consumer Behavior


in the Sustainable Clothing Market: Relationship
Between Consumer and Manufacturer

In this section, a theoretical model of consumer behavior towards sustainable


clothing derived from a literature review is presented. This holistic model offers
a comprehensive explanation of the relationship between the consumer and the
manufacturer of this type of clothing. The basic assumptions underpinning the
model have been formulated following an analysis of relationships included in
other theoretical models and using the conclusions from the verification of empiri-
cal models.
Table 1 presents an overview of the existing consumer behavior models, start-
ing with general models through models accounting for ecological or social
aspects of consumption and models of consumer behavior towards textile and
clothing products to models explaining consumer behavior towards sustainable
clothing.
Table 1  Overview of the evolution of consumer behavior models
Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical
verification
General consumer behavior models
Nicosia (1968) Company’s attributes (message exposure) General Structure of consumer behav- Partial
Consumer’s attributes, attitude ior; a summary flow chart
Search evaluation
Motivation
Decision (action), purchasing behavior
Consumption storage, experience
Feedback
Howard and Sheth (1969) Inputs—stimulus display (significative, General Structure of consumer behav- Partial
symbolic, social ior; a summary flow chart
Perceptual constructs (over search, stimulus
ambiguity, perceptual bias)
Learning constructs (confidence, attitude,
choice criteria, motives, intention, brand
comprehension, satisfaction)
Outputs (attention, brand comprehension,
attitude, intention, purchase)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing …

Engel et al. (1986) Input (stimuli from marketers) General Structure of consumer behav- Partial
Information processing (exposure, attention, ior, a summary flow chart
comprehension, acceptance, retention)
Memory
Decision-making process (problem recogni-
tion, search, alternative evaluation, choice,
purchase)
(continued)
49
Table 1  (continued)
50

Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical


verification
Decisional variables (beliefs, motives, atti-
tudes, lifestyle, intentions, evaluative criteria,
normative compliance)
Environmental influences (cultural norms,
social class, reference group, family, unex-
pected circumstances)
Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) Beliefs about the consequences of behavior General Theory of reasoned Yes
and evaluations of the consequences action—TRA
Attitude towards behavior
Beliefs about perceptions of others and moti-
vation to comply
Subjective norms about the behavior
Behavioral intention
Behavior
Ajzen (1991) Behavioral, normative, and control beliefs General Theory of planned Yes
Attitude towards behavior behavior—TPB
Subjective norm
Perceived behavioral control
Behavioral intention
Behavior
(continued)
M. Koszewska
Table 1  (continued)
Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical
verification
Consumer behavior models accounting for ecological and/or social aspect of consumption
Osterhus (1997) Consequences Energy conservation Integrated model blending Yes
Responsibility behavior normative, economic, and
Social norm structural influences
Cost, reward
Personal norm
Thogersen (2000) Consumer motivation (motivational anteced- Eco-labeled Causal path model explaining Partial
ents: effectiveness, attitude, belief, trust) products consumers’
Consumer knowledge Propensity to pay attention to
Product availability ecolabels
Paying attention to ecolabels
Decision to buy
Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) Input: CSR activity (type, investment) General—CSR CSR framework—consumer- No
Internal outcomes activity centric conceptualization of
Company (awareness, attributions, attitude, CSR
attachment)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing …

Consumer (well-being),
Issue/cause(awareness, attitude)
External outcomes
Company (purchase, price premium, loyalty,
resilience)
Consumer (behavior, modification)
Issue/cause (support)
(continued)
51
Table 1  (continued)
52

Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical


verification
Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al. Attitude Fair trade grocery Modified model of planned Yes
(2006) Subjective norm products behavior
Perceived behavioral control
Ethical obligation
Self-identity
Intention
Behavior
Young et al. (2010) General green values Green technology Green consumer purchasing No
Green criteria for purchase products mode
Barriers/facilities
Product purchase
Feedback
Trudel (2011) Company’s CSR actions Products with social Model of socially conscious No
Consumer attitudes or environmental consumerism
Consumer intentions attributes
Consumer actions (buy, pay more, punish)
Booi-Chen (2011) Personal values Green products Model to study green buying No
Perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) behavior extended from V-A-B
Environmental attitude (value attitude behavior)
Green buying attitude
Green buying behavior
(continued)
M. Koszewska
Table 1  (continued)
Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical
verification
Paço et al. (2013) Man–nature orientation Environmentally Green consumer behavior Yes
Generativity friendly products model
Attitudes
Conservation behavior
Environmental friendly buying behavior
Balderjahn et al. (2013) Consciousness for fair consumption (CFC) Fair-trade products Consciousness for fair Yes
Ecological concern (EC) consumption
Moral reasoning (MR)
Buying fair-trade products
Lavorata (2014) Retailers’ commitment to sustainable devel- Hypermarkets’ com- Influence of retailers’ commit- Yes
opment as perceived by consumers mitment to sustain- ment to sustainable develop-
Ethical consumption able development ment on consumer loyalty and
Perceived control boycotts, based on theory of
planned behavior
Subjective norms
Behavioral intention (boycott intention)
Behavior (boycott)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing …

Retailers’ image
Loyalty
Consumer behavior models for textiles and clothing products
Du Preez (2003) Market-dominated variables (4P) Apparel A conceptual theoretical No
Consumer-dominated variables (demograph- model: a macro-perspective,
ics, socio-cultural influences, psychological variables influencing apparel
field) shopping behavior
Market and consumer interaction (shopping
orientation, previous experience, patronage
behavior)
53

(continued)
Table 1  (continued)
54

Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical


verification
Du Preez and Visser (2003) Market-dominated variables (product, place) Apparel A theoretical model of No
Consumer-dominated variables (demograph- selected variables influenc-
ics, sociocultural influences, life style, culture) ing female apparel shopping
Market and consumer interaction (shopping behavior in a multicultural
orientation, patronage behavior) consumer society
Decision-making process
Female apparel shopping behavior
Tree clusters of female apparel shoppers
De Klerk and Lubbe (2008) Apparel consumer (senses, emotions, Apparel Conceptual framework for the No
cognitive) role of aesthetics in consumer
Apparel product (formal qualities) apparel behavior
Aesthetics (sensory, emotional, cognitive)
Perception of quality
Consumer behavior models for sustainable clothing*
Shaw et al. (2007) Intention Sweatshop apparel Empirically validated model of Yes
Attitude consumer choice in sweatshop
Subjective norm avoidance
Perceived behavioral control
Desire
Intention
Plan
Brosdahl and Carpenter (2010) Knowledge of environmental impacts Environmentally Model of environmentally Yes
Concern for the environment friendly textile and friendly consumption behavior
Environmentally friendly consumption apparel
behavior
M. Koszewska

(continued)
Table 1  (continued)
Author Constructs Area\Product type Subject Empirical
verification
Ha-Brookshire and Norum Willingness to pay for socially responsible Organic cotton Research conceptual model Yes
(2011) products shirts
Product evaluative criteria sustainable cotton
Demographic characteristics US-grown cotton
shirts
Apparel product evaluative criteria
Chan and Wong (2012) Product-related attributes (PRA) Fashion clothing Model of consumer eco-fash- Yes
Store-related attributes (SRA) ion consumption
Price premium level of eco-fashion (PP)
Eco-fashion consumption decision (ECD)
Hassan et al. (2013) Antecedents (complexity ambiguity, conflict Ethical clothing Conceptual model of uncer- No
credibility source) tainties in decision-making
Uncertainty (knowledge, choice, evaluation) processes
Outcomes (delayed purchase, compromised
beliefs, negative emotions)
Kang et al. (2013) Consumer knowledge Environmentally Structural model of environ- Yes
sustainable textile mentally sustainable textile
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing …

Perceived consumer effectiveness


Perceived personal relevance and apparel and apparel consumption
Attitude
Subjective norm
Behavioral control
Behavioral intention
*More models for sustainable clothing are described in more detail in Sect. 3.3
Source Developed by the author
55
56 M. Koszewska

Field 1-from the source message to


the consumer attitude
Sub-field 2
Sub-field 1 Message Consumers’s
Firm’s Attitude
exposure attributes
attributes (predispositions) Field 2-from the
source message to
the consumer
attitude
Experience Search
evaluation
Field 4-the
Feedback

Consumption Motivation

Field 3-the act


Purchasing of purchase
behavior Decision

Fig. 2  Nicosia model. Source Nicosia (1968)

The starting point for the construction of the proposed theoretical model of
consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing was the Nicosia model (1966),
one of the first and most popular models created in this field.
There are several reasons for adopting Nicosia’s model. First, it focuses on the
relationship between the producer and potential customers (Fig. 2). Second, this
complex structural model is relatively simple and transparent and it has already
been used to analyze relations between consumers and the clothing company
(Vignali 1999).
The proposed theoretical model is similar to that developed by Nicosia in that
it, too, focuses on the producer, the customer, and the linkages between them. It is
different, though, in that it addresses elements that Nicosia has omitted and which,
according to the reviewed literature, are relevant to the analyzed type of product
(clothing) and its specific characteristics (ecological and social).
The proposed model centers on sustainable clothing, an innovative product con-
taining significant added value represented by its ecological and social characteris-
tics. The consumer evaluation of sustainable clothing versus conventional products
leading to its purchase or rejection depends on:
• Producer attributes: Reputation, business behavior and production systems
• Product attributes: Its emotional and use/functional value, price, availability, the
place and circumstances of the purchase
• Barriers discouraging a customer from making a purchase
• Consumer attributes and factors determining his or her behavior
All these sets of factors are important for the proposed model (Fig. 3). They are
discussed more in detail in the next sections (producer and product, 3.1; barriers,
3.2; consumer, 3.3).
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 57

Communication
*
signs and labels based barriers:
codes of conducts FACTORS
socially-involved marketing etc. influencing
*
sustainable communication consumer
behavior

added consumer
Ecology value assessment
SUSTAINABLE *
CSR CLOTHING
Clothing Eco/sustainable- Sustainable added Use/functional differentiation CONSUMER
COMPANY design Innovations value value
Life cycle approach emotional
Sustainable supply value distribution
chain management price channels
Slow-fashion – Social and added
slow production ethical value Product based Consumer
Factors issues
barriers: based
Influencing
barriers: *
company feedback
behavior

Satisfaction *
or experience Consumption Purchase
feedback disappointment

Non-
feedback purchase

* Areas of the model subjected to empirical verification

Fig. 3  Theoretical model of consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing: the relationship
between the consumer and the producer. Source Developed by the author

The producer can influence consumer purchase decisions by means of an inte-


grated CSR communication system, but consumers’ decisions depend also on
other factors (see Sect. 3.3), which may make them buy or abandon the purchase
of sustainable clothing. In both cases, the producer receives feedback and a con-
sumer deciding to buy and use a product gains experience that determines his
future decisions (Fig. 3).

4 Production of Sustainable Clothing: Supply Side


of the Model

The literature offers a wealth of studies dealing with sustainable production mod-
els. Among the methodologies used for developing sustainable products there is
integrated eco-design decision making (IEDM) presented by Romli et al. The
methodology has three stages (Romli et al. 2015):
• Life-cycle assessment
• An eco-design process composed of three modules (manufacturing, product
usage, and end-of-life strategy)
• An enhanced eco-design quality function deployment process
58 M. Koszewska

Staniskis et al. (2012) have added CSR communication tools to this list and indi-
cated a set of instruments that need to be used on a regular basis to achieve sus-
tainable industrial development:
• Cleaner production to improve production processes
• Eco-design to improve product characteristics
• Integrated management systems (environmental, quality, and occupational
health and safety) to improve management practices
• Sustainability reporting based on sustainability performance
• Evaluation to improve communication with internal and external stakeholders
Additionally, they have proposed a model of sustainable production and consump-
tion as a system. The critical elements of the system are:
• A life-cycle approach optimizing the production process to minimize energy
and material use as well as waste output, and to eliminate the ‘‘rebound’’ effect
• Eco-design referring to a systematic incorporation of environmental aspects into
product design and development aiming to minimize the environmental impacts
along the entire life cycle of a product
• CSR communication including environmental product declarations (eco-labels),
sustainability reporting
In the case of textile and clothing the eco-design must meet basic sustainable
design principles, such as sustainable fibers, low-impact materials, renewable
sources of energy, energy and water efficiency, biomimicry, biodegradable prod-
ucts, pollution prevention, 4R (reduce, recycle, reuse, rebuy), service substitution,
community culture, DIY (do-it-yourself) and patchwork, fair trade/ethical prac-
tices, and near-sourcing (Thilak and Saravanan 2015).
All these solutions were taken account of in developing the assumptions for
the proposed theoretical model of consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing
(Fig. 3).
The above list of solutions towards sustainable production systems lacks one
instrument that is crucial to the textile and clothing industry: sustainable manage-
ment of supply chains. The empirical model proposed by Gimenez Sierra points
out that supplier assessment and supplier collaboration improve the company’s
environmental performance (Gimenez and Sierra 2013). Moreover, companies
with active sustainability strategies for supply chains demonstrate higher levels
of implementation of supplier assessment and of collaboration with suppliers, and
therefore higher environmental performance.
Production of sustainable clothing is a very complex process, because the cloth-
ing industry has one of the longest, most complicated, dispersed, and geographi-
cally stretched supply chains. Compared with the food industry, its manufacturing
processes are also less transparent. As a result, understanding and defining the
sustainability of textiles and clothing is an ambiguous and relatively problematic
exercise. Sustainability is usually associated with the environment, albeit two
other aspects of it—economic and social—are as important. Considered in terms
of the social impacts of a product, sustainable clothing is a product made by adult
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 59

workers in good working conditions, and not by children, in line with fair trade
rules. However, an objective measurement of social impacts that make sustainable
products different from other goods in the clothing market poses some problems.
The sustainability of textiles and clothing is also inextricably linked to fash-
ion. The simple understanding of those two terms indicates a conflict between
them as fashion is about being trendy, up-to-date, and the latest whereas sustain-
ability is about long-lasting and durable, low impact, and eco-friendly (Thilak and
Saravanan 2015). This conflict is reflected in two opposing fashion trends:
• Fast fashion is connected with rapid production, short lead times, increasing
number of fashion seasons, lower cost materials and labor promoting overcon-
sumption of low price and low quality garments worn only a few times and dis-
carded quickly.
• Slow fashion is connected with slow production that does not exploit natu-
ral and human resources and promotes slow consumption of better quality and
durability garments bought less frequently but used longer.
In this context, a major challenge for sustainable production systems is to pro-
long the clothing’s life cycle and maximize its utility and functional properties, to
encourage slow consumption. Sojin Jung and Byoungho Jin also stress that in slow
and sustainable fashion systems quality includes not only the physical, but also
design aspects (Jung and Jin 2014). Therefore, sustainable apparel should be char-
acterized not only by durable, easily disposed of materials but also by designs less
influenced by fashion trends and multifunctional, which can be worn for a long
time, regardless of fashion seasons.
A vital aspect of sustainable production systems is also the eco-functional
assessment proposed by Muthu, Subramanian, Senthilkannan, et al. (Muthu et al.
2013). This aspect is especially important in the case of textile and clothing prod-
ucts, because according to the research most consumers still tend to apply simple
visual criteria to them, clearly focused on the product’s benefits for the consumer
and its functional properties. Aspects of products such as environmental perfor-
mance and the rights of workers who make them are verbally stated as important,
but daily buying decisions are rarely influenced by them. Only the better off and
more aware consumers take them into account. This observation does not apply to
aspects that bring immediate functional benefits (Koszewska and Treichel 2015).
The literature offers a whole range of indicators showing the degree of com-
pliance between a product and sustainability criteria (Krajnc and Glavič 2003).
They are practically useless for an average consumer, though, because a substan-
tial amount of specialist knowledge is necessary to understand, interpret, and use
them. For consumers, much more convenient and useful indicators of the ecologi-
cal and/or social impacts of clothing are ecological signs and labels (Koszewska
2010, 2011a, 2015). This means of communication between the producer and the
consumer has therefore been given a prominent place in the proposed theoretical
model. The significance of CSR communication and of its influence on consum-
ers’ intentions and buying decisions is covered in more detail and verified empiri-
cally in the last section of this chapter.
60 M. Koszewska

Areas for innovationin textile and clothing industry


mass customization
medical textiles
smart clothing
clothing for the elderly and sick or people with specific
requirements
sustainable raw materials
energy-and resource-saving technologies.
multi-functional clothing
biogegradable materials

Sustainable
Social and ethicalissues
clothing
Environmental issues
slow fashion as a natural environment
countermeasure to humanoecology
fast-fashion and its recycling
consequences

Fig. 4  Aspects of sustainable development and areas of innovation in the textile and clothing
industry. Source Developed by the author

A company with an integrated CSR communication system can influence cus-


tomers, their knowledge, and ecological awareness, as well as their perception of
its products. At the same time, the way the company behaves is determined by var-
ious external factors, such as NGOs, the policies of the state, consumer choices,
and the like (Bhattacharya and Sen 2004). It is worth noting here that although
all industries are being forced into compliance with the principles of sustainable
development, only few of them experience pressure from consumers, the media,
and NGOs as strong as the textile and clothing industry does. It is also important
to remember that the recent trends in consumption and consumer behavior clearly
respond to the challenges of sustainable development and show along which
lines the market for textile and clothing products should develop (Figs. 4 and 5)
(Koszewska 2012c).
The future of the textile and clothing industry apparently lies in sustainable
innovations such as mass customization (as a counterpoise to fast fashion); energy
and raw-material saving technologies; eco-textiles; smart textiles for the elderly,
sick persons, and persons with special needs; biodegradable textiles; and so on
(Fig. 5).
A sustainable clothing product, its characteristics, price, and the channels of
distribution and communication that are the main ingredients of the Kotler market-
ing mix described in classical decision-making theories link the left-hand side and
the right-hand side of the proposed model (supply and demand; Fig. 2).
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 61

Socio- Major technologies for Innovative textiles and


New types of
innovative textiles and clothing
demographic consumers / clothing
trends new needs

Medical textiles
Youthing society
Aging populations
Sick people Smart textiles/clothing
Textronics
Eco-consumers
Greening and
social dimensions E-textiles
Socially-responsible
of consumption consumers Nanotechnology
and production
Eco-and socially
Advancing responsible
Prosuments Biotechnology textiles/clothing
individualisation
Conscious, active
consumers, expecting
products to meet their Mass customization
individual needs IT
Urbanisation Multi-functional
Obese people clothing/textiles
processes and
civilisation
Disabled people Clothing addressed to
diseases
consumer-specific needs
and co-developed by
them

Fig. 5  Sociodemographic trends and directions for the development of textile and clothing inno-
vations. Source Koszewska (2012a)

5 Barriers, Perceived Risk, and Uncertainties

The relations between the producer and the consumer may be obstructed by differ-
ent barriers, causing the latter to delay or withdraw from the purchase of a sustain-
able product, to buy an unsustainable one, or to feel negative emotions (Hassan
et al. 2013). The barriers are one of the main reasons for a gap between consumer
attitudes and behaviors. Based on the literature review, three main types of barriers
have been identified:
1. Product-based barriers such as higher price of sustainable clothing, insufficient
availability, poor attractiveness, usefulness and unattractive design, and so on.
2. Communication-based barriers related to the lack of information or insufficient
information identifying sustainable clothing, which causes problems with dis-
tinguishing it from conventional products. These barriers arise from:
• The complexity of information: an overwhelming number of data pointing to
fair trade, organic cotton, use of animals, country of origin, and so on
• The ambiguity of information: lack of specific/definitive information
because of vague ethical policies, and the like
• The incredibility of information
• The distrust of the information source, poor reputation of clothing compa-
nies, and so on (Hassan et al. 2013)
62 M. Koszewska

Communication-
based barriers:
Textile & Complexity - overabundance
clothing of factors to consider
supply chains Ambiguity- lack of
long, specific/definitiveinformation
complicated, Credibility
information on clothing
globally
labels
dispersed
reputation of clothing Perceived
producers Outcomes
risk Delayed or
Uncertainty
abandoned
Product-based Performance in purchase of
barriers: risk product: sustainable
clothing
Higher price of sustainable
clothing Psychological Knowledge
risk The making of
Difficulties to distinguish
Evaluation unsustainable
between sustainable and
Financial risk purchase
unsustainable clothing
Differentiation
Insufficient availability
Physical risk Negative
greenwashing Unsatisfactory
Choice emotions
practices attractiveness Social risk
e.g.
frustration,
helplessness
Consumer-based
barriers:
Too little time to seek more
consumption sustainable options
patterns- Economic barriers
consumerism Limited involvement in the
buying process
Limited knowledge,
awareness and care about
social and ecological aspects
of the textile and clothing
sector

Fig. 6  Potential barriers discouraging the purchase of clothing. Source Developed by the author
based on Hassan et al. (2013)

3. Consumer-based barriers arising from the lack of time to find more sustainable
options, economic barriers, limited involvement in the buying process, limited
knowledge, awareness and care about social and ecological problems in the
textile and clothing sector, low receptiveness to communication.
All three categories of barriers make consumers feel exposed and uncertain. In
the studies investigating the perceived risk effect on the intention to buy sustain-
able clothing, the following types of risks have been considered (Kang and Kim
2013; Han and Chung 2014):
• Performance risk arising from concerns about the function of a product; in the
case of apparel the risk is higher because of insufficient information and confi-
dence in product characteristics such as wearability and the ease of care, among
others.
• Psychological risk related to concerns about a product being aesthetically
inconsistent with the buyer’s self-image. In the case of products made of
organic cotton, there is also the aspect of limited selection and their being per-
ceived as colorless and shapeless.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 63

• Financial risk involved in the price of a product and the likelihood of finan-
cial loss. Sustainable clothing is usually priced higher than conventional items,
because of very strict environmental, social, and ethical criteria the clothing has
to meet. Additionally, its producers must supervise long supply chains. Most
consumers fail to perceive higher prices of sustainable clothing as measurable
benefits for their own and public health, and for the natural environment.
• Physical risk is related to sustainable clothing being potentially harmful to the
user’s health or being less appealing than the consumer expected. This risk may
be unrealized when the consumer has insufficient knowledge of health hazards
involved in unsustainable clothing products.
• Social risk related to the possibility of the product causing embarrassment or
disapproval from one’s family or peers.
The barriers to sustainable apparel consumption are presented in Fig. 6; they were
also included in the theoretical model (Fig. 3).

6 Consumer Behavior Towards Sustainable


Clothing—The Demand Side of the Model

This section is centered on customers and their behavior. Consumer behavior


towards sustainable clothing should be understood as all customer’s actions and
perceptions involved in choosing a sustainable product, in decision making, and in
finalizing the purchase.
In the first step, factors that significantly influence consumer behavior towards
sustainable clothing and finally lead to a sustainable product being purchased
are identified. Table 2 shows the results of earlier models investigating consumer
behavior towards sustainable clothing.
As the models show, consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing is a very
complex and multidimensional problem. The sections below provide a discussion
of factors that earlier studies have pointed to as having significant influence on the
purchase of sustainable clothing.

7 Environmental Knowledge, Awareness, and Concern

The first of the factors is consumer’s knowledge of ecological and social threats
involved in the production of clothing. This factor is given attention in many mod-
els (Kang et al. 2013; Moisander et al. 2010; Schlegelmilch et al. 1996; Thøgersen
2000; Young et al. 2010). Some authors argue, though, that knowledge alone is
not sufficient (Brosdahl and Carpenter 2010). Much importance is also attached
to the ecological and social awareness of the customer, understood as the ability
to rationally engage one’s knowledge resources in performing certain actions. One
64 M. Koszewska

Table 2  The main results yielded by models of consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing
Authors Model constructs Main outcomes
Shaw et al. (2007) Attitude Intention to avoid sweatshop
Subjective norm apparel fully mediates the effects of
Perceived behavioral control its antecedents (attitude, subjective
norm, perceived behavioral control,
Desire
and desire) on the plan to avoid
Intention sweatshop apparel
Plan
Halepete et al. (2009a) Need for self-uniqueness Attitude toward personalization of
Apparel involvement apparel is positively related to the
intention to purchase personalized
fair trade apparel
Perceived financial risk
toward buying apparel
Perceived social risk toward Consumers with greater need for
buying apparel self-uniqueness have positive
attitude toward personalization and
are unconcerned with social and
financial risks.
Body size—BMI Body size and one’s attitude toward
personalized apparel are positively
related to each other.
Attitude toward personaliza-
tion of apparel
Intention to purchase person-
alized fair trade apparel
Brosdahl and Carpenter Knowledge of environmental Knowledge of the environmental
(2010) impacts impacts of textile and apparel
Concern for the environment production leads to concern for the
Environmentally friendly environment, which translates into
consumption behavior environmentally friendly consump-
tion behavior
Ha-Brookshire and Product evaluative criteria Consumer attitudes toward socially
Norum (2011) responsible apparel, attitudes toward
environment, age, and gender are
significant factors for consumers’
willingness to pay a premium
Demographic characteristics Four apparel product evaluative
criteria, namely brand name, laun-
dering requirements, color, and fit
are also important for consumers’
willingness to pay a premium
Apparel product evaluative
criterion
Willingness to pay for
socially responsible products
(continued)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 65

Table 2  (continued)
Authors Model constructs Main outcomes
Chan and Wong (2012) Product-related attributes of Store-related attributes of eco-fash-
eco-fashion (design, quality, ion positively influence consumers’
price) eco-fashion consumption decision,
Store-related attributes but this relationship can be weak-
of eco-fashion (customer ened by the price premium level of
service, store design and eco-fashion.
environment, store’s environ-
mental practices, shopping
convenience
Price premium level of
eco-fashion
Eco-fashion consumption
decision
Hyllegard et al. (2012) Subjective norm Hang tags featuring highly explicit
messages and third-party SR logos
produce more favorable evaluations
than do hang tags featuring less
explicit messages and no logos.
Gender
Clothing involvement Consumers’ clothing involvement
as well as their past SR apparel
purchasing behaviors predict their
evaluations of apparel hang tags,
which positively predicts their atti-
tudes toward Good Clothes.
Socially responsible apparel Attitude, subjective norm, clothing
purchasing behaviors in the involvement, and past SR apparel
past purchasing behaviors predict patron-
age intention toward Good Clothes
Attitude toward beliefs about
“Good Clothes” engagement
in sustainable production
(SR) practices
Behavioral intention—intent
to patronize the apparel brand
“Good Clothes”
Lee et al. (2012) Perception of Green Product Perception of green product brands
Brand has positive impact on consumers’
green behavior.
Perception of Green Perception of green campaigns has
campaign a significant influence on consum-
ers’ green consciousness and an
indirect impact on consumers’ green
behavior.
(continued)
66 M. Koszewska

Table 2  (continued)
Authors Model constructs Main outcomes
Communication involvement The relationship between consum-
ers’ perception of green campaign
and green consciousness is stronger
in the marketing communication
involvement group
Green consciousness
Green behavior intention
Hassan et al. (2013) Antecedents (complexity, The main antecedents influencing
ambiguity, conflict, credibil- uncertainties in decision-making
ity, source) processes about ethical clothing
and resulting in delayed ethical
purchase, the making of unethi-
cal purchase or negative emotions
include:
Uncertainty (knowledge, Complexity: overabundance of
choice, evaluation) factors to consider, for example,
fair trade, organic cotton, use of
animals, country of origin
Outcomes (delayed purchase, Ambiguity: lack of specific/defini-
compromised beliefs, nega- tive Information, for example, vague
tive emotions) ethical policies
Conflict: trade-off between prod-
ucts, attributes, and beliefs, for
example, trade with poorer countries
versus home-grown retailers
Credibility: credibility of informa-
tion on clothing labels
Source: For example, the reputation
of clothing organizations
Kang et al. (2013) Consumer knowledge: The study extended the TPB model
consumers’ familiarity with a by incorporating significant deter-
product and product-specific minants of sustainable consumer
knowledge behavior:
Perceived consumer Consumer knowledge
effectiveness
Perceived personal relevance: Perceived consumer effectiveness
belief that the consumption of
sustainable product is associ-
ated with one’s personal
lifestyle, value and self-image
Attitude: positive attitude to Perceived personal relevance
purchasing
(continued)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 67

Table 2  (continued)
Authors Model constructs Main outcomes
Subjective norm: perceptions The results indicate that those
about social pressure three determinants significantly
affect young consumers’ attitudes,
subjective norms, and perceived
behavioral control, thereby affecting
purchase intentions for environmen-
tally sustainable textiles and apparel
Behavioral control: percep-
tions about the difficulty of
the behavior
Behavioral intention
Kang and Kim (2013) Financial risk The results have revealed the nega-
tive effect of perceived risk on con-
sumers’ attitudes and consequently
on their intentions for buying
sustainable textiles and apparel
Performance risk The significance and influence of
perceived risks differ depending on
the risk
Psychological risk: consum- The greatest barrier keeping
er’s concern with self-image consumers from buying sustainable
textiles and clothing is financial risk
Social risk Psychological risk directly and sig-
nificantly shapes attitudes towards
environmentally sustainable textiles
and apparel consumption and indi-
rectly shapes intentions for buying
such products
Attitude The importance of social risk is
smaller than thatof other risks
Behavioral purchase inten- The effect of performance risk on
tions for environmentally sus- attitudes and behavioral intentions is
tainable textiles and apparel not significant
Han and Chung (2014) Perceived benefits of Perceived benefits, importance of
purchasing organic cotton individual expression through dress-
apparel (environmental and ing well, performance risk, financial
health-related) risk, and subjective norm signifi-
cantly influence the attitude toward
purchasing organic cotton apparel
products
Importance of individual Additionally, financial risk, attitude,
expression through dressing and subjective norms significantly
well: subcategory of fashion influence consumers’ purchase
orientation intention
(continued)
68 M. Koszewska

Table 2  (continued)
Authors Model constructs Main outcomes
Performance risk: concerns Subjective norms have been found
about the expected function to play a critical role in the purchase
of a product process: subjective norms are one of
the strongest antecedents of attitude
among the six variables under
consideration and exert a similar
influence on purchase intention as
attitude does
Psychological risk: concern
that a purchased product
will clash with a consumer’s
self-image
Financial risk: concerns about
the price of the product and
possible financial loss
Attitude towards purchasing
organic cotton apparel
Subjective norm
Purchase intention
Source Developed by the author

of the main reasons why customers are not interested in sustainable clothing seems
to be unawareness of the problems and risks related to conventional products that
frequently contain carcinogenic substances, and so on, or of the social and/or eco-
logical implications of fast fashion (Pookulangara and Shephard 2013). For sus-
tainable products to be sought, knowledge, the awareness arising from it, and the
individual’s predisposition to be concerned must come together (Balderjahn et al.
2013; Brosdahl and Carpenter 2010; Butler and Francis 1997; Kim and Damhorst
1998; Pino et al. 2012). Concern is what determines consumer attitudes and moti-
vations, and makes them seek and acquire sustainable clothing (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7  Influence of environmental knowledge, awareness, and concern on consumer behavior.


Source Based on Koszewska (2012b)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 69

8 Perceived Consumer Effectiveness (PCE)

Perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) is believed to be crucial to the purchase


of products with ecological and/or social attributes. The concept of PCE was
described for the first time by Kinnear, Taylor, and Ahmed (Kinnear et al. 1974),
who presented it as a measure of a person’s belief in his ability to contribute to the
abatement of pollution effectively (Booi-Chen 2011). Roberts (1996) has defined
the PCE as a measure of an individual’s self-assessed ability to help solve envi-
ronmental resource problems, finding it to be one of the most salient factors in
explaining environmentally conscious consumer behavior. Mohr, Webb, and Harris
(Mohr et al. 2001) have confirmed PCE’s significant contribution to socially
responsible consumer behavior and have demonstrated that the more consum-
ers perceive their purchasing power as influencing company behavior, the more
inclined they are to practice socially responsible behavior. Another study (Paço
et al. 2013) has shown that consumers who have a low rating of their PCE are
reluctant to spend their time or effort to shift from buying conventional products
to Green products, regardless of whether they are environmentally concerned. All
the authors concluded that consumers needed to feel empowered to be personally
effective in combating environmental problems.
In the context of sustainable clothing, the PCE can be understood as the
strength of consumers’ belief that their decisions may induce clothing companies
into ecological and pro-social behavior. The PCE influence on the intention to buy
environmentally sustainable apparel has been analyzed in the Kang et al. model
(Kang et al. 2013). Their model has shown that consumers believing in being able
to improve the environment through careful consumption develop positive atti-
tudes towards environmentally sustainable apparel, which indirectly increases the
likelihood of such products being actually purchased.

9 Factors Indicated by the Theory of Attitude–Behavior


Relationships

Among the most popular models explaining the attitude–behavior relationship


there are the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) that links
attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and behavior into a fixed causal
sequence, and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1991) that emerged
after the original theory of reasoned action was extended to perceived behavio-
ral control to account for behaviors that individuals cannot fully control (Shaw
et al. 2007). These classic theories have been extensively adopted with a view to
explaining consumer behavior towards sustainable products, including clothing.
By analyzing models that have developed from them, other key factors influencing
the purchase of sustainable clothing can be identified (Fig. 8).
70 M. Koszewska

Fig. 8  Theory of planned behavior. Source Bray (2008)

9.1 Intentions

The Fishbein and Ajzen models are built around intentions that encompass all
motivations guiding consumers and indicate the degree to which a consumer may
be willing to show some behavior. According to the main assumption of these
models, consumer behavior and consumer intentions are consistent unless special
circumstances arise.
The majority of models explaining consumer behavior towards sustainable
clothing treat intentions as an endogenous variable. The examples of such models
are the model of the intention to purchase personalized fair trade apparel (Halepete
et al. 2009a), the model of the behavioral intention to patronize the apparel brand
“Good Clothes” (Hyllegard et al. 2012), the model of the Green behavior intention
(Lee et al. 2012), the model of purchase intentions for environmentally sustainable
textiles and apparel (Kang et al. 2013), and the model of organic cotton apparel
purchase intention (Han and Chung 2014).
Among intentions, the willingness to pay more for sustainable clothing is very
important. This variable has been explained by Ha-Brookshir and Norum, who
have found the willingness to pay a premium for socially responsible apparel to
be influenced by consumer attitudes towards this type of apparel and their milieu,
age, and gender (Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011).
Similarly, in the study by Hustvedt and Bernard the consumers’ willingness to
pay for apparel products displaying labor-related information and brand was the
most strongly influenced by the sense of social responsibility and the attitude to
fair trade (Hustvedt and Bernard 2010). Consumers appreciating social responsi-
bility and fair trade were more inclined to pay a premium than those who were
not. On the other hand, concerns about the environmental impact of apparel
reduced the amount participants would bid for the labeled apparel. Hustvedt and
Bernard’s study has also showed that consumers would pay more for apparel with
information about its labor-related attributes if they had the economic incentive to
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 71

express their true value for the products. Another factor influencing the willing-
ness to pay a premium was ethnicity (Hispanic participants bid higher when the
information about labor conditions was attached to the products).
Because all these studies agree that the willingness to pay a premium is an
important intention leading to a purchase of sustainable clothing, this variable, too,
was included in the empirical submodel presented in Sect. 4.

9.2 Attitudes

Consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing is also significantly influenced


by the attitude towards this behavior. According to Ajzen’s theory, attitudes deter-
mined by person’s beliefs about the expected outcomes of some behavior are the
main component of each intention. The more positive attitude one has towards
some behavior, the stronger the intention is to show it. The analyzed models of
consumer behaviors towards sustainable clothing confirm that this relationship
does exist. The attitude toward sweatshop avoidance significantly impacts the
dependent construct, the intention to avoid sweatshop apparel (Shaw et al. 2007);
the attitude towards personalization of apparel is positively related to the intention
to purchase personalized fair trade apparel (Halepete et al. 2009a); a positive atti-
tude toward “Good Clothes” influences patronage intention (Hyllegard et al. 2012)
and, lastly, a positive attitude to purchasing environmentally sustainable textiles
and apparel has a positive effect on purchase intentions (Kang et al. 2013).

9.3 Subjective Norms

Another group of factors that determine intentions according to TRA is subjective


norms, which are closely related to the social pressure on showing some behav-
ior or abstaining therefrom. Subjective norms are based on the person’s conviction
that some behavior will or will not be accepted by individuals whose opinion is
valued by the person. Subjective norms are a particularly important determinant of
human behavior towards clothing, because social pressures are frequently decisive
for what people choose to buy. The influence of subjective norms on intentions
and/or on the purchase of sustainable clothing has been confirmed empirically.
The norms have been found to predict patronage intention toward “Good Clothes”
(Hyllegard et al. 2012), to affect purchase intentions for environmentally sustain-
able textiles and apparel (Kang et al. 2013), and to influence a plan to avoid sweat-
shop apparel (Shaw et al. 2007). Subjective norms also play a critical role in the
purchase of organic cotton apparel.
72 M. Koszewska

9.4 Perceived Behavioral Control

The last group of factors significantly affecting consumer intentions is the means
and possibilities enabling a person to behave in a certain manner, that is, to buy
sustainable clothing in our case.
This variable has already been used in the models of consumer behavior
towards sustainable clothing. The results of studies into the influence of perceived
behavioral control on buying intentions are inconsistent. Kang et al. (2013) have
not found perceived behavioral control to have a major effect on the intention to
buy environmentally sustainable textiles and apparel, but another study has dem-
onstrated that perceived behavioral control significantly determines the intention
to avoid sweatshop apparel (Shaw et al. 2007).
Consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing is also dependent on the indi-
vidual’s openness to communication.

10 Openness to Company’s CSR Communication—


Recognizability of Eco-Labels

Environmental labeling schemes are potentially effective and consumer-friendly


tools for communicating the attributes of sustainable clothing, but they are not
useful unless a consumer notices them in a shopping situation. Thogersen (2000)
argues that seeing an eco-label is not a goal in itself, but rather a step towards
buying a sustainable product. According to this author, an individual’s ability to
take note of an eco-label depends on his pro-environmental attitude and PCE. The
important questions that must be asked here concern factors making eco-labels
recognizable to consumers and the influence of the level of their recognizability
on consumer buying decisions. To answer these questions, the empirical submodel
proposed in Sect. 4 is provided with the variable “recognizability of eco-labels.”
Another variable that the empirical models of consumer behavior towards sus-
tainable clothing have not thoroughly analyzed thus far is shopping habits and
apparel selection criteria.

11 Shopping Habits and Apparel Selection Criteria

The way consumers behave in the clothing market depends also on their shopping
habits and the criteria they use in choosing products. These factors frequently stem
from past experiences, the loyalty to a particular store or brand, store patronage,
interest in fashion, and shopping orientation, as well as from the attitude to quality
and aesthetics. All of them have been considered in the general models of con-
sumer behavior towards textiles and clothing (De Klerk and Lubbe 2008; Du Preez
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 73

2003; Du Preez and Visser 2003) and partly in the models of consumer behavior
towards sustainable apparel (Halepete et al. 2009b). The results of earlier stud-
ies show that consumers with greater apparel involvement (feeling a greater urge
to be unique) have a positive attitude towards purchasing personalized fair trade
apparel (Halepete et al. 2009b). Moreover, four apparel product evaluative crite-
ria, namely brand name, laundering requirements, color, and fit proved important
for the consumer’s willingness to pay a premium for socially responsible apparel
(Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011). This crucial importance of shopping habits and
apparel selection criteria for consumer behavior towards sustainable clothing has
been confirmed in earlier studies (Hustvedt and Bernard 2010; Koszewska 2013).
In Koszewska’s study, they determined consumers’ openness to CSR messages,
preference for sustainable innovative textiles and clothing, motivations for buying
a product, the willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing, as well as
actual purchases thereof.
Chan and Wong have investigated the influence of product-related attributes
and store-related attributes of eco-fashion on eco-fashion consumption decisions
(Chan and Wong 2012). They have found that the product-related attributes such
as design, quality, and price did not affect these decisions and that the only factor
encouraging consumers to choose eco-fashion was store-related attributes such as
customer service, store design and environment, store’s environmental practices,
and shopping convenience. All this points to shopping habits and apparel selec-
tion criteria as very important predictors of the purchase of sustainable apparel.
However, because of inconsistent findings of the existing studies further analysis
of these factors is necessary. For this reason, they were entered into the empirical
submodel in Sect. 4.
The last group of factors analyzed in the context of sustainable clothing is of
sociodemographic nature.

12 Sociodemographic Factors

The influence of the sociodemographic factors on sustainable product consump-


tion has been addressed in many studies (Arcury and Johnson 1987; Cottrell and
Graefe 1997; Diamantopoulos et al. 2003; Jain and Kaur 2006; Mohai and Twight
1987). Most of them focus on green consumer behavior, particularly on purchas-
ing and disposal. Their conclusions regarding the impacts of sociodemographic
factors are often divergent and contradictory (Auger et al. 2008; Jain and Kaur
2006; McDonald and Oates 2006).
74 M. Koszewska

12.1 Education

An individual’s education significantly contributes to the development of environ-


mental attitudes, because a substantial amount of environmental knowledge that
comes with education is required to properly understand environmental prob-
lems (Arcury 1990; Liu et al. 2012). Many studies point to a positive correlation
between education and environmental knowledge (Arbuthnot and Lingg 1975;
Arcury and Johnson 1987; Diamantopoulos et al. 2003; Maloney and Ward 1973;
Ostman and Parker 1987), environmental attitudes (Baker and Bagozzi 1982;
Leonard-Barton 1981; Roberts 1996; Tognacci et al. 1972; Dunlap and Van Liere
1981; Zimmer et al. 1994), and environmental behaviors (Arbuthnot 1977; Harry
et al. 1969; Jolibert and Baumgartner 1981; Ostman and Parker 1987; Scott and
Willits 1994, Webster Jr 1975). In some studies, however, the correlation between
education and environmental attitudes and/or behavior was found to be nega-
tive (Arbuthnot and Lingg 1975; Samdahl and Robertson 1989), or no significant
correlation between education and environmental knowledge, attitudes, or even
behavior was established (Diamantopoulos et al. 2003; Honnold 1981; Neuman
1986; Pickett et al. 1993; Ray 1975; Shrum et al. 1995). An interesting case is Jain
and Kaur’s study (Jain and Kaur 2006), where the level of respondents’ education
was significantly but negatively correlated with their willingness to seek out eco-
friendly products.

12.2 Income

In most empirical studies investigating the relationship between income and


the theoretical dimensions of the environmental consciousness domain such as
knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, the factors were correlated significantly and
positively (Arbuthnot 1977; Chan 2000; Kinnear et al. 1974; Tai and Tam 1996;
Tucker and Dolich 1981; Webster Jr 1975; Zimmer et al. 1994). Several empiri-
cal studies have shown, though, that the relationship between income and envi-
ronmental behavior is not significant or even negative (Antil 1984; Buttel and
Flinn 1978; Kassarjian 1971; Pickett et al. 1993; Roberts 1996; Samdahl and
Robertson 1989; Dunlap and Van Liere 1981). It is, therefore, another area where
more research is necessary to establish whether a person’s financial capacity may
directly determine the purchase of sustainable clothing.
Figure 9 explains the demand side of the proposed theoretical model more in
detail, taking account of all factors that the literature considers to influence signifi-
cantly the purchase of sustainable clothing.
The empirical verification of all relationships between variables used in the
theoretical model is not straightforward, because the relationships are much more
complicated than the diagram shows. To make the process of verification easier
to follow, in the next section only selected variables determining the purchase of
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 75

COMMUNICATION-
BASED BARRIERS:
PCE
Complexity-too many factorsand labels
Ambiguity
Lack of specific/definitiveinformation Openess to CSR
Lack of Credibility communication Behavioral Subjective
Attitudes
Paying attention to control norms
ecolabels
COMPANY
’s CSR Eco and social labels
COMMUNICATION recognition
Intention to pay
Intentions
price premium

SUSTAINABLE Shopping Habits and Apparel Selection Criteria


CLOTHING
PRODUCT Consumer assessment & -past purchase experience
differentiation FACTORS -loyalty to the store/ brand, store patronage
CONSUMER INFLUENCING -shopping orientation
Use value -fashionism or environmentalism:
distribution CONSUMER
Emotional fashion involvement and importance
BEHAVIOR perception of quality, price and aesthetics
value
CONSUMER-BASED importance of ecological and social criteria
Price
BARRIERS:
Lack of time,
PRODUCT - knowledge, awareness
BASED BARRIERS: , concern,
money,trust Demographics Knowledge
Higher price Age
Insufficient availability Weak PCE,
Low openess to comunication Gender
Unsatisfactory Awareness
Income
attractiveness/usefulness Education
Family size Concern

PURCHASE

Fig. 9  Factors in purchasing sustainable clothing: a closer look into the demand side of the theo-
retical model

sustainable clothing undergo empirical verification. The variable selection criteria


include the significance of a variable, few earlier studies, or inconsistent results of
earlier studies. In Fig. 9, the selected variables are highlighted in grey.

13 The Empirical Verification of the Demand Side


of the Model

The empirical submodel concentrates on several factors important for consumer


behavior towards sustainable clothing, namely:
• Shopping habits and apparel selection criteria understood as attitudes to apparel
shopping
• Willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing
• Openness to communication understood as the receptiveness of ecological and
social labels on clothes
• Purchase of sustainable clothing
A detailed discussion of the significance of the selected variables and their
t­heoretical background has been provided in the section above. Section 4 focuses
on their conceptualization and operationalization.
76 M. Koszewska

In the following sections, the conceptual framework of the research and


hypotheses, methods, and results is presented.

14 Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses

The majority of empirically validated models described in the literature on con-


sumer behavior and sustainable products relate to one of the most popular theoreti-
cal orientations, that is, cognitive orientation. As already mentioned, this approach
encompasses the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and
the theory of planned behavior (TPB) that developed from it. These classic theo-
ries have been extensively adopted to explain how consumers behave towards sus-
tainable clothing.
Based on the TPB and conclusions from the discussed models, the following
hypotheses are formulated (Fig. 10).
H1: Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences their willingness to
pay a premium for sustainable clothing (Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011;
Hustvedt and Bernard 2010).
H2: Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences the purchase of
sustainable clothing (Halepete et al. 2009b; Hustvedt and Bernard 2010;
Koszewska 2013).
H3: Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences the recognizability
of ecological and social labels (Thøgersen 2000).

ATTITUDES INTENTIONS PURCHASE

ATTITUDES TOWARDS APPAREL WILLINGNESS TO PAY A PURCHASE


SHOPPING PREMIUM
Shopping Habits and Apparel H1 H4 of sustainable
Selection Criteria for sustainable textile textile and clothing
fashion involvement and and clothing products – products –
importance products with eco- products with eco -
Importance of environmental and or/and social label or/and social label
social criteria while shopping:
perception of quality, price. style H2
and brand

H6
H3 H5
Openness to CSR
communication
the ability to recognize eco-
and social labels

Fig. 10  The conceptual model


Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 77

H4: Consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing is posi-


tively correlated with the purchase of sustainable clothing (see the theory of
planned behavior (TPB)).
An important variable that appears to determine the purchase of a sustain-
able product, but which has been insufficiently covered in the literature thus
far, is the ability to recognize ecological and social labels attached to sus-
tainable apparel. To verify empirically whether the recognizability of labels
significantly determines the purchase of such products as well as the willing-
ness to pay a premium for them, the following hypotheses are formulated in
this study.
H5: The recognizability of ecological and social labels positively influences the
purchase of sustainable clothing.
H6: The recognizability of ecological labels positively influences the willingness
to pay a premium for sustainable clothing.

15 Methods

15.1 Survey and Sample

A survey of a sample of 981 Polish adults drawn from the official population data-
base was conducted. To make sure that the sample was representative and the sur-
vey was reliable, the sampling procedure and the survey interviews were carried
out by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CBOS). The interviews were con-
ducted using the CAPI technique (computer-assisted personal interviewing). The
sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table 3.

Table 3  Sociodemographic structure of Polish respondents


Gender Male 47.6 %
Female 52.4 %
Age 18–24 years 13.6 %
25–34 17.4 %
35–44 14.6 %
45–54 18.1 %
55–64 18.1 %
65 years and older 18.3 %
Place of residence Rural areas 37.6 %
Town with population to 20,000 13.9 %
20,000–100,000 20.0 %
101,000–500,000 15.8 %
501,000 and more 12.7 %
(continued)
78 M. Koszewska

Table 3  (continued)
Education Elementary 25.3 %
Basic vocational 25.7 %
Secondary 33.7 %
Tertiary 15.3 %
Socio-occupational group Managers, specialists with tertiary education 17.4 %
Economically active Middle-level personnel, technicians 8.2 %
Office and administrative personnel 13.7 %
Personnel in the service sector 10.6 %
Skilled workers 23.2 %
Unskilled workers 11.2 %
Farmers 9.3 %
Self-employed 6.5 %
Economically inactive Disability pensioners 13.6 %
Old-age pensioners 44.1 %
School-children and students 14.0 %
Unemployed 17.4 %
Housewives and others 11.0 %

16 Methodology and Analytical Procedures

The theoretical model presented above was analyzed using the CFA (confirmatory
factor analysis) and SEM methods in three steps. First, the exploratory factor anal-
ysis (EFA) and the principal components method with varimax rotation were used
to establish the basic structure of the selected variables. In the second and third
steps the model was tested with, respectively, the CFA and the SEM (Davis and
Lang 2012).

17 Conceptualization and Operationalization


of the Empirical Submodel’s Variables

17.1 Shopping Habits and Apparel Selection Criteria

The earlier models analyzed the following constructs relating to shopping habits
and apparel selection criteria.
• The need for self-uniqueness (to be different from others) that Halapete meas-
ured with an eight-item scale of uniqueness provided with a five-point Likert
scale (Halepete et al. 2009b)
• Involvement in shopping for apparel established by asking the respondents to
rate their general feelings while shopping for apparel on a five-point bipolar
scale (important/unimportant, boring/interesting, etc.; Halepete et al. 2009b)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 79

• Apparel evaluative factors (fit, price, laundering (or care), style, color, brand)
ranked by respondents on a five-point scale (1: insignificant and 5: very impor-
tant; Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011)
• Product-related attributes product design, quality, price
• Shop-related attributes (customer service, store display and environment, store’s
ethical practices, and shopping convenience) ranked by respondents on a five-
point scale (1: very unimportant and 5: very important (Chan and Wong 2012)
Most of these models disregarded the ecological and social criteria that are crucial
to buying, or not buying, sustainable clothing. To make up for this deficiency, the
range of typical reasons for which consumers select and purchase apparel (fash-
ion, brand and style, price, quality, wearability, comfort of wear, fit, the shopping
location, etc.) was extended in this study to ecological and social criteria. In order
to establish consumers’ attitudes to buying clothing, a special seven-point bipolar
scale with 10 items such as attitude to fashion, brand, ecology, raw materials, and
social issues such as child labor and working conditions (Table 4) was developed
and tested in the empirical submodel.
The scale’s reliability and validity were determined with the Cronbach’s alpha
reliability test. Its results confirmed that the scale was reliable and valid for the
representative sample of Polish consumers used in the survey (Cronbach’s
alpha > 0.8).
Table 4  Measures of attitudes towards apparel shopping
Specify which statements are closest to your habits. To make the assessment, use the 1–7
scale, where 1 means you are closest to the statement on the left, and 7 means that you are
closest to the statement on the right
I’m not interested in fashion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I’m very much interested in
and new trends at all fashion and new trends
I don’t like original, unique, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I like original, unique, designer
designer clothes at all clothes very much
The brand is completely unim- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The brand is very important
portant to me to me
I never buy clothes of global or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I like to buy clothes of global or
European brands European brands very much
I never check for raw materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I always check for raw materi-
composition als composition
I never check for the producer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I always check for the producer
country country
I never check if the clothes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I always check if the clothes
have eco-labels or eco-symbols have eco-labels or eco-symbols
I never think of whether the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I frequently think of whether
product involves child labor the product involves child labor
I never think of whether the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I frequently think of whether
rights of the workers making the rights of the workers mak-
the product were infringed ing the product were infringed
I do not pay any attention to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I only buy natural/organic
whether or not the clothes are clothes
natural/organic
80 M. Koszewska

18 Openness to Companies’ CSR Communication—


Recognizability of Ecological and Social Labels

Although consumers’ openness to messages coming from the producers is one of


the key factors driving the development of a sustainable clothing market, there are
few empirical studies that have investigated this area. Thogersen analyzed factors
influencing the variable “paying attention to ecolabels,” finding it to be a major
determinant of a buying decision. The variable was measured with the following
question, “When you are choosing a product, how often do you pay attention to
any environmental labelling before deciding to buy?” The possible answers were
“often”, “sometimes”, or “never” (Thogersen 2000).
Ecological and environmental labels attached to apparel are easy to see and
despite their shortcomings they are one of the best means of communicating a
company’s CSR. The recognizability of such labels was therefore introduced into
the model as a measure of consumer’s openness to CSR messages. The respondents
were shown seven ecological and social labels known in Poland (EU’s Eco label,
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Oeko-Tex Standard, Fair trade, Fair
Wear Foundation (FWF), and two Polish labels (Infant Safe and Child Safe) and
were asked to mark their answers to the question: “Labels on textile products such
as clothing, bedclothes, towels and curtains are identified by different symbols.
Have you seen this label?” on the attached scale (yes = 1; no = 0). Therefore, the
variable “recognizability of ecological and social labels” could take values ranging
from 0 to 7, depending on how many labels and signs the respondent recognized.
Because of the dichotomously scored items, to evaluate the reliability of the scale
the Kuder–Richardson reliability coefficient (KR20) was employed. The Kuder–
Richardson statistics (KR20 = 0.75) pointed to high reliability of the scale.

19 Consumers’ Willingness to Pay a Premium


for Sustainable Clothing and to Buy Sustainable
Clothing

To establish consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing,


the respondents were asked to mark their answers to the question “What premium
would you pay for an article of clothing if you believed it had been made using a
process safe for human health and the environment and respecting the workers’
rights?” on 5-point scale (to 5 % more; between 6 and 10 % more; between 11 and
15 % more; between 16 and 20 % more; over 20 %; I would not pay a premium).
The variable representing the actual purchase of sustainable clothing4 was
measured with the question “Have you ever bought apparel carrying an ecological

4One of the best sources of information on apparel sustainability available to consumers is eco-

logical and social labels. In this study, sustainable apparel is meant as items with ecological and/
or social labels.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 81

and/or ethical label?” and a 3-point scale (1 = no; 2 = I don’t remember;


3 = yes). A variable measured with such as a scale cannot be treated as a continu-
ous variable, but the scale was used notwithstanding because McEachern and
Carrigan (2012) recommend analyzing what consumers actually buy and not what
they plan or intend to buy when studying ethical consumption behavior in order to
reduce the attitude–behavior gap (Carrigan and Attalla 2001; Auger et al. 2008).
To prevent the “purchase” variable from causing methodological errors, a poly-
choric correlation matrix was used (Olsson 1979; Plesniak 2006).

20 Results

20.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis

A high value of the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) indicator (0.81) and the result of
the Bartlett test supported the choice of a factor analysis model for data analysis.
The EFA results showed that a three-factor model would be appropriate. Ten
observable variables presented in Table 5 were aggregated into three factors (atti-
tudes) towards apparel shopping, namely “fashion”, “ecology”, and “ethics”. The
results of the EFA are shown in Table 5.
Factor 1 was made up of variables such as clothing brand names, originality,
fashion trends, and design and was called “a pro-fashion attitude”. Factor 2 was
compiled of variables such as raw material composition, country of production,

Table 5  The structure of the principal components (Factor Loadings) after rotation for apparel
selection criteria and shopping habits
Apparel selection criteria and shopping habits
Observable variables Factors (Principal Components)
Fashion Ecology Ethics
Buying clothes of global or European origin 0.842
Preference for original, unique, designer clothes 0.833
Brand importance 0.765
Interest in fashion and new trends 0.695
Assessment of raw material composition 0.807
Preference for clothes from natural 0.783
raw materials
Checking for producer country 0.779
Checking for eco-labels 0.607
Thinking of workers’ rights when buying clothes 0.904
Thinking of child labor when buying clothes 0.900
Percentage of variance explained 38.4 19.2 11.0
Cronbach’s alpha 0.82 0.8 0.86
Source Calculated by the author using IBM SPSS software
82 M. Koszewska

and ecological labeling. All these variables are related to ecology, so factor 2 was
named “a pro-ecological attitude”. Factor 3 was constructed using variables such
as possible violations of workers’ rights and the use of child labor. All of them
concern social and ethical issues, so factor 3 was called “a pro-social attitude”.

21 Confirmatory Factor Analysis: The Measurement


Model

To verify the validity of the three factors (attitudes), a confirmatory factor analy-
sis was conducted with SPSS/AMOS 20.0. Convergent validity was determined
by means of three different measures: factor loadings, average variance extracted
(AVE), and construct reliability (CR; Baumgartner and Homburg, 1996). The
CFA results suggested that two items should be removed (because of factor load-
ings <0.6). The final model had a satisfactory level of validity. The values of aver-
age variance extracted (AVE) were not below the threshold of 0.50 recommended
for each construct. All CFA loadings ranged from 0.74 to 0.89, and the reliability
of the construct used in testing internal consistency exceeded the recommended
threshold of 0.7 (Fornell and Larcker 1981; Hair et al. 2011). Table 6 presents the
relevant correlations, AVE values, covariances, and the construct reliability for all
latent variables in the model.
The goodness-of-fit indices obtained from the measurement model are
good. The model’s normed χ2 was 3.4, the root mean square error of approxi-
mation (RMSEA) = 0.05, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.99, adjusted
GFI (AGFI) = 0.97, and the comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.98 (see Table 6).
Accordingly, the measurement model was accepted for analysis.

22 Structural Model and Hypothesis Testing Results

After a reasonably well-fitting measurement model was identified, the structural


model was tested by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). Figure 11
shows the final version of the empirical submodel with standardized esti-
mates of structural paths and fit indices. The proposed structural model has a
very good fit, because the values of all fit indices exceed the recommended val-
ues: χ2 (df = 33) = 75.37, p = 0.00; GFI = 0.98; AGFI = 0.96; CFI = 0.98;
RMSEA = 0.043; and N Holter = 445.
The results of hypothesis testing are shown in Table 7.
The results yielded by the structural model support all hypotheses. Hypotheses
H1a, H1b, and H4b state that pro-fashion, pro-environmental, and pro-social atti-
tudes strengthen consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable apparel.
The results of statistical analysis show that all three of them are important, thus
hypothesis H1 is fully confirmed.
Table 6  The CFA results
Constructs—latent Indicator Measurement model reliability and validity
variables CFA loading* AVE** CR*** Cronbach’s Alpha
Pro-fashion attitudeBuying clothes with global or European 0.75 0.6 0.79 0.82
brands
Preference for original, unique, designer 0.75
clothes
Brand importance 0.84
Pro-ecology Checking for raw material composition 0.78 0.54 0.78 0.76
attitude Checking for producer country 0.74
Preference for clothes from natural raw 0.7
materials
Pro-social attitude Thinking of workers’ rights when buying 0.89 0.75 0.86 0.86
clothes
Thinking of child labor when buying 0.84
clothes
Measurement model fit RMSEA < 0.05–0.08 (Browne and Cudeck 1992)
χ2 = 57, (df 17) GFI > 0.90 (Bollen 1989; Marcoulides and Schumacker 1996)
χ2/df = 3.4 AGFI > 0.90 (Bollen 1989; Marcoulides and Schumacker 1996)
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing …

RMSEA = 0.05 CFI > 0.90 (Bollen 1989; Marcoulides and Schumacker 1996)
GFI = 0.99
AGFI = 0.97
CFI = 0.98
IFI = 0.98
N Holter = 462
*CFA loading: standardized estimate
**Average variance extracted (AVE) = ∑ (standardized loadings2)/∑ (standardized loadings2) + ∑error variance
83

***Construct reliability (CR) = ∑ (standardized loadings) 2/∑ (standardized loadings) 2 + ∑ error variance
Source Calculated by the author with the IBM SPSS/AMOS software
84 M. Koszewska

Fig. 11  The tested model and SEM results: the results of hypothesis testing. Note All are stand-
ardized estimates

Hypothesis H2 predicting that the consumers’ attitude towards apparel shop-


ping and sustainable clothing purchase are related to each other has been proven
too. According to statistical analysis, pro-fashion, pro-ecological, and pro-social
attitudes are significant predictors of purchasing sustainable clothing, which con-
firms hypotheses H2a, H2b, and H2c.
Hypothesis H3 states that the consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping
influences their ability to recognize ecological and social labels. Given that the
pro-ecological and pro-social attitudes were found to be positively correlated with
this ability, hypotheses H3a and H3b are proven true as well. However, for the
lack of significant relation between a pro-fashion attitude and the recognizabil-
ity of eco-labels H3a must be rejected. Hypothesis H3 is therefore only partially
confirmed.
According to the results of statistical analysis and the TPB-based predictions,
consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing is positively
related to the purchase of such products, therefore hypothesis H4 is true.
The analysis has also pointed out that customers with a greater ability to rec-
ognize ecological and social labels attached to apparel are more likely to pur-
chase sustainable clothing (β = 0.40, p < 0.001), which supports hypothesis H5.
Moreover, there is a significant path coefficient between the recognizability of
ecological labels and an individual’s willingness to pay a premium for such cloth-
ing (β = 0.11, p < 0.01). These consumers are more willing to pay a higher price
for sustainable clothing, thus hypothesis H6 is proven true.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 85

Table 7  Regression results for the hypotheses


HP Path β p Outcome
H1 Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences their Fully supported
willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing
H1a Pro-fashion attitude → willingness to pay a 0.17 p < 0.001 Supported
premium
H1b Pro-ecological attitude → willingness to pay a 0.13 p < 0.05 Supported
premium
H1c Pro-social attitude → willingness to pay a 0.11 p < 0.05 Supported
premium
H2 Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences sustainable Fully supported
clothing purchase
H2a Pro-fashion attitude → purchase of sustainable 0.10 p < 0.01 Supported
clothing
H2b Pro-ecological attitude → purchase of 0.12 p < 0.01 Supported
sustainable clothing
H2c Pro-social attitude → purchase of sustainable 0.11 p < 0.001 Supported
clothing
H3 Consumers’ attitude towards apparel shopping influences the Partially
recognizability of ecological and social labels supported
H3a Pro-fashion attitude → labels’ recognizability 0.04 p = 0.34 Not supported
H3b Pro-ecological attitude → labels’ recognizability 0.17 p < 0.001 Supported
H3c Pro-social attitude → labels’ recognizability 0.21 p < 0.001 Supported
H4 Willingness to pay a premium → purchase of 0.17 p < 0.001 Supported
sustainable clothing
H5 Recognizability of ecological labels → purchase 0.40 p < 0.001 Supported
of sustainable clothing
H6 Recognizability of ecological labels → willing- 0.11 p < 0.01 Supported
ness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing
Note β = standardized regression weights

The squared multiple correlation of sustainable clothing purchase was 0.42,


meaning that 42 % of purchase variance is explained by the predictor variables.
Considering that the model was built with selected determinants of the purchase of
sustainable clothing, this value seems to be satisfying.

23 Discussion

The aim of this study was to expand the knowledge of consumer behavior in the
sustainable apparel market. In its empirical part, Polish consumers’ intentions and
attitudes to buying sustainable clothing were examined using the modified TPB
(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and the existing models of consumer behavior towards
sustainable apparel products.
86 M. Koszewska

In the course of analysis, three types of consumers’ attitudes were derived from
their shopping habits and apparel selection criteria: pro-fashion, pro-ecology, and
pro-social. The focus of the study was not only on the significance of these atti-
tudes, but also on the strength of their influence on the analyzed dimensions of
consumer behavior, that is, the willingness to pay a premium for sustainable cloth-
ing, the recognizability of labels, and actual purchases of sustainable clothing.
The earlier studies’ conclusions about pro-environmental and pro-social attitudes
positively influencing consumer’s willingness to pay a premium (Halepete et al.
2009b; Ha-Brookshire and Norum 2011) and their ability to recognize an ecolabel
(Thogersen 2000) have been supported by this research.
All three studies suggest that fashion may significantly determine the decision
to buy sustainable apparel, but the relationship between these two variables has
not been explicitly confirmed. Therefore, establishing whether consumers’ atti-
tudes towards fashion positively influence the analyzed aspects of their behavior
seems as interesting as important.
The findings of this study imply that a pro-fashion attitude is the strongest pre-
dictor of one’s willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing (β = 0.17 at
p < 0.001 compared with 0.13 at p < 0.05 for a pro-ecological attitude and 0.11
at p < 0.05 for a pro-social attitude). This suggests that consumers whose shop-
ping decisions are guided by a pro-fashion attitude (i.e., giving priority to origi-
nal designer clothes, sensitive to brands, tending to choose clothes of global or
European brands) are also more willing to pay a premium for sustainable clothing,
probably because of the ease with which pro-fashion consumers join in the trend
for eco-fashion. Higher prices of sustainable clothing do not discourage them from
buying such items, because the brand and fashion are more important for them
than price. The study has also shown that a pro-fashion attitude does not signifi-
cantly contribute to the recognizability of ecological and social labels marking
sustainable apparel, unlike pro-ecological and pro-social attitudes. It is probably
due to the pro-fashion consumers’ relatively careless attitude to buying sustainable
clothing. They buy it because they tend to follow fashion and trends, whereas the
ability to recognize an eco-label requires some involvement, awareness, and sensi-
tivity. Consequently, the most important determinants of the consumer’s ability to
identify a label is a pro-social attitude (the standardized path coefficient value for
this relationship is the highest for this relationship).
Nevertheless, all three shopping attitudes similarly and directly contribute to
the purchase of sustainable clothing (β = 0.10, p < 0.01 for the pro-fashion atti-
tude, 0.12, p < 0.01 for the pro-ecological attitude, and 0.11, p < 0.001 for the
pro-social attitude). This result is consistent with the findings of earlier studies
(Koszewska 2013) pointing to shopping habits and apparel selection criteria as
the determinants of the purchase of sustainable clothing, but it is somewhat differ-
ent from that of Moon et al. (2014). They did not find any significant correlation
between fashion involvement and Green product consumption. However, one has
to be cautious comparing the results of the two studies for several reasons: first,
because of the size of the samples (327 vs. 981 respondents) and second, because
of cultural differences between people in Asia and Central and East Europe (Polish
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 87

vs. South Korea consumers), and third, because of different approaches to con-
ceptualizing and operationalizing the scale for measuring the pro-fashion attitude
(a 3-item scale focused on the preference for original designer clothes, global or
European brands, and brand sensitivity versus a 10-item scale measuring involve-
ment in fashion).
Earlier studies into consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable
apparel focused on its determinants, but omitted its influence on actual purchases.
This study addressed this gap. Its results indicate that the willingness to pay a
higher price for sustainable apparel is positively correlated with the purchase of
sustainable apparel, which is consistent with the TPB intention–purchase relation
(Ajzen and Fishbein 1980).
The certification and labeling systems are thought to have a major role in driv-
ing the expansion of sustainable clothing markets (Dickson 2001; Hartlieb and
Jones 2009; Thøgersen 2000). Being one of the most effective and consumer-
friendly channels for communicating the properties of sustainable clothing
(Koszewska 2011a), the systems are not useful unless a consumer notices and rec-
ognizes a label or a symbol. In contrast with earlier studies that only dealt with
factors influencing consumer’s ability to recognize an eco-label, this study addi-
tionally sought to establish whether, and to what extent, the ability to recognize
an eco- and/or social label influences the willingness to pay more for sustainable
apparel and to purchase it. Its findings imply that the recognizability of ecological
and social labels is one of the most important predictors of purchasing sustainable
apparel (the standardized path coefficient value for this relationship is the highest
among all purchase predictors β = 0.40, p < 0.001). The findings are also empiri-
cal evidence that the recognizability of labels has a major effect on consumers’
willingness to pay more for sustainable apparel. All this confirms that labeling sys-
tems that are transparent and understandable to consumers play a key role in the
expansion of sustainable clothing markets.

24 Conclusions

The aim of the theoretical and experimental research presented in the chapter was
to expand the current knowledge of consumer behavior towards a specific group of
products, sustainable apparel.
Despite numerous publications on consumer behavior modeling, a comprehen-
sive model of consumer behavior with respect to sustainable clothing has not been
created yet. The model proposed in the chapter is an attempt at completing this
gap. The model reviews consumer behavior in the market for sustainable clothing
and demonstrates the complexity of the relations between the socially responsible
manufacturer of clothing and the consumer, as well as intermediate connections
and influences between the key elements of the model:
88 M. Koszewska

• The producer and sustainable production systems


• Sustainable clothing product
• Barriers to sustainable consumption
• The consumer and factors determining her behavior
As indicated by the model, the following instruments are crucial to implementing
sustainable production systems:
• Corporate social responsibility
• Eco/sustainable design as a means of improving product characteristics
• Life-cycle approach optimizing the production process
• Sustainable supply chain management
• Sustainability communication
• Slow fashion–slow production aiming to prolong the clothing’s life cycle and
maximize its utility and fuctionality, indicating slow consumption
• Eco-functional assessment
In the course of analysis, three causes of barriers to sustainable consumption
were identified:
• Sustainable clothing and its undesirable features such as higher price, limited
appeal, usefulness and design, and so on
• Ineffective communication: lack, complexity, and ambiguity of information, dis-
trust of the information source, and so on
• Consumer characteristics: lack of time, knowledge and awareness, carelessness,
limited receptiveness to communication, and so on
Complex theoretical models such as those proposed in the chapter are defined
in the literature as large-system models. They enable a comprehensive depiction
of the analyzed issue and help understand consumer behavior rather than predict-
ing it. However, the complexity of the relations they try to capture and explain
causes the empirical verification of these models to be very problematic (Bettman
and Jones 1972). For this reason, only selected elements of the theoretical model
proposed in this study, that is, consumers and the key determinants of their behav-
ior towards sustainable clothing, were verified empirically. The conclusions from
this part of research are the following.
1. Consumers’ attitudes towards apparel shopping have a significant and positive
influence on their willingness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing, the
recognizability of ecological and social labels, and, finally, on the actual pur-
chase of sustainable clothing. More specifically:
• They positively influence the pro-ecological and pro-social attitudes on con-
sumers’ willingness to pay a premium for sustainable apparel and the recog-
nizability of apparel labels.
• A pro-fashion attitude may exert a relatively strong influence on the willing-
ness to pay a premium for sustainable clothing (unlike pro-ecological and
pro-social attitudes) but does not significantly affect the recognizability of
ecological and social labels attached to it.
Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Sustainable Clothing … 89

2. The majority of earlier studies did not analyze the purchase of sustainable
apparel, but they focused on the intention to buy (which may not be realized).
Therefore, this research makes a unique contribution to the body of knowledge
on sustainable apparel consumption as it provides:
• Empirical evidence of the influence of consumers’ attitudes (pro-fashion,
pro-ecological, and pro-social) towards apparel shopping, of their willing-
ness to pay a premium, and of the recognizability of apparel labels on actual
purchases of sustainable apparel.
• Additional evidence pointing to a significant role of the recognizability of
ecological and social labels in purchasing sustainable apparel. This recogniz-
ability not only directly contributes to the decision to buy a sustainable prod-
uct, but also makes the consumer more willing to pay a premium for it.
The findings of this study are likely to be useful for both marketers and public
policy makers wishing to promote a wider use of sustainable apparel and foster the
expansion of markets for sustainable products. They show that different shopping
attitudes can motivate consumers to buy sustainable apparel. Consumers with pro-
ecological and pro-social attitudes, but also those with a pro-fashion attitude, may
appreciate the added value of sustainable clothing and buy it, even if they have
to pay a premium. However, different categories of consumers would do that for
different reasons. Companies should be aware of the different characteristics of
consumers when implementing long-term CSR strategies, as well as making mar-
keting decisions on a current basis.
This research also highlights the critical role of the recognizability of ecologi-
cal and social labels in purchasing sustainable clothing. Consumers must have all
necessary data to make informed decisions. Clothing companies should therefore
work on increasing their knowledge and awareness of products and labels used,
and make their CSR communication systems more transparent and friendly to
consumers.

25 Limitation and Future Research

The study has some limitations that may affect the general applicability of its
findings. Most of all, the sample used consists of Polish consumers, so research-
ers should be cautious in generalizing the findings of this study to other countries,
although comparing them with the results obtained for countries would be a very
interesting exercise (e.g., with new consumer countries with slowly developing
ethical consumer movements such as Poland and long-rich countries leading in
ecological and ethical consumer movements). Another limitation is that the scales
used for measuring the construct of pro-social attitude have two items instead of
the recommended three and that the empirical verification involved a limited num-
ber of variables. Future research should address more factors that are indicated as
having significant influence on the purchase of sustainable clothing.
90 M. Koszewska

This research focused on consumer behavior, but future investigations should


also consider the behavior of the producers of sustainable clothing and the factors
influencing it. The theoretical model that only addresses barriers to consumption
should be extended in the future to account for barriers to sustainable production.
Acknowledgements The research was partially supported by Scientific grant awarded by the
Rector of the Lodz University of Technology. I would like to thank Janusz Kwitecki for his work
on the translation and Agnieszka Pleśniak from the Warsaw School of Economics for providing
insight and expertise in the field of structural equation modeling. I would also like to express my
gratitude to Prof. Zofia Wysokińska and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an
earlier version of the manuscript which helped me improve the final version of the chapter

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The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting
of Waste Wool

Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Erica Meier and Tina Waliczek

Abstract Although wool remains a popular fiber due to its durability, comfort,
and ease of quality production, increasing the sustainability of wool fashion prod-
ucts requires attention to all portions of the wool life cycle, including produc-
tion of sheep to provide the wool. Managing sheep in many regions of the globe
results in excess or waste wool that is not suitable for the textile or fashion supply
chain. One way to increase the economic, environmental, and social sustainabil-
ity of wool production is to compost the waste wool into soil amendments and
landscaping aids that can provide producers with additional income, provide horti-
culturalists with an environmentally friendly alternative to other soil amendments,
and provide communities that depend on sheep a pride in the value of all parts of
the life cycle. This chapter outlines an experimental study that was conducted to
determine the proper proportions of sheep waste products to other biomass that
would be needed in a large-scale composting operation in order to produce a high-
quality compost valuable to the horticulture and agriculture industries. The results
of an experimental trial with waste wool determined that a 25 % waste wool, 50 %
grass clipping, and 25 % horse stall waste mixture provided the optimal results for
composting in a large-scale manner. Separation of compacted wool, if transported
in wrapped bundles, proved essential for allowing sufficient decomposition of the
waste wool. The composting produced was tested and determined to be of accept-
able quality.

G. Hustvedt (*)
School of Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas State University,
601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
E. Meier · T. Waliczek
Department of Agriculture, Texas State University,
601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
T. Waliczek
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 95


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_4
96 G. Hustvedt et al.

Keywords Waste management · Life cycle · Biomass · Wool · Sheep ·


Composting

1 Introduction

As a natural fiber (i.e., a fiber that occurs naturally in the form of a usable fiber
for textile production), wool has played a role in clothing for human beings since
before fashion or the fashion industry existed. Ninety percent (90 %) of all wool
production occurs in under 20 countries, however, even within these countries, the
millions of small holdings and family operations vastly outnumber the 200,000
commercial operations and the operations in the countries that produce the
remaining 10 % are not large enough to warrant representation in the international
wool organizations (i.e., Ireland or the Faroe Islands; IWTO 2015). Although
sheep and wool production has become industrialized in many regions of the
world, just as in all other parts of agricultural production, the raising of sheep
and the harvesting of wool remains an important part of the social, economic, and
environmental systems in many cultures.
In the 1940s, the United States was the world’s fifth largest wool-producing
nation (National Research Council 2008), and the state of Texas is the United
States’ leading wool producer, with the main sheep production areas of Texas in
the Edwards Plateau in the west of Texas. Wool production in Texas is part of a
cyclical market system that includes the marketing of fiber and meat. When con-
sumer demand drives the price of meat high enough to surpass the value of the
fiber, producers will slaughter their fiber stock for meat, reducing the supply of
fiber (Jones 2004). The price of wool, however, depends mainly on orders from
apparel merchandisers and in the past decade fashion is cycling more quickly
than the sheep industry can respond to the changes in demand. Finding alterative
outlets for fiber that are more dependable than consumer interest in wool apparel
could provide base support for Texas wool prices.
Composting is the natural breaking down of carbon- and nitrogen-containing
materials such as recycled plant parts, food scraps, paper, animal fodder, and wood
chips. The end product, compost, becomes a beneficial soil amendment because
it contains a full spectrum of essential plant nutrients that improve soil productiv-
ity (Emerson 2003). Wool has historically been used in garden beds and anecdotal
records from gardeners from the 1940s suggest beneficial effects for plants. Wool
is a natural source of nitrogen and potassium and acidifies the soil, improving the
pH for the growth of many garden and greenhouse crops (Poston 2006). In central
Texas, a garden soil amendment that would hold moisture and lower the pH of the
highly alkaline native soils has a potentially high market value.
This chapter outlines an experimental study that was conducted to determine
the proper proportions of sheep waste products to other biomass that would be
needed in a large-scale composting operation in order to produce a high-quality
compost valuable to the horticulture and agriculture industries. The first portion
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool 97

of this chapter is a literature review that discusses the source of waste from wool
production, with a specific focus on waste fibers. Next, the literature review exam-
ines previous research on composting in general and the composting of waste
wool in particular. The next portion of the chapter lays out how the waste wool
was processed into several types of compost, with the goal of determining the best
methods for dependably producing quality compost. Finally, the results of the
monitoring during the compost process as well as the results of quality analysis
on the finished product are laid out and discussed. This topic is important because
the sustainability of wool production, especially from sheep production over large
regions such as West Texas, requires attention to each stage of the life cycle. The
disposal of wool that is not suitable and/or not required by the textile industry
is one aspect of this life cycle and the value of this study is that it describes the
formulation of the composting technique in a way that it can be used by those
seeking to service larger fiber production systems with large-scale composting
operations.

2 Literature Review

Fiber-producing animals such as sheep, goats, and camelids (llamas and alpacas)
are browsers that can contribute to the health of an organically or sustainably man-
aged pasture. By eating the plants that do not appeal to cattle, browsers make pas-
tures easier to manage (Animut and Goetsch 2008). Parasite control for pastured
livestock can also be improved if different species are alternated through pastures,
presenting less desirable hosts for species-specific worms (Hermansen 2003). The
incorporation of fiber-producing animals would enhance the overall system of sus-
tainable livestock production as well by providing an additional source of income
for small producers if they are able to produce fiber. Sometimes, however, the fiber
produced by sheep is not of high enough quality to be suitable for use in woven or
knitted textiles.
Breeds of sheep called hair sheep are becoming popular in Texas because hair
sheep are covered with hair instead of wool, diverting nutrients from the produc-
tion of a dense woolly fleece to better meat production (Wildeus 1997). Ranchers
have shifted their production of sheep towards hair sheep in part because of
­unstable wool prices compared to the relative stability of meat prices. Because
wool-producing sheep are often run in pasture alongside hair sheep, some Texas
sheep producers raise sheep that are crossbred wool and hair sheep that grow ran-
dom patches of wool. Wool shorn from these sheep for their comfort and health
is mixed with coarse hair and is not considered high quality but rather considered
“waste,” and is, therefore, readily available and relatively inexpensive. In other
parts of the world, where sheep are raised primarily for meat (e.g., Faroe Islands),
the quality of the wool is not necessarily of primary importance and selective
breeding, where it occurs, would focus on the live weight at slaughter rather than
fleece quality. This means that any solution that provided sustainable disposal of
98 G. Hustvedt et al.

waste wool, such as large-scale composting, would be suitable not just for West
Texas, but also for other regions.
In addition to the production of “waste” wool from crossbred or “meat” sheep,
the fleece cut from certain areas of the wool-producing sheep’s body, including
the hind and underside areas, is typically stained and matted with waste from def-
ecation or from soil and vegetation. This wool, called “tags,” is also often con-
taminated with weed seeds. Like waste wool, tags are also considered of poorer
quality and sold at lower prices than wool shorn from other areas of the sheep’s
body. One benefit of composting waste wool or tags would be the removal of weed
seeds that currently could prevent direct use of the wool as mulch. As a waste-
management system within agriculture, composting is known to kill weed seeds
if temperatures are high enough and maintained for long periods of time. For ger-
mination to be inhibited on weed seeds of sorghum, bindweed, pigweed, johnson-
grass, and kochia, temperatures of 120–180 °F for 3–7 days on average must be
obtained to kill the seeds (Wiese et al. 1998). Another source of waste in the sheep
industry comes from wool scouring, a cleaning process (Phillips 1936). Raw wool
is approximately 50 % grease by weight. Removing this grease, called lanolin,
produces large quantities of sludge, which then poses a waste disposal problem
for the scouring facilities. This sludge is not toxic (unless the soil used to graze
sheep contains compounds such as arsenic), however, it becomes rancid quickly
and must be properly disposed of, adding to the cost of wool production.
Recent research found that wool-incorporated plant potting improves the water-
holding capacity of the soil and acts as a slow-release fertilizer (Górecki and
Górecki 2010). In a study conducted in the United Kingdom, research found that
utilizing wool scouring sludge waste within composting “produced a safe, useful,
and marketable product” (Pearson et al. 2004, p. 9). Zheljazkov (2005) found a
surplus of wool in storage in Atlantic Canada from previous harvests due to the
lack of demand for wool, and therefore, no longer a commercially viable product.
As a result, an alternative use for this protein-rich product and its by-products was
needed. Zheljazkov (2005) demonstrated that wool and wool wastes decomposed
slowly under controlled conditions and acted as a slow-release fertilizer, releasing
N, P, K, and S into the soil. Wool is also hygroscopic, meaning that it readily takes
up and retains moisture (Mirriam-Webster 1995), where wool generally retains a
15–20 % moisture content.
The literature also suggests that wool-based composts acidify soils, which is
a desirable effect for soils that are predominantly alkaline (Zheljazkov et al.
2009). The drought-affected dry alkaline soils of central Texas would be appro-
priate for observing and examining the nutrient-rich, water-holding, acidifying
wool-based compost as a soil amendment. Furthermore, the quality of c­ omposts
depends primarily on the basic raw materials composted, meaning if the basic
raw materials are of high quality then ultimately the resulting compost is poised
to be of high quality. Compost in general has already been identified as having
beneficial effects on soil properties, including increased soil aggregation, soil aer-
ation and permeability, erosion control, water-holding capacity, and an e­ ffective
biological weed control agent, as well as decreased plant pathogens and diseases.
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool 99

The incorporation of wool as a compost feedstock has the potential to create com-
post of high quality while effectively utilizing unwanted wool, as well as produc-
ing a product valuable to the horticultural and agricultural industries. Previous
studies such as Zoccola et al. (2014), although explaining the importance of
composting to handling the issue of waste wool, do not provide enough detail on
the appropriate techniques and formulation to facilitate adoption of large-scale
composting as a method. The goal of this chapter, therefore, is to provide clear
comprehensive information on a method that can be used for the large-scale com-
posting of waste wool into a value-added soil amendment.

3 Method

3.1 Compost Site

Compost piles were constructed at the Bobcat Blend composting site at the
Mueller Farm owned by Texas State University. Texas State University Muller
Farm was previously utilized as an alternative grazing source for the livestock kept
at Texas State University Freeman Ranch and is approximately 125 acres. Of the
5 acres allocated for the compost site, 2.285 acres were transformed into a catch-
ment pond that could withstand a 25-year 24-h flood event. The remaining 2.715
acres were cleared and graded so that any water run-off from the compost piles
would be captured by the catchment pond. Fences and gates were also installed to
keep out any livestock and to contain the feedstocks utilized for composting.

3.2 Wool Waste

During the fall of 2010, four bundles of wool waste and tags were obtained from
sheep producers in the San Angelo, Texas area. The wool waste and tags came
in highly compacted bundles that were roughly one meter wide, one and a half
meters in length, and one meter in height, and each bundle weighed approximately
227 kg. Wool waste is any wool not deemed marketable by those conducting
shearing and is of variable quality. Tags are parts of the wool fleece cut from cer-
tain areas of the sheep’s body that include the underside and hind areas, which are
usually stained from vegetation, soil, or defecation as well as contaminated with
weed seeds and are considered of poorer quality. However, a benefit of compost-
ing wool tags and waste would be the elimination of any weed seeds due to the
high temperatures of the composting process. This lower quality wool is consid-
ered a waste product by the wool industry but a potential nitrogen feedstock within
a compost operation, producing a wooly compost that is a high-quality compost
valuable to both the agriculture and horticulture industries.
100 G. Hustvedt et al.

Table 1  Compost pile composition by weight and source


Pile Wool Carbon Other Nitrogen
% by Volume 25 % 50 % 25 %
kilos kilos kilos
A 227 1742—woodchips 1087—horse stall waste (manure/
sawdust)
B 227 1742—woodchips 653—water hyacinth (Eichhornia
crassipes)
C 227 1742—woodchips 1361—food waste
D 227 1687—dried grass 1087—horse stall waste (manure/
clippings sawdust)

3.3 Compost Mixtures

In order to create compost piles of ideal conditions for composting and to achieve
high enough temperatures to kill weed seeds as well as pathogens, various percent-
ages of other compost feedstocks were utilized and altered as needed. Wiese and
colleagues (1998) reported that the composting process has been known to reach
high temperatures for long periods of time, where “several days of pile temperatures
above 54.4 °C (130.0 °F) … [destroys] pathogens and weed seeds” (Dougherty 1999,
p. 47). Previous studies on the use of wool waste in the composting process sug-
gested a recipe of 39 % wool waste (nitrogen feedstock) and 61 % woodchips (car-
bon feedstock) (Das et al. 1997). This recipe was manipulated for this study to create
an essentially 50/50 mixture of carbon and nitrogen sources with the wool being bal-
anced by other nitrogen feedstock sources to build piles that were 25 % wool, 50 %
woodchips, and 25 % various other nitrogen feedstock sources (see Table 1).
The first pile (Pile A) contained by volume 25 % wool waste, 25 % horse stall
waste (approximately 80 % manure and 10 % sawdust), and 50 % woodchips.
The mixture was monitored and turned every 5–7 days. Previous experience at
the facility suggested that composting should have been completed within 30 days
(Rynk 1992). However, the wool waste and tags were highly compacted within all
four bundles and when this first bundle was incorporated into Pile A, separation of
these two types of material was minimal. For this reason, larger clumps of wool
waste were present after 15 days and it became apparent that there was minimal
decomposition of these clumps. Consequently, the composting process took longer
than the customary 30 days, and the pile continued to be turned every 5–7 days
until the desired compost texture was obtained.
Consultation of the literature confirmed that wool waste in the fibrous form had
indeed previously been composted (Pearson et al. 2004). However, for the three
remaining compost piles that were constructed, separation of the wool waste and
tags seemed to be desirable in order to obtain a more fibrous, less clumped nature
for the wool material. Separation of the compacted wool waste and tags of each
bundle was done by hand, where the bundle was opened up and pulled apart man-
ually. The manual separation process took several hours for each bundle and was
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool 101

thus split up into 3–4-h sessions over the span of a couple of days. Ultimately,
the separation of each bundle took approximately 4 days and the separated wool
waste was stored in twelve 55-gallon bins until the entire bundle was processed
and ready for compost pile construction.
The hygroscopic nature of wool suggested that it would be important to con-
sider the moisture profile of the feedstock in order to allow for enough moisture
to be available for the decomposition process compared with the moisture likely
to be absorbed and held within the fibers. Additional consultation of the litera-
ture suggested that the inclusion of Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) within
composting formulas that included sheared wool waste would create a nutrient-
rich soil amendment (Poston 2006). Bracken ferns are a wetlands indicator plant
that require well-drained but high levels of moisture to grow, and consequently
have a relatively significant weight by water content (Rook 2008; United States
Department of Agriculture [USDA] n.d.). Likewise, research by Montoya and col-
leagues (2013) documented the success of composting the invasive aquatic species
water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) which, due to its weight by water content,
had the potential to substitute for the Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) as a
compost feedstock (Martin and Gershuny (eds.) 1992). By utilizing a high water
content feedstock, there was the anticipation for the need to add less water to the
pile in order to maintain the ideal moisture content. For that reason, the second
compost pile (Pile B) was constructed utilizing the invasive aquatic species water
hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), and the recipe consisted of 25 % wool waste,
25 % water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), and 50 % woodchips.
The Texas State University Bobcat Blend program has been collecting and
implementing cafeteria food waste as a nitrogen feedstock within other compost-
ing research projects. Although food waste is less likely to be available in the less
densely populated regions where sheep are typically run, it was decided to include
this type of high-quality nitrogen source. The third compost pile (Pile C) was con-
structed utilizing the cafeteria food waste and the recipe consisted of 25 % wool
waste, 25 % food waste, and 50 % woodchips.
Due to the slower decomposition rate of the wool material, the fourth compost
pile (Pile D) was constructed with consideration to texture as compared with the
other compost feedstocks. The larger particulate feedstocks such as woodchips
were observed to take longer to mix in with the wool material, and needed turning
of the pile over a 2–3-week period before materials were blended together enough
for decomposition to begin. The smaller particulate feedstocks were observed to
mix and blend in with the wool material easier, and likely initiated decomposi-
tion at an earlier stage compared to the larger particulates. In addition, previous
research has found that smaller particulate organic substances were more eas-
ily degradable and decomposition was more rapid, suggesting a higher degree
of microorganism activity in the smaller particulate mixtures (Hoppenheidt et al.
2000). Therefore, the fourth compost pile (Pile D) was constructed utilizing a
recipe that consisted of 25 % wool waste, 25 % horse stall waste (approximately
80 % manure and 10 % saw dust), and 50 % dried grass clippings. The smaller
particulate dried grass clippings, an acceptable carbon feedstock, were utilized
102 G. Hustvedt et al.

as a substitute for the bigger particulate woodchip feedstock, and the horse stall
waste was retained to allow comparison with Pile A which provides both a base-
line and easily reproduced composition.
Compost piles were constructed based on procedures described by Rynk and
colleagues (1992), and were approximately 1.5–1.8 m (5–6 ft) tall and 3.0–3.5 m
(10–12 ft) wide. This height and width allowed the piles to be insulated and gener-
ate enough heat to kill pathogens (including weed seeds and pathogens). Turning
was conducted weekly using a “bobcat” front-end loader to ensure that formerly
outer exposed surfaces were buried within the pile each time the pile was turned.
This allowed all weed seeds and pathogens the opportunity to be exposed to high
temperatures of the interior of the piles.

3.4 Compost Pile Monitoring

Each pile was maintained, monitored, and recorded consistent with the compost-
ing procedures practiced thus far and are described below. The temperature, pH,
moisture, and maturity of each pile was monitored, maintained, and recorded by
the researcher. A moisture level of 50–60 % is ideal (Rynk 1992). Moisture lev-
els were measured with a 60-in. Compost Moisture Meter (ReoTemp Instrument
Corporations, San Diego, California), as well as with a “feel” test. A feel test
involves taking a handful of compost and squeezing it to observe whether it feels
like a moist sponge; if the sample does not feel wet to the touch, then it is too
dry and if water can be squeezed out then it is too wet (Rynk 1992). However,
the wool waste required saturation in order to absorb water due to the wool’s ini-
tial tendency to repel water and then to absorb water, which required a signifi-
cant amount of extra watering in order to maintain a moisture level of 50–60 %.
Acidity and alkalinity (pH) were measured and recorded with a hand-held
Kelway® Soil pH sensor (Wyckoff, New Jersey). The temperatures of the com-
post piles were monitored and measured with the 60-in. Fast Response Compost
Thermometer. Oxygen levels were monitored and measured with an oxygen
monitor (Model No. 0-21, Demista Instruments, Arlington Heights, Illinois).
Temperature, oxygen, pH, moisture, and maturity levels of each pile was also
monitored, recorded, and maintained through the scheduled turning of the piles,
with the achieved goal that the piles remained aerobic for best microbial activity.

4 Results

4.1 Compost Pile Progression

Construction of Pile A utilized approximately 227 kg of wool waste material,


1087 kg of the horse manure mixture, and 1742 kg of woodchips. The average pH
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool 103

Table 2  Initial field results of compost pile measurements


Pile Composition Moisture (%) Temperature (°C) pH
A Wool, manure and woodchips 89.3 65 7.00
B Wool, water hyacinth and woodchips 65.0 54 7.00
C Wool, food waste and woodchips 53.0 63 7.00
D Wool, manure and grass clippings 71.0 67 6.90

of the Pile A was recorded at 7.01 which falls within the acceptable range of 5.0–
8.5 (Rynk 1992; see Table 2). The average moisture content of Pile A was 89.3 %
which is relatively high considering a moisture level of 50–60 % is ideal (Rynk
1992), and could potentially explain why the composting period of Pile A took
longer. However, even though the Pile A required a longer composting period, it
achieved a high average temperature of of 65.1 °C (149.1 °F), and, after 3 months,
the pile still maintained an average temperature of 61.9 °C (143.5 °F).
Construction of Pile B utilized approximately 227 kg of wool waste material,
653 kg of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) plants, and 1742 kg of wood-
chips. The average pH of Pile B was recorded at 7.03 which also falls within the
acceptable range of 5.0–8.5 (Rynk 1992). The average moisture content of Pile
B was 65.0 % which is only slightly higher when compared to the ideal moisture
content of 50–60 % (Rynk 1992). On the other hand, Pile B hardly reached high
enough temperatures for the composting process to be successful in killing weeds
and pathogens. It only achieved a high average temperature of 53.8 °C (128.8 °F).
However, the temperature was also constant, because after 3 months the pile still
maintained an average temperature of 52.4 °C (126.2 °F).
Construction of Pile C utilized approximately 227 kg of wool waste material,
1362 kg of food waste, and 1742 kg of woodchips. The average pH of the Pile
C was similarly recorded at 7.02 which also falls within the acceptable range of
5.0–8.5 (Rynk 1992). The average moisture content of Pile C was 52.6 % which
fell within the ideal moisture content of 50–60 % (Rynk 1992). Pile C achieved a
high average temperature of 63.1 °C (145.5 °F), where even after 3 months it still
maintained an average temperature of 55.8 °C (132.5 °F).
Construction of Pile D utilized approximately 227 kg of wool waste material,
1087 kg of horse manure mixture, and 1687 kg of grass clippings. The average
pH of the Pile D was slightly lower, recorded at 6.9 which still falls within the
acceptable range of 5.0–8.5 (Rynk 1992). The average moisture content of Pile
D was also slightly higher than the ideal moisture level of 50–60 %, maintaining
an average moisture content of 71.1 %. However, the composting period of Pile D
was significantly more rapid (potentially due to the smaller particulate mixture)
where it achieved a high average temperature of 66.8 °C (152.3 °F), where even
after 3 months the pile had still maintained an average temperature of 60.8 °C
(141.4 °F).
The compost piles were observed and examined by sight and touch, as well
as with moisture meter and thermometer readings to ensure that the compost was
104 G. Hustvedt et al.

decomposed and suitable for the curing stage. The curing stage occurs when there
is a sustained reduction in pile temperatures (10.0–40.6 °C/50.0–105.0 °F) (Rynk
1992). The compost was cured in the same piles where they were built. The curing
stage generally takes approximately 4–8 weeks (Rynk 1992). Ultimately, although
the decomposition of the wool waste material took longer than expected, the cur-
ing period was consistent with the conclusion made by Rynk (1992).
Because no additional feedstock was required to maintain decomposition,
a total of approximately 11,521 kg of waste materials were utilized as compost
feedstocks; thus approximately 11,521 kg of waste material was diverted from
landfills.

4.2 Compost Quality Test

After curing, the woolly compost was screened by hand, where hand screen-
ing as opposed to using a wire-mesh screener, allowed for the removal of larger
particles and any foreign materials without removing the woolliness of the com-
post. Samples of the compost were then sent for analysis to the Agricultural
Analytical Services Laboratory (Pennsylvania State University, University Park,
Pennsylvania), where they were subjected to the laboratory’s Compost Tests for
U.S. Compost Council’s certified Seal of Testing Approval Program. Because
piles of compost often vary from location to location within the pile, the sam-
ples collected for analysis must be representative of all material being analyzed
(Pennsylvania State University 2002). Therefore, the compost samples sent for
analysis were composite samples of material collected from several different loca-
tions and depths within the pile being sampled. From each compost pile, samples
were collected using recommendations from the Pennsylvania State University
Agricultural Analytical Laboratory, where samples were collected at five locations
and from three different depths from each location. Therefore, 15 samples were
collected from each pile, where a total of 60 samples were collected, combined,
and intermixed to create the composite samples sent for analysis. The Agricultural
Analytical Services Laboratory (Pennsylvania State University, University
Park, Pennsylvania) determine and designate quality standards for the industry
(Pennsylvania State University 2002). There, the Compost Tests for U.S. Compost
Council’s certified Seal of Testing Approval Program analyzed the compost and
test for pH, moisture content, soluble salt content, and nutrient content [bioassay
(maturity), total organic matter, total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca),
magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), potassium (K)], along with any trace metals
[arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), molybdenum
(Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn), as well as stability (respirome-
try), particle size, pathogens (fecal coliform, Coliform bacillus and/or salmonella,
Salmonella spp.), and weed seed(s) viability (Pennsylvania State University 2002;
United States Composting Council 2010; see Table 3).
The Feasibility of Large-Scale Composting of Waste Wool 105

Table 3  Laboratory tests of 60 combined samples (15 from each pile)


Analyte Results (as is) range Results (dry weight) range Typical range
PH 7.2–7.5 – 5–8.5
Soluble salts 2.24–2.51 mmhos/cm – 1–10 mmhos
Solids 59.4–62.9 % – 50–60 %
Moisture 37.1–40.6 % – 40–50 %
Organic matter 15.6–18.6 % 25.2–31.3 % 30–70 % (dry
weight)
50–60 % ideal
Total nitrogen 0.006 0.9–1.1 % <1–5 % (dry weight)
Organic nitrogen 0.60 % 0.9–1.1 % <1–5 % (dry weight)
Ammonium N 0.0041–0.0072 % 0.0068–0.114 % <1–5 % (dry weight)
Carbon 7.9–8.9 % 12.7–15.0 % Varies
CN ratio 13.80–14.10 13.80–14.10 Varies (<20 ideal)
Phosphorus 0.24–0.31 % 0.39–0.52 % Varies
Potassium 0.35–0.38 % 0.59–0.60 % Varies
Calcium 5.05–5.36 % 8.45–8.52 % Varies
Magnesium 0.20–0.22 % 0.32–0.34 % Varies
Particle size 85.94–92.54 % – –

4.3 Implications of Results

The results of this testing indicate that, on average, the compost produced from
waste wool was suitable for use in horticulture and agriculture. The percentage of
organic matter was at the low end of the acceptable range and 20 % below the
ideal range. This suggests that wool waste, in and of itself, is likely not a suffi-
cient source of nitrogen. Future exploration of compost pile formulation should
decrease the percentage of wool waste in comparison to other nitrogen sources
(e.g., other livestock manure).
The percentage of solids was on the high end of the typical range and the
moisture was on the low end of the typical range. The high percentage of solids
is likely due to the clumped nature of the waste wool bundles and may possible
be remedied if the waste and tags are separated at the shearing house and if the
bundles are not so highly compacted. The co-mingling and compaction may be
desirable if the intended disposal is a landfill that accepts waste by weight and
decreasing the volume allows for greater efficiency during transport. However, if
the intended disposal is large-scale composting, a waste operator should be moti-
vated to reward production of less compacted wool waste. Future research should
examine methods of mechanically separating compacted waste wool bundles. In
terms of the other results, the low moisture content is less than ideal, but is most
likely due to the drought conditions that were prevalent during the study and/or
the drying out of the sample during shipping. This issue would be avoided in a
106 G. Hustvedt et al.

commercial operation if the compost were sold as soon as the desired level of
decomposition was reached or compost was remoistened periodically by rains or
irrigation.
Overall, the results of this study suggest that the composition of feedstocks
used in Pile D would provide the best results for large-scale composting of waste
wool in terms of ease of production. In regions where fresh grass clippings are
not easily obtained, leaf mold would provide a suitable substitute in terms of the
moisture content and particulate size. The separation of compacted waste wool
into smaller, more fibrous bundles is desirable where non-compacted waste wool
proves infeasible to transport to the composting site.

5 Conclusion

The management of low quality or fecal-contaminated wool may not strike some
as a significant question for the fashion industry, but it targets the root of the value
of life-cycle analysis. If sustainability includes the economic well-being of par-
ticipants in the chain of value, should not the efforts to improve economic viability
of multi-species ranching in regions where the use of browsers along with grazers
creates improvements in the soil health and plant biodiversity? Ranchers are not
in the position of suggesting that the health and care of animals should be subject
to the whims of the fashion consumer; however, without consistent markets for
animal fibers, sheep ranchers are put in the awkward position of disposing of wool
not desired by the market in the hopes of being ready to provide wool when it is
required by the fashion industry. The cultural aspect of sustainability also comes
into play, given that in many parts of the world, sheep are not being produced
industrially, but are part of biodiverse, family-run operations where respect for the
animal can be increased if unmarketable wool is not simply burned but incorpo-
rated into the other aspects of the farm ecosystem. The small experiment outlined
in this chapter was an attempt to understand the viability of using waste wool for
nonfashion purposes in order to reduce the environmental, economic, and cultural
weight of caring for sheep when they are not “in style”.

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Do as You Would Be Done by:
The Importance of Animal Welfare
in the Global Beauty Care Industry

Nadine Hennigs, Evmorfia Karampournioti and Klaus-Peter Wiedmann

Abstract Nowadays, the concept of sustainability is discussed in almost every


product category. In this context, companies commit themselves to advancing
good social, environmental, and animal-welfare practices in their business opera-
tions, including sustainable sourcing practices. Nevertheless, even if many com-
panies in the global beauty care industry have embraced such claims, common
practices such as water pollution, the use of pesticides in the production of fib-
ers, poor labor conditions, and animal testing are omnipresent. According to the
European Commission, 11.5 million animals were used in the European Union
for experimental or scientific purposes in 2011. Worldwide this figure rises to
115 million animals annually (Four Paws International 2013). In the rising ten-
sion between “greenwashing” and the use of ethical/environmental commitments
that are nothing more than “sheer lip service,” the question arises of the role of
the consumers with regard to sustainable practices in the cosmetics industry. Are
consumers increasingly conscious of the adverse effects of ethical and environ-
mental imbalances? And what effect does this knowledge have on their buying
behavior? On the divergent poles of hypocrisy and true commitment, to advance
current understanding of sustainability and related links to consumer perception
and actual buying behavior related to ethical issues, the aim of this chapter is to
provide a comprehensive framework of animal welfare in the personal care indus-
try. Based on existing theoretical and empirical insights it becomes evident that
psychological determinants, such as personality traits, empathy, ethical obligation,
and self-identity, as well as context-related determinants in terms of one’s ethi-
cal value perception of products, the trade-off between ethical and conventional
products, and an individual’s involvement, represent antecedents of ethical con-
sumer behavior, which can be expressed through the avoidance of specific prod-
ucts and brands and/or consumer boycott and buycott towards cosmetics using

N. Hennigs (*) · E. Karampournioti · K.-P. Wiedmann


Institute of Marketing and Management, Leibniz University of Hannover,
Koenigsworther Platz 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 109


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_5
110 N. Hennigs et al.

animal-tested ingredients. Our concept provides a useful instrument for both aca-
demics and managers as a basis to create and market successfully cosmetics that
represent ethical and environmental excellence.

Keywords Animal welfare · Ethical and environmental practices · Global


beauty care industry

1 Introduction

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are
treated.
Mahatma Gandhi

Driven by rising consumer incomes, changing lifestyles, and a higher demand


for luxury products, especially cosmetics, the global beauty care industry is
forecast to reach an estimated $265 billion in 2017 (Lucintel 2012). Due to an
increased consumer awareness concerning natural and organic products in com-
bination with rising concerns for health safety, the global demand for organic
personal care products—the fastest growing segment of the global personal care
industry—was noted at $8.4 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $15.7 billion
by 2020 (Transparency Market Research 2015). Apart from consumer’s aware-
ness about harmful substances, consumers show rising concerns for animal test-
ing of ingredients and/or finished products. As a consequence, as outlined above,
the personal care industry has started to offer organic products without the use of
pesticides, synthetic chemicals, and animal testing. However, even if companies
commit themselves to advancing good social, environmental, and animal-welfare
practices in their business operations, still water pollution, the use of pesticides in
the production of fibers, poor labor conditions, and animal testing are omnipresent.
In the rising tension between “greenwashing” and the use of ethical or environ-
mental commitments that are nothing more than “sheer lip service,” the question
arises of the role of consumers with regard to sustainable practices in the cosmet-
ics industry. Are consumers increasingly conscious of the adverse effects of ethical
and environmental imbalances in this market? And what effect does this knowl-
edge have on their buying behavior? On the divergent poles of hypocrisy and true
commitment, to advance current understanding of sustainability and related links
to consumer perception and actual buying behavior related to ethical issues, the
aim of our chapter is to provide a comprehensive framework of animal welfare
in the global beauty care industry. To reach this objective, the chapter is struc-
tured as follows: first, the theoretical background is provided in the next section,
which addresses ethical and environmental consumerism in general and ethical
issues in the global beauty care industry in particular. Based on these specifica-
tions, a conceptual model of antecedents and outcomes of ethical consumption is
derived. Particularly, the framework considers a combination of personality factors
Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare … 111

and context-related factors as antecedents of brand avoidance and consumer


boycott/buycott behavior. Finally, the chapter closes with a discussion of pos-
sible future research approaches and managerial implications as opportunities to
develop appropriate marketing strategies and adequately respond to their custom-
ers’ needs and values. In sum, our concept provides a useful instrument for both
academics and managers as a basis to create and market successfully personal care
goods that represent ethical and environmental excellence.

2 Theoretical Background

2.1 Ethical and Environmental Consumerism

During the last decades, ethical and environmental consumerism has moved from
a niche market to a mainstream phenomenon in contemporary consumer culture
(Doane 2001; Low and Davenport 2007). The twenty-first century is perceived to
be a time of the emancipation of the ethical consumer (e.g., Nicholls 2002), who is
concerned about a broad spectrum of issues ranging from the environment and ani-
mal welfare to societal concerns, including human rights (Mintel 1994). Strongly
related to consumer awareness of conditions in developing countries and the
fact that his or her own purchases are connected to social issues (De Pelsmacker
and Janssens 2007), the ethical buyer is “shopping for a better world” (Low and
Davenport 2007, p. 336) and demands that products are not only friendly to the
environment but also to the people who produce them (Rosenbaum 1993). In this
context, ethical consumption is related to the purchase of products that concern
a certain ethical issue (e.g., human rights, labor conditions, animal well-being,
or the environment), the boycott of companies involved in unethical practices,
or post-consumption behavior, such as recycling (Jackson 2006; Newholm and
Shaw 2007). Consequently, marketing managers in all industries have realized the
importance of customer ethics and values and how meeting ethical demands is crit-
ical if they wish to gain a competitive advantage (Browne et al. 2000).

2.2 Ethical Issues in the Global Beauty Care Industry

Environmental concern, consumer health orientation, and lifestyle changes have


led to a rising demand for green cosmetics and beauty care products without
animal testing and harmful substances such as pesticides and synthetic chemi-
cals (Cervellon et al. 2010; Diamantopoulos et al. 2003; Manaktola and Jauhari
2007; Paladino 2006; Papadopoulos et al. 2009; Peter and Olson 2009; Prothero
and McDonagh 1992; Pudaruth et al. 2015; Tsakiridou et al. 2008; Zanoli and
Naspetti 2002). Prominent brands such as Aveda, Bare Escentuals, Burt’s Bees,
Kiehl’s, Origins, and The Body Shop have incorporated the emergence of ethical
112 N. Hennigs et al.

and environmental consumerism in their business activities by ensuring high envi-


ronmental standards with emphasis on natural and organic ingredients and animal
welfare.
With special focus on animal testing, public resistance to the use of animal
studies in the development of cosmetics created the market for products labeled as
“animal-free cosmetics” and “non-animal-tested” (see Fig. 1).
Due to the fact that consumers perceived animal tests to be no longer legiti-
mate and referring to a resulting testing and marketing ban in the European Union,
the cosmetics industry has to find suitable replacements for animals in cosmetic
testing. In particular, cosmetic testing on animals refers to the test of finished
products, individual ingredients, and the combination of ingredients on animals.
However, even if some cosmetic companies use the claim “not tested on animals”,
this can be misleading: an ingredient that was once tested and proved to be not
harmful can be included in a new product without further tests. Therefore, “non-
animal tested” often means “previously animal tested,” a fact most consumers are
unable to realize (McNeal 2005).

Fig. 1  The rise of cruelty-free cosmetics. (Sources http://www.nzavs.org.nz/nz-passes-cosmetics-


animal-testing-ban; http://mumbrella.com.au/animal-rights-group-behind-banned-graphic-violence-
ad-parts-ways-with-agency-work-deemed-not-shocking-enough-107638; http://action.peta.org.uk/
ea-action/action?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=15529; http://www.picturequotes.com/thank-you-
eu-for-banning-cruel-cosmetics-quote-25128; http://www.thebodyshop.com/values/EU_Against_
Animal_Testing.aspx; http://www.leapingbunny.org/downloads; http://www.peta.org/living/beauty/
beauty-without-bunnies/; http://www.novenamaternity.com/certifications/; http://www.tierschutzbund.
de/information/hintergrund/tierversuche/kosmetik.html)
Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare … 113

In fact, even though testing cosmetics on animals is banned in many countries,


it is still omnipresent in the personal care industry. In China, animal testing is
mandatory; in the United States, animal testing for cosmetics products or ingredi-
ents is not required, but “animal testing by manufacturers seeking to market new
products is often necessary to establish product safety” (FDA 2000). Cosmetic
products that have not been adequately tested for safety must have a warning state-
ment on the front label “WARNING—The safety of this product has not been
determined” (FDA 2000). Even though experiments on animals are cast in a nega-
tive light (see Fig. 2) and governmental regulations try to reduce their implementa-
tion, it is estimated that approximately 115 million animals are used for laboratory
experiments worldwide (HIS 2012). However, there is criticism that data are not
fully covered. In the United States, for example, nearly 90 % of used animals are
not covered by official statistics so that the number of 834,453 reported cases for
2014 (USDA 2015) may be far higher than estimated (HIS 2012).

Fig. 2  Campaigns against animal testing. (Sources http://mumbrella.com.au/animal-rights-


group-behind-banned-graphic-violence-ad-parts-ways-with-agency-work-deemed-not-shocking-
enough-107638; http://www.peta2.com/heroes/noah-cyrus-dissection-kills/; https://www.pinter
est.com/pin/224617100138736978/; http://de.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34454904;
http://blog.peta.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PETA.pdf; http://www.sanjeev.net/printads/
l/lavera-the-price-of-beauty-695.html; http://www.peta.org/features/dave-navarro-cruelty-free/)
114 N. Hennigs et al.

3 Conceptual Model

Ethical blunders of companies such as the acceptance and conducting of experi-


ments on animals result in significant impacts on consumer behavior. Therefore,
and against the backdrop of the challenges as discussed above, companies need
to gain an understanding of underlying determinants and possible outcomes of
ethical consumption. Because components of consumption behavior are not exclu-
sively limited to the purchase or consumption of specific products or brands but
are focusing on resistant or “against consumption” behavior as well (Lee et al.
2009; Varman and Belk 2009), the present work focuses on behavioral outcomes
such as boycott/buycott and brand avoidance.
To reach this objective, psychological consumer traits as well as context-related
issues are summarized within a shared model. For a structured and comprehensive
overview, the conceptual framework in Fig. 3 considers a combination of person-
ality factors (i.e., personality traits, empathy, ethical obligation, and self-identity)
and context-related factors (i.e., ethical value perception, involvement, and the
trade-off between ethical and conventional products) as antecedent’s of brand
avoidance and consumer boycott and buycott towards cosmetics using animal-
tested ingredients.

Fig. 3  Conceptual model


Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare … 115

3.1 Personality Factors

• Personality Traits: In an attempt to explain consumer behavior in general and


ethical consumption in particular, consumers’ personality traits are often related
to purchases or nonpurchases of specific products or brands. Therefore, con-
suming in a particular manner is largely determined by personality character-
istics and ethical decision making grounded on personal characteristics of
individuals (Grubb and Grathwohl 1967, Hunt and Vitell 1986, 1992; Ferrell
and Gresham 1985). In spite of the fact that “there appears to be as many defini-
tions of personality as there are authors” (Pervin 1990, p. 3), the term is sub-
ject to several definitions and understandings of its meaning. Based on the
assumption of a temporal stability (Peck and Whitlow 1975), personality rep-
resents “generalized patterns of response or modes of coping with the world
…” (Kassarjian 1971, p. 409). In contrast, Triandis (2001) conceptualized per-
sonality as “a configuration of cognitions, emotions, and habits activated when
situations stimulate their expression” (p. 908) and reveals that one’s personality
undergoes continuous changes and is to a high degree influenced by the external
environment.
Some studies have examined the role of personality traits for attitudes towards
animal testing in general. Broida et al. (1993) reveal that extraverted and con-
servative personality traits are positively correlated with animal testing.
Furthermore, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness, belonging to the big
five personality traits, are consistently and logically related to animal welfare
and have a strong predictive power for negative attitudes towards animal test-
ing (Furnham et al. 2003). Additionally, Goldsmith et al. (2006) focused on ani-
mal-tested cosmetics and discovered that higher levels of anticonformity were
associated with opposition to animal testing as well. Hence, we propose that the
receiveability of ethical dilemmas, such as practices against animal welfare, and
the willingness of individuals to act against them, largely depends on personal-
ity factors (Vitell and Muncy 1992; Munch et al. 1991).
• Empathy: At its core, empathy refers “in various ways to the experiencing of
another’s affective or psychological state and has both affective and cognitive
components” (Zahn-Waxler and Radke-Yarrow 1990, p. 108). Although the
cognitive component “entails understanding or identifying with another indi-
vidual’s response” (McPhedran 2009, p. 1) and is therefore sometimes labeled
as “perspective taking,” the affective component puts emphasis on an individ-
ual’s emotional response “that is congruent with and stems from the apprehen-
sion of another’s emotional state or condition” (Zahn-Waxler and Radke-Yarrow
1990, p. 108) and involves sharing (empathic concern) as well as reacting to
(personal distress) emotional experiences (Davis 1980; McPhedran 2009; Signal
and Taylor 2007; Eisenberg and Strayer 1987). The ability to empathize is not
limited to human-to-human interactions but comprises those to animals as well
(Apostol et al. 2013). Due to the reason that individuals capable of empathy are
able to experience the consequences of their actions on others, it is more likely
116 N. Hennigs et al.

that harmful behaviour will be avoided (McPhedran 2009) and that consumption
behavior will be adjusted to solve ethical issues regarding the execution of ani-
mal experiments for the production of cosmetics.
• Ethical Obligation: A sense of ethical or moral obligation constitutes a driver
for decision making in the context of ethical consumerism (Shaw and Shiu
2002) and represents “an individual’s ethical rules, which reflect their personal
beliefs about right or wrong” (Shaw et al. 2000, p. 882). Increasing numbers
of consumers intend “to make certain consumption choices due to personal
and moral beliefs” (Crane and Matten 2004, p. 341). Considering ethical and
moral issues when choosing products and services is “used to cover matters
of conscience such as animal welfare” (Cowe and Williams 2000, p. 4) and
because for some consumers “it is the right thing to do” (Carrigan et al. 2004,
p. 402). Thus, it is expected that consumers who perceive the obligation to show
moral concern for animals may avoid products/cosmetics with animal-tested
ingredients.
• Self-Identity: Consumerism is not only a way to satisfy physiological needs,
because consumers try to express themselves and to define their identities
through the use or the avoidance of specific products and brands (Carrigan
et al. 2004; Aaker 1999; Solomon 1983; Hogg et al. 2000). Self-identity refers
to “relatively enduring characteristics that people ascribe to themselves,” and
is synonymously used with self-concept or self-perception (Sparks and Guthrie
1998, p. 1396; Hustvedt and Dickson 2009). Despite an individual’s real self,
imaginary selves exist, often classified in desired (positive) and undesired (neg-
ative) selves (Ogilvie 1987; Markus and Nurius 1986). To avoid identification
with the undesired self, consumers tend to avoid specific products or services
and the representation of one’s desired self-concept can be promoted through
consumption (Banister and Hogg 2004; Wright et al. 1992; Freitas et al. 1997;
Karanika and Hogg 2010). Hence, if ethical issues, as represented by animal
welfare concerns, have become an important part of an individual’s self-iden-
tity, consumption choices and antichoices will be adjusted based on them (Shaw
et al. 2000).

3.2 Context-Related Factors

• Product Involvement: Involvement can be seen as “a person’s perceived


relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values, and interests”
(Zaichkowsky 1985, p. 342) and is understood as an internal “motivational
state” (Mittal 1989) or unobservable “state of motivation” (Rothschild 1984)
that indicates the intensity of arousal or interest. Further research demonstrated
that this construct has strong predictive power for consumers’ behavior (Celsi
and Olson 1988; Zaichkowsky 1985, Dholakia 2001). In the specific case of
Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare … 117

ethical consumerism, involvement is not limited to specific products or brands,


but is additionally related to their ethical augmentation (Crane 2001; Bezençon
and Blili 2010). Accordingly, a high level of involvement in ethical issues in
general and in animal welfare issues in particular influences the consumers’
search for ethical information of specific products or brands as well as their
receptivity to them which consequently affects behavioral intentions (Celsi and
Olson 1988; Greenwald and Leavitt 1984; Zaichkowsky 1985).
• Ethical Value Perception: The value of ethical consumption as perceived by
consumers and subsequently the importance of meeting ethical demands has
a considerable impact on the achievement of competitive advantages (Browne
et al. 2000). To investigate the question of what really adds value, it is essen-
tial to consider the multidimensionality of the customer’s perceived value based
on “consumer’s overall assessment of the utility of a product (or service) based
on perceptions of what is received and what is given” (Zeithaml 1988, p. 14).
According to previous research on customer-perceived value by Sweeney and
Soutar (2001) as well as by Smith and Colgate (2007), well-known consump-
tion values can be commonly divided into the four types economic, functional,
affective, and social. The economic value refers to direct monetary aspects of
the product expressed in dollars and cents that one is willing to spend to obtain
a product (Ahtola 1984; Monroe and Krishnan 1985). The basic utilities and
benefits of the product such as quality, uniqueness, usability, reliability, and
durability are part of the functional value (Sheth et al. 1991). The affective value
describes the perceived subjective utility attained through the consumption of
a product and the related arousal of feelings and affective states to ethical con-
sumers who assign high importance to aspects such as altruism, equality, and
peace (Littrell and Dickson 1999). Recently, the social dimension of customer-
perceived value mentions the desire of ethical consumers to try to impress and
to meet the expectations of their social group and to influence the perception
of others’ judgment of one’s own behavior. However, even if individuals lack
intrinsic value to consume ethically, they would still behave ethically through
the pressure of social norms (Starr 2009). With reference to cosmetics, it is
expected that consumers who have a high value perception of ethical product
characteristics and business practices are less willing to purchase products/cos-
metics tested on animals.
• Trade-Off Between Ethical and Conventional Products: By means of their con-
sumption choice, consumers try to satisfy their immediate consumption needs
and conscience as well (Ehrich and Irwin 2005). Furthermore, “consumers
will probably not sacrifice aspects of product performance for ethical consid-
erations alone” (Auger et al. 2008, p. 190). Hence, the individual choice deci-
sion between ethical and conventional cosmetics is influenced by the trade-off
between a given product’s ethical features such as consideration of animal rights
and avoidance of animal experiments, its functional performance (Luchs et al.
2007), and the price of cosmetics free from animal testing (Auger et al. 2010).
118 N. Hennigs et al.

3.3 Related Outcomes

• Boycott: In a boycott, which constitutes a typical expression of ethical consump-


tion, consumers desist from buying certain products or brands. Their resist-
ance is based upon an ideological displeasure with an organization (Friedman
1985; Hirschmann 1970) and represents “an attempt by one or more parties to
achieve certain objectives by urging individual consumers to refrain from mak-
ing selected purchases in the marketplace” (Friedman 1985, p. 97). Accordingly,
boycott behavior intends “to benefit one or more people other than oneself
behaviors such as helping, comforting, sharing, and cooperation” (Batson 1998,
p. 282) and is used to punish undesirable business behavior (Hofmann and Hutter
2012) and to protest against unfair company practices of social, ethical, moral,
or environmental nature (Delacote 2006; Diermeier and van Mieghem 2005).
Whereas boycotts represent a useful means to punish companies for their mis-
behavior, buycotts follow the opposite approach and serve as a reward system for
past good deeds (Hawkins 2010) which “attempt to induce shoppers to buy the
products or services of selected companies in order to reward them for behavior
which is consistent with the goals of the activists” (Friedman 1996, p. 440). Both
forms of activism can occur simultaneously; this is partly because consumers
participate with a higher probability to boycotts if the targeted product has satis-
factory substitutes (Sen et al. 2001). Although consumers may boycott cosmetics
accepting experiments on animals, concurrent preferment of those products and
brands might occur, which refrain from such cruel business practices.
• Brand Avoidance: The targeted rejection of a brand can be defined as brand
avoidance. According to Lee et al. (2009) reasons for the avoidance can be
the perceived incongruence between the brand and the customer’s desired or
actual self-concept (identity avoidance; Englis and Soloman 1997; Grubb and
Grathwohl 1967; Hogg and Banister 2001; Sirgy 1982), dissatisfaction through
negative brand consumption experiences (experiential avoidance; Folkes 1984;
Oliver 1980) and the “belief that it is a moral duty to avoid certain brands” (Lee
et al. 2009, p. 7) due to the existence of an ideological incompatibility between
consumer and brand (moral avoidance). Boycotters of animal-tested cosmetics
provide the probability to rebuild the relationship if certain conditions are met
(Hirschman 1970), however, the avoidance of a brand offers no guarantee for a
possible reconstruction (Lee et al. 2009).
Based on the holistic understanding of the psychological and context-related
determinants as well as related outcomes as described above, our comprehensive
framework is a basis to gain a structured understanding of underlying determinants
and possible outcomes of consumer behavior in the global beauty care industry.
However, it has to be stated that consumers often tend to act differently depending
on whom they are interacting with and the situation they are in. In addition, tak-
ing into account that consumers’ positive attitudes towards green cosmetics and
against animal testing do not necessarily transfer into consumption behavior, an
Do as You Would Be Done by: The Importance of Animal Welfare … 119

attitude–behavior gap often exists between consumer claims and actual behavior
(Carrigan and Attalla 2001; Bhattacharya and Sen 2004; Öberseder et al. 2011).
Therefore, even if consumers report positive perceptions of the psychological and
context-related determinants as proposed in our model, it is not possible to predict
how consumers will behave in a real purchase situation and if the attitude–behav-
ior gap can be minimized or overcome.
In addition to these considerations, apart from the positive attitude towards
green cosmetics and animal rights protection, existing studies give evidence to
concentrate on the “dark side” of the consumer personality as well. As can be
seen in previous research, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—col-
lectively known as the Dark Triad of personality traits—play an increasingly
important role in society. This importance becomes particularly evident through
the overemphasis of the self and the self-promotion through social media as well
as through the increasing research effort concerning the workplace behavior of
“snakes in suits” and “bad bosses” (for a detailed overview see Furnham et al.
2013; Garcia and Sikström 2014; Buckels et al. 2014). With special focus on ani-
mals, Kavanagh et al. (2013) detected that individuals with high levels of Dark
Triad traits demonstrated less positive attitudes towards animals and have even
practiced violence against them.
Characteristics of the Dark Triad include “entitlement, superiority, dominance
(i.e., narcissism), glib social charm, manipulativeness (i.e., Machiavellianism),
callous social attitudes, impulsivity, and interpersonal antagonism (i.e., psychopa-
thy)” (Jonason et al. 2015, p. 6). Even if the individual characteristics have dif-
ferent origins, “all three entail a socially malevolent character with behavior
tendencies toward self-promotion, emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressive-
ness” (Paulhus and Williams 2002, p. 557). Because individuals with high levels
of Dark Triad scales, value the “self” over “other”, these traits are often associated
with reduced or dysfunctional morality (Campbell et al. 2009; Glenn et al. 2009)
which could have a considerably high impact on the perception and evaluation of
ethical and moral issues and subsequently on their consumption behavior in gen-
eral and on the cosmetics industry in particular.
Taken as a whole, based on the preceding insights and related discussion, sev-
eral implications for further research and managerial practice can be drawn as pre-
sented in the concluding remarks.

4 Conclusion

Confronted with criticisms on irresponsible business activities such as the use of


animal testing, chemical pollution, unethical sourcing, and unsustainable ingre-
dients, the global beauty care industry has realized the importance of ethical and
environmental business practices. The adoption of corporate social responsibil-
ity activities is reflected in efficient use of energy and water, avoidance of animal
testing and unethical ingredients, reduction of packaging, use of environmentally
120 N. Hennigs et al.

friendly packaging material, distribution via ethical supply chains, and fair trade
(Organic Monitor 2010). From a consumer perspective, rising concerns, associated
with health-related issues and ethical or environmental qualities of the products
they buy, have led to an increased demand for natural and organic products. With
special focus on the global beauty care industry, consumers increasingly value
organic products that are free from harmful substances and animal testing.
Referring to the antecedents and outcomes of consumer perception and behavior
in the context of green cosmetics, the aim of this chapter was to present a holistic
framework of psychological consumer traits as well as context-related issues and
related outcomes. Our model can be seen as a useful basis to create and market per-
sonal care goods successfully that represent ethical and environmental excellence.
Focusing on future research, the determinants included in the framework have
to be empirically tested with reference to different consumer groups and prod-
uct-specific contexts. It is expected that the relative impact of the antecedents on
actual consumption behavior differs in consideration of the variety of cultures
across the world as well as different consumer lifestyles and consumption patterns
within national borders.
Based on a better knowledge of relevant drivers and outcomes of ethical con-
sumption, marketers in the global beauty care industry can compare the core val-
ues expressed by their brand and compare them to the individual aspiration level
of their actual and potential consumers to develop appropriate marketing strate-
gies and adequately respond to their customers’ needs and values. To verify that
the commitment to ethical values and animal welfare is more than a clever promo-
tional gimmick and to refute accusations of greenwashing, ethical orientation has to
become part of the corporate culture and business model. Each management deci-
sion has to be reflected from the ethical perspective and the responsibility that con-
sumers expect inherent in the multifaceted product attributes. To separate hypocrisy
and true commitment clearly, companies in the global beauty care industry have to
redefine their products and production processes, examine the supply chains, and
translate social and environmental strategies into operational practices. Instead of
considering ethical obligations as a threat to corporate profits, incorporating ethical
and environmental excellence has to be regarded as a successful business opportu-
nity in a promising way to reconcile financial, ethical, and ecological values:
Our task must be to free ourselves … by widening our circle of compassion, to embrace
all living creatures in the whole of nature and its beauty.
Albert Einstein

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Sustainable Value Generation Through
Post-retail Initiatives: An Exploratory Study
of Slow and Fast Fashion Businesses

Rudrajeet Pal

Abstract The dialogue between slow and fast fashion has gained great prominence
in recent years particularly in terms of sustainability. In the forward value chain, fast
fashion companies are most often considered to be unsustainable whereas the slow
fashion brands are comparatively more planet-friendly. However, the discussion
on the trade-off between sustainability and “speed of fashion” (classified into slow
and fast fashions) in the post-retail segment is still limited. A deeper understanding,
however, would not only contribute towards conceptualizing the post-retail initia-
tives, but would also shed light on how these are differentially undertaken by vari-
ous types of fashion businesses in terms of generating sustainable value. This study
proposes sustainable value generation in terms of closing the material and respon-
sibility loops. It further reveals that the trade-off in post-retail is not as rigid as it
is in the forward value chain. However, fast fashion offers the lowest potential to
displace the purchase of new clothes to close the material loop whereas the rede-
sign brands offer the highest; moreover fast fashion is less liable to take extended
responsibilities compared to the slow fashion brands. It can be concluded that fast
fashion is somewhat “stuck in the middle” in comparison to the slow and redesign
brands in terms of generating value through closing the loop activities.

Keywords Fast fashion · Slow fashion · Post-retail · Responsibility · Business


model · Value

1 Introduction

The dialogue between slow and fast fashion has gained great prominence in
recent years, particularly in terms of sustainability (Clark 2008; Fletcher 2010).
In the forward value chain, fast fashion companies are often considered to be

R. Pal (*)
Department of Business Administration and Textile Management,
University of Borås, Borås, Sweden
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 127


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_6
128 R. Pal

unsustainable due to their increasing favor towards mass production and consump-
tion. Owing to various factors, such as production in bulk quantities, cost-intensity
and low quality, short product lifetime, and so on, fast fashion retailers are criti-
cized for contributing towards a cheap, throw-away society plagued by surpluses
(Birtwistle and Moore 2007). On the other hand, the slow fashion brands are con-
sidered comparatively more planet-friendly owing to their diverse practices of sup-
porting local manufacturing, durable or timeless product designs, reuse activities,
slow consumption, and the like (Fletcher 2010; Fletcher and Grose 2012).
In this growing sustainability paradigm, however, the focus towards value
chains has shifted from being linear to circular. Various efforts are made by organ-
izations in order to bring back the disposed-of products and close the forward
chain material loop by using reverse logistics activities such as reuse, refurbish,
repair, remanufacture, recycle, or redesign (Jayaraman and Luo 2007). This cir-
cularity of value chains has gained momentum in the fashion and apparel indus-
try as well, as fashion businesses have started engaging with various post-retail
initiatives, including reuse, recycle, remanufacture, and so on. For example, many
fashion brands, including Patagonia and Nudie Jeans have started schemes to take
back their old products from wearers and sell them as second-hand, either “as is”
or after some redesign. These sales are conducted either through their own stores
or via online marketplaces (such as e-Bay; Ekvall et al. 2014). Large retailers
including H&M and PUMA have similarly entered into collaborations, but with
global sorting partners to develop efficient take-back schemes. Some of the retail-
ers such as Marks and Spencer and Levi’s have initiated similar initiatives in col-
laboration with charities. On the other hand, many smaller brands have started
redesigning the used clothes for a longer life thus fitting into the slow fashion
movement philosophy (Gardetti and Torres 2013). For example, Studio Re:design
is a regional initiative in West Sweden aimed at upcycling textile and cloth-
ing wastes and leftovers from the Red Cross using slow craft principles (Studio
Re:design 2014). Under this initiative many small design brands have taken part
in the redesign collective to aim for attaining a circular economy by redesigning
wastes. In connection many small redesign brands have eventually evolved com-
bining traditional tailoring, repairing, and customization services to create new
garments from used ones that have been donated by customers, producers, or char-
ities. These aim at rendering sustainable solutions for handling the garments’ end
of life (Ekvall et al. 2014). In this post-retail market context, companies address
sustainable value generation in various ways, along 5-R: reuse, reduce, recycle,
redesign, and reimagine (Ho and Choi 2012) that is crucial to attain:
1. Higher resource efficiency through higher end-of-use (EOU) recovery
2. Lower virgin material consumption
3. Higher responsibility
Resource efficiency attained by closing the material loop has been designated
as one of the top priorities by civil society, business, and government in order
to reduce resource depletion and related environmental and societal threats (EC
2011; McKinsey 2011; Stahel 1982). On the other hand, taking responsibilities
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 129

in closing the loop through extended product liability and stewardship of the
involved actors has been prioritized by Stahel (1994).
However, the existing scholarly literature on post-retail and closed-loop value
chains are limited in certain way. These have yet to explore how the post-retail
initiatives and their underlying business components and drivers operate in vari-
ous fashion businesses characterized by their inherent business philosophies of
slow and fast fashion to generate sustainable value. Instead the existing discus-
sion is very generic, for example, on how various fashion companies engage with
diverse post-retail initiatives, and so on. However, by investigating whether the
trade-off between sustainability and “speed of fashion” (classified into slow and
fast fashions) as evident in forward-value chains is equally observable in post-
retail initiatives or not would contribute in a number of ways. First, it generates
a deeper conceptual underpinning to post-retail initiatives in terms of sustainable
value drivers in closed-loop value chains, that is, resource efficiency and liabil-
ity. Second, by studying and comparing post-retail initiatives of various slow and
fast fashion businesses similarities and differences are identified in terms of their
underlying business models. Finally, the study opens up an emergent phenomenon
underlying sustainable value generation in post-retail initiatives of slow and fast
fashion businesses, different from that observed in case of forward-value chains.

2 Fast and Slow Fashion Business Models

The present day fashion apparel industry has increasingly transformed into what
is characterized by short product life cycles, high volatility, low predictability, and
high impulse purchase decisions by consumers (Christopher et al. 2004; Masson
et al. 2007). In such an operating environment, fashion brands and retailers have
increasingly started either to embrace the trend and be fast, with short develop-
ment cycles, and offer large-scale production at a reasonable price, or to counter
this trend and promote timeless design, slower rate of production and consump-
tion, and so on (Clark 2008). These contrasting characteristics have resulted in
development of two distinct fashion business strategies, models, and philosophies
as various scholarly discussions have put it: fast fashion and slow fashion.
Fast fashion is an operational model in retailing predominantly characterized
by high seasonal fashion content, affordable prices, frequent deliveries, and large
quantities (Caro and Martinez-de-Albeniz 2014; Pacheco-Martins et al. 2014).
This results in retailers adopting various strategies such as quick response (Serel
2014), mix of sourcing strategies from nearby and low-wage countries, supplying
small quantities of new items at least twice a week (Bruce and Daly 2006), collect-
ing daily sales data and reporting to design departments (Sull and Turconi 2008),
constantly adapting design aiming to match the latest fashion trends and cus-
tomer wishes, and applying flexible procurement policies (Wang et al. 2014). In
connection, Bhardwaj and Fairhurst (2010) have characterized fast fashion by the
expression of “throwaway,” meaning overconsumption and excessive production
130 R. Pal

of short-lived or disposable items. In order to be profitable in such a volatile busi-


ness environment, fashion apparel retailers need to take the “speed-to-market”
approach to capitalize on fashion that is not in the stores of their competitors thus
emphasizing responsiveness and agility (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst 2010; Mattila
et al. 2002). This has invariably resulted in increasing the pressure throughout the
value chain in the recent years, thus increasing criticism from customers, media,
and scholars due to the downsides in terms of societal impact (Plank et al. 2012;
Pookulangara and Shephard 2014) and environmental problems such as higher
carbon dioxide emissions due to frequent shipments and air freight (Choi 2013)
among others. Increasingly, these concerns have criticized fast fashion as unsus-
tainable as it encourages disposability, low durability, low quality, and loss of
craftsmanship (Cline 2012). Some hard indicators suggest that the clothing con-
sumption level in the western world has increased to almost 15 kg per capita; at
this current level of consumption of natural resources we need the regenerative
capacity of 1.5 Earths, and by 2050 we will need 2.3 Earths (Deloitte 2013). At the
production frontier, the continuous turnover of “cheap” products equates to lower
costs overall and higher volume resulting in nearly one-third of the products not
sold at full price (Mattila et al. 2002).
In contrast, the ideology of slow fashion challenges the obsession with mass
production, instead epitomizing diverse practices such as small-scale production,
traditional craft techniques, promotion of local materials and markets, increased
use of sustainable, ethically made or recycled fabrics, and development of quality
garments with higher longevity (Fletcher 2010; Joy et al. 2012; Wikipedia 2015).
In this context, Clark (2008) has provided several examples of local fashion and
business practices associated with various aspects of slow fashion.
In many ways this offers a changed set of power relations between the fash-
ion creators and consumers, ensuring long-term relationships and trust through
higher degrees of co-innovation and transparency. Fletcher (2010) highlights that
a heightened state of consumer awareness of the design process and its impacts
on resource flows, workers, communities, and ecosystems can help to bring a sys-
temwide change radically from high-volume, standardized fashion to fewer higher
priced exclusive items. In connection with this, various business models have
emerged promoting personalization and customization of products—doing it your-
self—making, mending, customizing, altering, and upcycling one’s own clothing,
and so on. This way slow fashion can be seen to promote democratization of fash-
ion not by offering more people access to clothes by lowering prices but by offer-
ing people more control over institutions and technologies.
In this context, “fast” and “slow” have become an inherent choice as a proxy
for the type of fashion (Fletcher 2010). Whereas “fast” influences ideas of unsus-
tainability, acting as a tool to epitomize increased product throughput and sales
thus generating higher unethical and/or environmentally damaging practices,
“slow” fashion embraces the ideas and business practices that are logically oppo-
site to “fast,” yet administers a systemwide change from the fast-growth model,
exemplified by timeless design, high quality and durability, long-term relation-
ships, and better pricing to reflect the “true” cost of the product, thus representing
a vision of sustainability in the fashion sector.
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 131

3 Sustainable Business Models in Post-retail

Various post-retail activities undertaken by fashion brands, retailers, and small


design-oriented brands have emerged in recent times to strive for sustainable value
generation (Ekvall et al. 2014). These “re” activities span over five broad areas of
reuse, reduce, recycle, redesign, and reimagine, termed 5-R (Ho and Choi 2012).
These “re” activities, in various ways, aim at driving higher resource efficiency, lower
consumption of virgin materials, and higher end-of-use (EOU) recovery (Niinimäki
and Hassi 2011), thus resulting in development of many new business models as one
of the key choices for fulfilling a company’s sustainable competitive advantage.
A common argument in the literature states that the business model refers to
the logic of the company, including how it operates and how it creates value for
stakeholders (Magretta 2002; Osterwalder et al. 2005). To date many definitions of
business models have become commonly used, but these usually include three key
components forming a traditional component-based view. These three business
model components are (Yunus et al. 2010):
1. Value proposition: Constituted by the product/service proposed to customers
2. Value constellation: Constituted by the way the company is organized so as to
deliver this product and service to its customers
3. Revenue model: Constituting the profit equation meaning how value is captured
from the revenues generated
However, this definition of business models predominantly covers the facet of eco-
nomic value maximization as an outcome of successful business model implemen-
tation (in for-profit businesses).
In the post-retail segment the operating business model’s value generation
spans beyond just generating economic profits, and covers both environmental
and social profits. The environmental profit can be considered in line with what
is offered in green business models. Bisgaard et al. (2012) highlight the key to
develop environmental profits in terms of “substituting to greener inputs, reusing
or recycling resources, offering products as a service function while continuing
to have ownership of the products, or by developing greener products, services
and processes.” Tied to this social profits include creation of societal impact of
the business in terms of job creation (Stahel 2007), generating social responsibil-
ity towards employees, and so on. Consideration of both environmental and social
profits in the profit formula results in positioning the business as a change agent in
the world but still with sufficient business-like characteristics (Yunus et al. 2010).

4 Strategies for Sustainable Value Generation


in Post-retail

Post-retail initiatives in fashion apparel are still new, with limited best practices;
the majority of retailers predominantly adopt two main business strategies, either
second-hand retailing and/or take-back schemes (Hvass 2014). The literature has
132 R. Pal

linked these strategies to a few generic reverse logistics tasks (Fleischmann and
Kuik 2003; Fleischmann et al. 2004):
a. Strategic acquisition (or collection) from consumers
b. Grading (or sorting or disposition) into different fractions on the basis of differ-
ent qualities and allocation of various reuse options
c. Reprocessing including all transformation processes for future usage
d. Redistribution for delivering the clothes again to the market
Fashion businesses can either run all these reverse logistics operations single-
handedly, by arranging both take-back of used clothes followed by reselling them
through various retail formats, or can be involved in collaborative networks with
a number of other partners to carry out these operations. These result in creating
a number of different re-business models for generating sustainable value in used
clothing value chains.
Premium and High-Street fashion brands predominantly undertake the strategy
of reselling the clothes, either “as is” or after certain redesign, but only with their
own branded products. Swedish fashion brands, including Boomerang and Fillipa
K resell the used clothes that are deposited by the wearer, either in the same retail
stores or in separate stores dedicated to second-hand resale (sometimes in col-
laboration with other dedicated second-hand retailers). These brands are in this
sense closed in their collection of clothes, meaning they only take back their own
brand from wearers. Nudie Jeans, another Swedish High-Street fashion brand, fur-
ther engages with free repair services provided to its wearers in some of its stores
(in Stockholm, Berlin, Gothenburg, and London). It also provides a repair toolkit
to its wearers that can be ordered online for free. Furthermore, these brands also
engage with other operations required to appropriate value of the used clothes,
such as washing and redesign. Boomerang, for example, has established a con-
cept called “Boomerang Effect” that includes a return system, a vintage collection
(with used clothes meeting certain quality benchmarks and resold “as is”), and
redesigning those not qualifying as vintage. These items are totally reconstructed,
that is, cut and mixed with production spills to make home interior products as a
part of Boomerang’s Home section (Niinimäki et al. 2015). Nudie Jeans similarly
engages with redesigning its denims: those are beyond repair to make denim rags,
by hand-weaving them on manual shuttle looms to attain minimum energy usage.
Alternatively, many fashion retailers—mostly the large, market-driven fast
fashion companies—engage with in-store take-back schemes in many ways
(Hvass 2014). These take-back schemes could be organized by retailers by enter-
ing into donation partnership with charities; for example, Lindex, a Swedish fast
fashion retailer, entered into collaboration with Myrorna, a Swedish second-hand
retailer run by the Salvation Army (Ekström and Salomonsson 2014). Marks &
Spencer together with the charity organization Oxfam have introduced the concept
of “shwopping” where wearers who hand in clothes for reuse (in either Marks &
Spencer or in an Oxfam store) receive bonus points that can be exchanged for new
purchases in Marks & Spencer (Ekvall et al. 2014). The retailers also often give
away unsold leftovers or defective clothes to charities. These take-back schemes
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 133

could also be in collaboration with third-party professional collectors as in the


case of H&M and Kappahl, two large Swedish fast fashion retailers. Both have
entered into collaboration with Swiss I: Collect (I:Co), a worldwide collector-
sorter, which has installed its collection containers in the retailers’ store locations.
These I:Co containers can usually collect up to 6–7 kg of garments which are then
brought back to main storage points by existing logistics, from where I:Co picks
them up and transports them to a central sorting plant. Niinimäki et al. (2015) fur-
ther suggest that take-back schemes can also be organized individually by single
companies, as in case of Uniqlo’s All-Product Recycling Initiative or Patagonia’s
Common Thread Initiative.
It can be noted that the above-mentioned business models of second-hand
retailing and take-back schemes are associated with multiple R-approaches, such
as reuse, recycle, reduce, and so on, and are often intertwined (Niinimäki et al.
2015). Nudie Jeans, for example, engages with repair, reuse, and recycle of its col-
lected jeans which it calls the “Eco-cycle initiative” (Nudie 2015a). Nudie Repair
shops help their wearers either by repairing worn-out jeans free of charge or by
sending out a free repair kit containing threads, patches, and the like. Even pos-
sibilities of breaking down the jeans into something completely different such as
a bag, or shorts is possible (Nudie 2015b). However, wearers can also give back
the jeans totally, which are then washed and repaired and put back in the shop as
a second-hand item. Further in the material loop, if the jeans are totally worn out
then Nudie recycles them into cotton pulp or into denim strips to make upholstery
(Nudie 2015c). Similarly, charities are also involved with multiple R-approaches,
in general selling about 20 % of the sorted items through their own second-hand
stores, and the rest are exported for reuse in eastern Europe, Asia, or Africa, or are
recycled (Carlsson et al. 2014; Myrorna 2015).
Apparently, these R-approaches together strive to achieve a circular economy
where companies aim at closing the material loop by recovering post-consumer
clothes and directing them back into the consumption cycle. Jayaraman and Luo
(2007) have defined this in terms of four typical reverse logistics loops of reuse,
refurbish, remanufacture, and recycle which close the forward material loop by
flowing the material back at different points of the value chain. Reuse, for exam-
ple, redirects the used clothes into the forward-value chain which subsequently
demands marketing and sales to coordinate sales of the product “as is”. In the case
of refurbishing, apart from marketing and sales, outbound logistics is important
to bring the product to the service providers, for washing or minor repairing, who
subsequently add an appropriate value to ensure that the garment is brought back
to a specified quality level and its lifetime is extended. Remanufacture or some-
times called redesign, as an R-approach instead starts with deconstruction of the
garment followed by redesigning it into a completely new form. For example,
Wardrobe Surgery (now called Re-dress) is a British redesign service provider that
completely redesigns used garments on demand from wearers (Re-dress 2015).
Many such small initiatives have sprung up with the purpose of redesigning old
garments into something completely new. Finally, in Nudie and Boomerang, those
products which do not meet a certain quality level are recycled; inbound logistics
134 R. Pal

Fig. 1  Closing the material


and liability loops

reutilizes different components of the product in conjunction with other raw mate-
rials. In this context, it is crucial to note that even though these reverse logistics
loops associate different sets of operations they all contribute towards attaining a
resource-efficient, circular economy.
Apart from closing the material loop by adopting various strategies to extend
the product life and create resource efficiency, Stahel (1994) points out yet another
necessity of closing the loop in terms of liability: through extended product
responsibility. The next sections discuss these two critical drivers of closed-loop
value chains in detail. Whereas driver 1, resource-efficiency, drives for closing
the material and product loops, driver 2, extended organizational responsibil-
ity (EOR), aims at closing the liability loop by extending the stewardship of the
involved actors in the used clothing network, as shown in Fig. 1.

5 Driving Factor 1: Resource-Efficient Reverse Logistics


for Closing the Material Loop

Resource efficiency in the process of closing the product and material loops high-
lights the attempts taken by actors for subsequent dematerialization (Stahel 1994;
Tukker 2015) by:
1. Prolonging the service lifetime of products
2. Ensuring products are used as intensively as possible
3. Manufacturing products as cost and material efficiently as possible
4. Reusing products as far as possible after the end of the product’s life
Stahel (1994) highlights that these activities could lead to a minimization of mate-
rial flows in the economy while maximizing service output or user satisfaction,
thus generating a self-replenishing system. In such a system the resource input
per unit use over long periods of time can be optimized thus leading to a struc-
tural change in the economy. Apparently Stahel’s work shows that the smaller the
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 135

loop (as in the case of reuse) the higher is the profitability. The inherent drive for
a resource-efficient society and businesses come from the inevitable consumption
growth rate and the competition for resources in a resource-constrained world. The
European Union (EU) has therefore designated resource-efficiency as one of the
flagships of its Europe 2020 strategy (EC 2011). In this context, it is crucial to
note that clothing is a material-intensive product and depends upon huge quan-
tities of natural resources required for production, distribution, and maintenance,
coupled with the consumer’s current desire for excessive consumption (Armstrong
et al. 2015). A study by Farrant et al. (2010) on the environmental benefits of
reused clothes showed that consumption of natural resources such as natural gas
and crude oil both can decrease by about 15 % if clothes are reused through sec-
ond-hand shops (in Estonia and Sweden) instead of being directly disposed of
after first-hand usage. The study further concluded that the environmental burden
of the product life cycle is reduced by almost 14 % (in terms of global warming)
through reuse of clothes.
Several commercial business strategies and resource-miser business mod-
els have been emphasized in Stahel’s works (1994), (2007) including redesign-
ing, reusing, rebuilding, technology upgrading, and the like to reduce the volume
of material through the economy. Fashion businesses, however, have adopted
a resource-efficiency strategy in a quite complex way. The fashion retailers and
brands have adopted various strategies (as mentioned above) to attain higher
resource efficiency along the R-approaches, however, at the same time provoked
wearers to purchase more by providing discount vouchers on return of used
clothes. Ekvall et al. (2014) have referred to this aspect in terms of displacement
rate, meaning the potential of a used item to replace the purchase of a new one.
The displacement rate is critical for evaluating the magnitude of environmental
gains offered by various reused business models. Typically the potential for dis-
placement, hence the degree of environmental gain, is influenced by various fac-
tors, such as quality of the resold items, percentage increase in “usage time,” and
discounts offered on new purchases.
Fashion brands such as Nudie Jeans and Fillipa K are engaged with reselling
of their own brand and could be claimed to have a higher displacement rate due to
the higher quality of resold items and higher product price compared to the aver-
age resold products. However, a WRAP study from Britain (WRAP 2013a) has
indicated that the reuse displacement rate from buying a used item rather than a
new one is only 28 %, meaning three reused items can offset the purchase and
thereby the production of just one new item. Ekvall et al. (2014), however, high-
light that this result is for average quality second-hand clothing and could possi-
bly be higher for luxury second-hand compared to second-hand clothes in charity
shops.
It is evident that the scholarly literature in exploring the exact impacts of dis-
placement is quite shallow. An alternative viewpoint that exists is that this direct
displacement of new purchases does not always occur in reality (Ekvall et al.
2014). Ekvall and his colleagues note in a recently published Norden report called
“EPR Systems and New Business Models” that even if high-quality used clothes
136 R. Pal

can enhance the functioning lifetime of the item (called the usage time), in the
meantime a user may have saved enough money to purchase a new shirt that
causes environmental impacts thus reducing the environmental gain. Ekvall et al.
(2014) states that:
Usage time is taken to mean the intensity of use multiplied by the period over which it
is used. An article of clothing can last many years in someone’s wardrobe without being
used. In this case the lifetime might be high but the total usage time would be low. It is the
usage time of an article of clothing which is key in how much it offsets the purchase of
new similar clothing articles.

Furthermore, fashion retailers and brands including H&M, Kappahl,


Boomerang, and many others have started offering discount vouchers to wearers
on return of clothing through the take-back schemes. These discount vouchers typ-
ically offer 10–15 % off on the next purchase of new items and do not necessar-
ily cause displacement, and in fact may lead to higher desire for a new purchase.
Simply speaking, such offers may create a perpetual voracious cycle of buying
new clothes using discount vouchers obtained by depositing old ones thus adding
to the throwaway culture even more. These issues have eventually made the effects
of displacement rather complex to underpin, and hence can only be speculated.

6 Driving Factor 2: Extended Organizational


Responsibility for Closing the Liability Loop

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is defined based on two principles (OECD


2001):
1. Shifting of responsibility (physical and/or economical; full or partial) upstream
toward the producer and away from municipalities
2. Provision of incentives to producers to take into account environmental consid-
erations while product designing
EPR originated in the 1990s as an environmental policy strategy through an
analysis of a number of Swedish and foreign recycling and waste management
programs, as well as the use of various policy instruments to promote cleaner pro-
duction (Lindhqvist 1992; Lindhqvist and Lidgren 1990). The intention behind
the concept was to create a framework for governmental legislation or regulation
based on the “polluter pays” principle (Ekvall et al. 2014). By definition both
upstream and downstream effects are included in EPR schemes which aim for pro-
ducers to gain specialized expertise (e.g., product design, materials, or technology
development), utilize new resources (financial and technical), and stimulate and
educate their customers to accept alternatives to landfilling and incineration and to
participate in waste product recovery (Lindhqvist and Lifset 1997).
However, trade-offs exist in driving these schemes in terms of being either man-
datory or voluntary, upstream or downstream, and so on in determining the scope
of participation of various actors in the clothing network (Ekvall et al. 2014; Kibert
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 137

2003). Furthermore, shifting the responsibility towards the use phase of the prod-
uct is not exclusively linked to original manufacturers or producers but may also
include other actors, such as charity organizations and service providers, within the
product’s value chain. Initiatives undertaken by brands, retailers, and other actors
in the clothing network, involving product take-back, reselling, repairing, upgrad-
ing, and the like commonly extending product stewardship (Kostecki 1998), fall
under the broader scope of extended organizational responsibility (EOR). Such
industry-driven EOR where various actors of the value chain are proactively
involved, focuses on capturing untapped value from used clothing (Hvass 2014).
According to Lindhqvist (2000) and Tojo (2004), extended responsibility of an
EPR scheme can be categorized and evaluated along five different perspectives.
These are:
i. Liability
ii. Economic or financial responsibility
iii. Physical responsibility
iv. Informative responsibility
v. Ownership
Liability includes the responsibility for detectable environmental damages related
to a specific product. The degree of liability is, however, limited by legislation
and therefore depends on the different national and regional laws and does not lie
directly in the hands of the value chain actors. Presently, only a few policy-driven
liability schemes exist in clothing, such as France’s eco-TLC and Canadian legis-
lation expected to commence in 2017 onwards (Kelly 2012). Next, economic or
financial responsibility is used to describe an actor who will fully or partly cover
the costs of collecting, recycling, or final disposal of the products and these costs
could be paid either directly or through a special fee. On the other hand, physi-
cal responsibility refers to an actor taking part in the physical management of the
products or the impacts of the products (Lindhqvist 2000; Lindhqvist and Lidgren
1990). Lindhqvist (2000) further defines informative responsibility as the multi-
ple possibilities for an actor to supply information on the environmental properties
and effects of its products and create awareness and understanding. Finally, if the
actor retains the ownership of its products over the entire life cycle then it is auto-
matically coupled to the environmental impacts of the products. These responsi-
bilities are, however, not exclusive to producers alone and are equally relevant for
other actors in the value chain, forming the broader applicability of EOR.

7 Empirical Study

The present study employs a qualitative research conducted through in-depth,


semi-structured interviews and document studies to build suitable cases for the
purpose of an explorative inquiry (Cresswell 2007). Extant discussion on each
of the constituent concepts used in this study, viz. extended responsibilities for
138 R. Pal

closing the liability loop, resource efficiency for driving a circular economy, along
with the generic discourse on slow and fast fashions in terms of sustainability
are quite established, hence a deductive approach is followed to underpin these.
However, the discourse on sustainable value generation by slow and fast fashion
businesses in the post-retail segment has not yet been explored thoroughly, thus
advocating a theory-building perspective (Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007).
The study was conducted by collecting data from 12 fashion companies each
operating in the post-retail segment in various ways. The case companies were
chosen through purposeful sampling to represent the dominant fashion busi-
ness models operating in the post-retail segment (Pal 2015). These are namely,
fast fashion retailers, slow and fast fashion brands, and smaller redesign brands.
Table 1 describes the cases in detail in terms of their post-retail initiative and
underlying business model components.
Primary data were gathered through a single semi-structured interview con-
ducted with each case company. All the respondents held top decision-making
positions related to post-retail initiatives in their respective companies (e.g., sus-
tainability manager, operations manager, or owner/managing director). Such
strategic roles and responsibilities of the respondents justified their viable reflec-
tion on the topic of the present research, with low intracase differences in opin-
ion. Each interview lasted between 45 and 60 min and was conducted in English.
Each of the interviews was later transcribed and coded along themes used in both
Table 1 (post-retail initiatives and underlying business model components) and in
Table 2 (displacement effect and EOR).
The interview questions aimed at gaining rich descriptions of the current post-
retail initiatives along with detailed insights on the responsibilities undertaken
by each case company. The respondents were asked to describe their company’s
key post-retail activities, what they offer to the customers, and how revenue was
generated. In addition, questions covering EOR topics, such as ownership, type
of sustainability communication, and information sharing in post-retail initiatives,
collaborations with other actors, and so on were also asked.
Additionally, written documents and reports acquired through search engines
were also analyzed in order to both support and validate some data obtained
through the interviews. In particular, over 700 pages of reports published by the
Nordic Council of Ministers, called the Norden reports, were scrutinized to sup-
plement the data gathered. These reports are available online and free through the
Norden publication database.1
For data analysis, the transcribed interviews were deconstructed to generate
relevant cues; those could be categorized under the two main themes constituting
sustainable value generation in post-retail initiatives, that is, extended responsibil-
ity and displacement effect. Some minor modifications have been introduced in the
concepts underpinning this study to refine the deductive framework and suit it to
the research context and purpose.

1Norden Publication Database: http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/search.jsf?dswid=-1454

(02.09.2015); an extended list of these reports can be available from the author on request.
Table 1  Case description with business model explanation
Cases Post-retail initiative Business model components
Monki/H&M In collaboration with a global collection, sorting and Key involved activities
Swedish fast fashion brand recycling firm, I:Collect (in short I:Co), Monki engages • Strategic collection and setting of partner’s collection containers in
retailer in taking back of used clothes under its “Second Chance” shops
program through its 22 stores. It offers strategic locations Customer value proposition
in its shops for setting up I:Co’s collection containers. • Discount vouchers up to 10 % to old wearer on return of used clothes
In return gives discount vouchers to customers (applies to purchases over 300 SEKa)
• Customers can receive a variety of rewards
• Sustainable image of extended responsibility
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Fresh purchase of new clothes by customers using discount vouchers
• Money from I:Collect
KappAhl In collaboration with a global collection, sorting and Key involved activities
Large Swedish fast fashion recycling firm I:Co, KappAhl engages in taking back • Strategic collection and setting of I:Co’s collection containers in shops
retailer of used clothes under its “Wear, Love, and Give Back” Customer value proposition
program. It offers strategic locations in its shops for • Discount vouchers of 50 SEK per donated bag to old wearer on return
setting up I:Co’s collection containers. In return gives of used clothes (applies to purchases over 300 SEK)
discount vouchers to customers • Sustainable image of extended responsibility
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Fresh purchase of new clothes by customers using discount vouchers
• Money from I:Collect
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives …

Nudie Jeans • Engages with repair of its own brand (wearer retains Key involved activities
Swedish fashion brand the ownership) • Repair services
• Takes back own brand from old wearers for reselling, • Reselling in own stores; also includes picking and packing,
repurposing, or recycling and in return gives discount laundering, and repairing
vouchers, under its “Eco-cycle” program consisting of • Clothes not qualifying for resale are either used to make denim rags
Repaid, Reuse, Reduce or sent for recycling
Customer value proposition
• Extended active lifetime of the clothes, minor redesigns
• Free repair service in Nudie repair shops or free sewing kit
• Resold branded clothes at lower price
• Reducing consumption of new clothes
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Purchase of second-hand clothes and denim rags
139

(continued)
Table 1  (continued)
140

Cases Post-retail initiative Business model components


Boomerang • Takes back own brand from old wearers for minor Key involved activities
Swedish fashion brand for redesigning or repurposing, and reselling through own • Reselling in some of its regular stores (with new clothes) as
casual wear stores, under the concept called Boomerang effect Boomerang Vintage
launched in 2008. Old wearer is offered discount • Redesigning into interior products (Boomerang Home) for selling as
voucher on return home textiles in own store
Customer value proposition
• Resold branded clothes at lower price
• Partly reducing consumption of new clothes
• Discount vouchers of 10–20 % to old wearer on return of used clothes;
old wearer should include the personal life story of the clothing
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Sale of second-hand clothes as vintage and of interior products
Haglöfs • Takes back own brand from old wearers for reselling, Key involved activities
Swedish outdoor clothing under the concept of “Swapstories” and in return gives • Reselling in Haglöf’s brand store (with new clothes) under the
brand discount vouchers to the old wearer second-hand concept called “Swapstories” as long as the clothes are
intact and clean
Customer value proposition
• Discount vouchers of 20 % to old wearer on return of used clothes
• Partly reducing consumption of new clothes
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Sale of second-hand clothes
Beibamboo • Involved with leasing of clothes (presently Key involved activities
Finnish baby clothes brand nonoperating in this format); retains product ownership • Leasing of clothes
with leasing option • Delivery and pick-up services
• Laundering (as an additional service)
Customer value proposition
• Collaborative usage of baby clothes
• High product quality to ensure extended lifetime
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Rental fee
(continued)
R. Pal
Table 1  (continued)
Cases Post-retail initiative Business model components
Uniforms for the Dedicated • Involved with designing and producing environment- Key involved activities
Swedish slow fashion brand friendly fashion garments based on recycled fibers • The Rag_Bag concept
creating timeless design using • Rents a small part of its collection on a short-term basis, • Leasing of clothes
recycled fibers under the concept “The Collection Library” Customer value proposition
• The Rag_Bag concept for donating old clothes • Collaborative usage of leased clothes
• Sustainability image
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Prepaid ragbags
• Rental fee
Dream and Awake • Sells unique redesigned clothes Key involved activities
Swedish redesign brand and • Organizes redesign workshops with individual wearers • Old clothes are collected, redesigned, photographed, and sold through
studio (wearers retain the ownership of the product) mobile studios and online shops
• Redesign services through mobile studios (design, facility, equipment)
to wearers
Customer value proposition
• Upcycling through redesign
• (Re)-design co-created with wearer
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Sale of redesigned clothes
• Redesign charges
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives …

Stormie Poodle • Upcycles of high quality hotel linen into kids wear Key involved activities
Swedish designer-based chil- • Buying of washed linen from laundry, initial sorting, product develop-
dren wear brand ment, organizing sorting and manufacturing at vocational facilities
Customer value proposition
• Value creation from industrial wastes
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Sales of repurposed products through web shops and also to retailers
(continued)
141
Table 1  (continued)
142

Cases Post-retail initiative Business model components


Design Stories • Upcycles clothing wastes and production spills of Key involved activities
Swedish designer-based home project partners (such as charities, second-hand retailers, • Collection, design, and prototype development from clothing wastes
interior brand etc.) and production spills of project collaborators; outsourced production
• Organizes do-it-yourself (DIY) workshops • Co-developing repurposing processes through communication via
various workshops, tutorials and seminars
Customer value proposition
• Value creation from both production and consumer waste materials
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Online sales of repurposed products
• Workshops held at companies
Mocklis • Engaged with upcycling of leftovers from Swedish Key involved activities
Swedish manufacturer of folk- charity organization • Picking of usable materials from leftovers, cutting, and repurposing
lore and knitted socks (with (outsourced sorting, laundering, and sewing processes)
timeless design) Customer value proposition
• Value creation from consumer waste materials
• Social sustainability in engaging prisoners in workforce
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Online sales of repurposed bags
Skryta • Offers design services to upcycle both post-consumer Key involved activities
Swedish designer-based home clothes waste obtained from Swedish charity organization • Picking of usable materials from leftovers, cutting and repurposing
interior brand and production spills (outsourced sorting, laundering, and sewing processes)
Customer value proposition
• Value creation from both production and consumer waste materials
• Social sustainability in engaging prisoners in workforce
Profit/revenue generation formula
• Sales through small web shop for local designers
aSEK Swedish Krona
R. Pal
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 143

Table 2  Qualitative rating of closing the material and liability loops by various business models
Business model category Displacement Extended organizational
potentiala responsibilityb
Fast Fashion brands and retailers Low Medium (1.5)
(Evident cases: Monki, KappAhl) [IR = Partial (0.5),
PR + OFR = Full (1), O = No
(0)]
Slow Fashion brands Low or Medium Medium-to-High (2)
(Evident cases: Nudie Jeans, [IR = Full (1), PR + OFR = Full
Boomerang, Haglöfs) (1), O = No (0)]
Slow Fashion brands with leasing Medium High (3)
(Evident cases: Beibamboo, [IR = Full (1), PR + OFR = Full
Uniforms for the Dedicated) (1), O = Full (1)]
Slow Redesign brands High Medium (1.5)
(Evident cases: Dream and Awake, [IR = Partial (0.5),
Stormie Poodle, Designstories, PR + OFR = Full (1), O = No
Mocklis, Skyrta) (0)]

aDisplacement effect is denoted as Low/Medium/High depending upon whether the businesses


do/partially do/do not offer a scope to purchase new clothes through its business
bExtended organizational responsibility is denoted as Low/Medium/High depending upon

whether the businesses takes no/partial/full liability in managing the post-retail initiative. It
is cumulative regarding three constituent responsibilities: information responsibility, physi-
cal + outsourced financial responsibility, and product ownership

First, resource efficiency forms a very crucial base in this study for defining
sustainable value generation in post-retail businesses, and this is measured in terms
of displacement potential. The displacement potential is recorded along a three-
point Likert scale (high–medium–low) depending upon whether the post-retail ini-
tiative does or does not offer any possibility of purchasing new clothes through
its business. The displacement effect is high if no such possibility is offered, for
example, in case of reuse, and it is low if discount vouchers are offered to wearers
on return of old clothes. However, the correlation is much more complex in reality
as there are other intervening factors deciding the displacement potential.
Within the scope of EOR, considering that there is no current legislation for
producers or importers to take responsibility for the environmental impact, waste
management, and disposal of their products (in the countries from which the
cases have been selected), liability as a responsibility was not further investigated.
Additionally the financial responsibility was adapted into outsourced financial
responsibility in order to differentiate those actors who solely pay third parties
to take care of their products. Even though physical and informative responsi-
bilities can be strictly executed by one actor in the value chain itself, they are
always connected to labor and resource costs, and therefore finances, which are
not considered in the existing literature. Thus based on this logic one could argue
that every actor that takes over physical and/or informative responsibilities is also
financially responsible. The extended responsibility was measured along its three
components, information responsibility (IR), physical and outsourced financial
144 R. Pal

responsibility (PR and OFR), and ownership (O) using a similar three-point Likert
scale (high–medium–low). If cues from the transcribed interviews or written doc-
umentation were obtained supporting each of these components then they were
scored as 1, otherwise 0. This denotes whether the company takes no/partial/full
liability in managing the post-retail initiative.

8 Post-retail Initiatives and Underlying Business Models

8.1 Key Activities in Post-retail Initiatives

The study showed that the fast fashion businesses (Monki/H&M and KappAhl)
predominantly engage with product take-back schemes through strategic collec-
tion of used clothes in their stores. Such activities are organized in collaboration
with global sorting partners such as I:Co or Kicki. Collection takes place in con-
tainers of 6–7 kilo capacity and on deposition wearer receives a discount voucher
for use during a subsequent new purchase.
The slow fashion brands, on the other hand, engage with a wider range of
activities, including collection, refurbishing through repairing, laundering, and so
on, and reselling. These brands generally organize these multiple reverse logistics
activities under a marketable concept or program; for example, Nudie Jeans under
its “Eco-cycle” program offers its wearer scope to repair broken jeans either at
the Nudie Repair Stores or by using DIY repair kit, free of charge. Through its
website Nudie offers its wearers the possibility to fill in a form to dispatch the
repair kit needed to mend the broken jeans. Such a repair kit typically contains
denim patches, iron patch, needle, spool of thread, repair kit booklet, and thim-
ble. In addition, reselling is also organized by these slow fashion brands either in
the regular stores, as in the case of Boomerang and Nudie, or in different stores
dedicated to selling second-hand items of their own brand, as done by Filippa
K. Furthermore, these brands also take care of washing the garments, and pick-
ing and packing them before they are put out for sale. Boomerang organizes
such resale through seven stores selling its own brand, four of which are located
in Stockholm. Ekvall et al. (2014) report that since the start in 2011 Boomerang
has collected around 7000 garments annually. Nudie Jeans similarly gives a reuse
option to its wearer, by offering possibilities either to make minor patchworks to
extend the life of the jeans, or to make something completely different by recon-
structing the jeans into a bag or shorts. Otherwise, wearers could donate their old
jeans which are then washed and repaired and put back in the shop as second-hand
items only if they achieve the Swedish “Good Environmental Choice” eco-label
standard. Sometimes, Nudie Jeans is also involved in collaborations with designers
and other creatives under the program “Denim Maniacs” to give worn-out jeans a
second life. Haglöfs engages with a similar program aimed at reselling their own
brand as second-hand. Some of the other slower fashion brands have ventured into
leasing and renting business models, in addition. For example, two such brands
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 145

observed this study—Beibamboo and Uniforms for the Dedicated—engage with


leasing a specific section of its clothes. Alongside they are involved with other
service provisions necessary to appropriate the leasing activity, such as launder-
ing, delivery, and picking services. However, due to several management reasons
Beibamboo discontinued its leasing concept 3 years after its start. During its oper-
ation period, the business had about 25 customers who could either opt to rent a
mini- set with 6 pieces of baby clothes or a basic set with 15 pieces (Ekvall et al.
2014). Uniforms for the Dedicated, on the other hand, is involved with renting a
small part of its collection consisting of selected suits and outerwear on a short-
term basis (for a maximum of a week) through its store in Stockholm.
The smaller slow fashion, on the other hand, engages more with redesign activi-
ties. Although some of them are totally based upon the redesign philosophy, as in
case of Dream and Awake and Stormie Poodle, the others include some redesign
alternatives in their regular slow design collections. The redesign activities are
mostly conducted with used clothes or textiles, either bought or collected from
other actors in the used clothing network or individual wearers. Stormie Poodle,
for example, works with reconstructing hotel linen into kidswear by buying washed
linen from the laundries followed by initial sorting of the material in Sweden. The
linen is then sent to Latvia for a second sorting in collaboration with vocational
schools. Dream and Awake, on the other hand, collects or buys old vintage clothes
from the market and redesigns, photographs, and finally sells them through mobile
studios. It is also involved with organizing redesign workshops with wearers in pro-
viding designs, facilities, and equipment to help them redesign their own clothes.
Working with a slightly different format, the slow fashion brands organize rede-
sign activities by working with charities including the Red Cross, to collect textile
wastes and leftovers from them. These materials are then redesigned to develop pro-
totypes in the studios of these redesign brands. Other supporting activities such as
sorting, washing, and sewing are usually outsourced to other organizations includ-
ing social institutions such as prisons and disability homes. Mocklis, for example,
works in collaboration with Syverket, a company that sorts the wastes thus help-
ing the brand to pick up the usable materials; this is followed by organizing sewing
activities at the workshops in prisons. In addition Mocklis also utilizes small local
production facilities to produce the final redesigned products (bags). Design Stories,
in a similar way, works with another charity-led organization called Emmaus, to get
diverse materials such as plastic bags and fabric. It collects production spills from
other companies to fuse these materials to make slow craft hand-made lamps.

8.2 Customer Value Proposition (CVP) of Post-retail


Initiatives

The fast fashion businesses aim at generating a sustainable brand image to their
customers through involvement with post-retail initiatives. Both Monki/H&M and
KappAhl share extensive information about their collaborative garment collection
146 R. Pal

schemes through company websites and social media to show their commitment
towards making a change in the garment life cycle. Through their programs,
“Second Chance” and “Wear, Love, and Give Back,” respectively, these businesses
quite explicitly share information about the post-retail objectives as an integral
part of company values. Monki, for example, clearly specifies “Second Chance” in
their website under company values and as an integral part of their “way of doing
business.” KappAhl (and also H&M), on the other hand, considers and reports
such initiatives under “Our Responsibility” in their websites. In addition, fast
fashion businesses also offer discount vouchers to all wearers on donation of old
clothes under different schemes, either as 10–15 % off or as a monetary discount
(50 SEK) on new purchases over 300 SEK.
The slower fashion brands, such as Boomerang, Nudie Jeans, and Haglöfs,
also engage in a similar way to offer value to their customers, by offering dis-
count vouchers ranging between 10–20 % to the old wearer on their return of
used clothes. In addition these brands also try to tell a story to its wearers through
the process of reselling. Haglöfs, for example, under its second-hand concept of
“Swapstories” narrates a story written by the garment’s previous owner about what
they have experienced together with the product (Reuters 2012). Such stories can
be submitted in advance via the Swedish Haglöfs website, where it is possible to
read other people’s stories as well. On submitting a story along with returning a
garment a higher discount can be obtained. Nudie Jeans, on the other hand, main-
tains one of the most comprehensive websites where it shares detailed informa-
tion on every step of its “Eco-cycle”: break-in, repair, reuse, and recycle. Nudie’s
storytelling to its wearer is based upon a transparent inscription of all its processes
and operations through blogs, videos, and guides, and flowcharts posted through
its website, thus offering a unique value and sense of responsibility to its wearer.
Free services in the form of in-store repairing and sending out of repair toolkits
are a part of the extended value proposition and brand strategy of Nudie Jeans. As
highlighted by Niinimäki et al. (2015) both Nudie Jeans and Boomerang use this
strategy to endorse their brand and communicate sustainability. To some extent
such transparency in communicating information explicitly portrays these brands’
initiative to attain a circular economy and resource efficiency.
On the other hand, the fashion brands engaged with leasing activities focus on
offering their wearers the benefits related to collaborative consumption. In case
of Beibamboo, typically the benefit offered to the babies’ parents was in terms of
payment of a small fee to receive a set of 5–12 clothes rented over a long period
of time, till the babies outgrow the size. Additional services such as delivery and
pick-ups were also arranged by the brand along with washing and regular care of
the clothes.
In general the redesign brands, however, focus more on the redesign aspects
of the product through upcycling. These brands claim to reinvigorate and redefine
the old into something new. Dream and Awake, for example, claims that in doing
so it adopts a “social + green” business model format as it uses no virgin mate-
rial during its production and the social aspect is maintained by paying a fair sum
of money to the tailors. Along with this, the wearers are also offered the feeling
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 147

of wearing “unique pieces,” available in one sample only, very similar to having
a customized vintage garment. Stormie Poodle similarly generates a combination
of the “social + green” business model by utilizing old hotel linen as the start-
ing raw material and further carrying out the production at vocational facilities
in the Baltic countries to support social development. Mocklis and Skyrta, on the
other hand, build upon their social aspects of sustainability by engaging prisoners
from the jails and handicapped people. In all, these brands highlight their resource
efficiency and circularity through upcycled design to underpin their sustainability
image, thus proposing value to the wearer or user.

8.3 Revenue Generation from Post-retail Initiatives

Revenue generation is a critical requirement of all business models. Such revenue


generation in “social + green” business models stands on three pillars: social,
environmental, and economic profits. In the case of the post-retail initiatives, bal-
ancing these three profit formulas significantly keeps the “social + green” busi-
ness model operating sustainably. Although this section only highlights economic
profit as a component of traditional business models, the environmental and social
profits are reported as sustainable value generators in closed-loop value chains, in
the next section.
The fast fashion companies receive some money from the sorting partners in
supporting the in-store collection activities although most of it is donated to chari-
ties and for societal causes. Monki, for example, reports that it receives money
from I:Co even though any earnings made are split between H&M’s research fund
and Plan International’s “Because I Am a Girl” project. However, a big share of
revenue is generated indirectly from the post-retail business format by offering
discount vouchers. Such discount vouchers are expected to generate higher pur-
chases of new items thus resulting in sufficient revenue generation.
The slow fashion brands mainly generate revenue in two ways. Similar to the
fast fashion companies these brands also provide discount vouchers to the wear-
ers thus creating an indirect revenue generation stream from their post-retail ini-
tiatives. Apart from that, resale from second-hand clothes sufficiently generates
revenue as well. Boomerang, for example, sells its second-hand vintage collec-
tion through regular stores at a price range between 300–500 SEK, whereas the
Boomerang Home products in the Effect Collection made from fabric offcuts are
sold at a much higher price. Similarly, Nudie Jeans sells its rag rugs made from
denim rags at a price range between 1999–5999 SEK. However as reported in
Palm et al. (2014), Haglöfs did not gain any money from the sale of its second-
hand items due to its high amount of charitable donations (Palm et al. 2014).
The redesign brands in a similar way price their upcycled products quite high
as revealed through the study. Mocklis, for example, priced its upcycled bags
between 1000 to 2200 SEK whereas Skyrta sells its lamps on-demand (made out
of Red Cross’s leftovers) at over 5000 SEK per piece. However, most of these
148 R. Pal

small-scale redesign brands work on the redesign business as either an experimen-


tal or start-up project alongside their main business model of selling slow fashion
design, mainly due to the long break-even periods in the upcycling business and
other inherent challenges to it, such as high costs of sorting and low recovery rate
among others. Stormie Poodle, for example, highlights the high cost of redesign-
ing in Sweden and the long manufacturing time required to redesign each product
manually.

9 Post-retail Initiatives and Closing the Loop

9.1 Closing the Material Loop by Displacing New Purchase

Fast fashion businesses communicate their post-retail collection initiatives in col-


laboration with other partners as an attempt to close the material loop to attain a
resource-efficient circular economy. However, several recent investigations criti-
cize these efforts, considering them to be merely a part of branding and market-
ing (Ekvall et al. 2014). The recent debate on whether fast fashion companies are
actually sidestepping the issues of overproduction and consumption by showcas-
ing these post-retail initiatives is steadily gaining prominence (Guardian 2015).
In this context, the potential to displace the purchase of new garments serves as
one of the possible indicators of such a closed loop process. However, this is one
of the major drawbacks of the attempt to close the loop undertaken by the fast
fashion companies. They engage just with collection of the used clothes and in
return provide discount vouchers worth 10–15 % off from the new purchase from
their own stores, resulting in a low degree of displacement potential. Customers
are now simply attracted towards a perpetual environment of discounts available
year-round in the stores: one of the key drivers of a throwaway economy thus
depositing more and more of their old clothes and in return buying new ones.
With limitations of the currently available technologies complete separation of the
mixed fibers into constituents is still a tale of the future, and thus does not really
support the claim that recycling the donated clothes would rechannel the entire
material into the resource pool once again at the same rate at which virgin materi-
als are utilized. Moreover, each turn of fashion also creates a huge carbon foot-
print, even if it’s in the loop.
The slow fashion brands in spite of offering similar discount vouchers to the
customers on donation of their used clothes further engage with resale of second-
hand items. Such resales not only extend the lifetime of the old garments but are
expected to replace the purchase of new items as well thus having considerable
potential to displace new purchases. Furthermore, such reuse material loops are
expected to have considerably lower carbon footprints and impact on natural
resources (Farrant et al. 2010). The leasing slow fashion brands go a step farther in
their effort to increase displacement of new purchases. They possess the positive
potential as also rendered by resale through extension of the usage lifetime of the
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 149

product. In addition, they promote collaborative consumption thus satisfying mul-


tiple users, as also highlighted by Mont et al. (2006). This significantly increases
the usage time of each product (as a ratio to its shelf life) thus having the potential
to have a higher displacement rate. However, this relationship is not simple as in
the meantime the wearer/shopper may save enough money to buy a new one, thus
upsetting the benefits that displacement gained.
In comparison, the redesign brands offer a much higher displacement effect as
they rarely utilize virgin materials to manufacture new items. Instead these brands
are constantly upcycling old used materials and rechanneling them into the con-
sumption cycle, thus having significant impact.
Overall, in terms of resource efficiency (measured by the potential to displace
the purchase of a new one), the redesign brands show the best results in terms of
displacement potential: to replace the purchase of new clothes by the resale of
redesigned old clothes. The slow fashion brands are also considerable in terms of
their displacement potential countering the negative impacts of offering discount
vouchers to stimulate new purchases. However, the fast fashion companies prove
to be the worst among all considering their sole endpoint to closing the loop activ-
ity is by stimulating new purchases.

9.2 Closing the Liability Loop Through Extended


Organizational Responsibility (EOR)

The fast fashion companies, Monki and KappAhl, show low physical responsi-
bility in managing used clothes beyond their in-store collection in the I:Co con-
tainers. Responsibility is limited in terms of just offering space for placement
of the collection containers. However, further stewardship of sorting and resell-
ing/reusing/recycling these collected items is financially outsourced to I:Co
through a strong partnership. I:Co maintains a well-established automatic col-
lection and logistics network to transport the collected used clothes to its Wolfen
Textile Recycling Plant. It is still unclear “who pays whom” in this collabora-
tion. Interviews suggest that it is the brands and retailers who pay a fee to I:Co to
install these containers thus undertaking a financial responsibility in outsourcing
the physical management of the waste. On the other hand, company websites sug-
gest otherwise; for example, Monki reports that it receives money from I:Co even
though any earnings made are split between research and charitable work.
Information responsibility in the case of these fast fashion companies is com-
municated very clearly through company websites, marketing campaigns, and
other social media. This has become an integral part of their brand strategies and
an avenue to communicate their sustainability image. Most of the time, the infor-
mation on post-retail initiatives and collection schemes are documented either in
the company’s sustainability report and can be found under “core value” in the
company’s website. Monki, for example, conveys information about its “Second
Chance” program, along with other corporate social responsibilities under “Monki
150 R. Pal

Values”. However, interestingly, none of these fast fashion companies provides a


transparent and holistic view of the entire closing the loop process, meaning that
it is unclear what happens to the collected items once they are received by I:Co.
Do they end up in Africa or some other developing regions, and so on? The figures
projected are also very coarse; for example, ~30 % is recycled as stated on I:Co
website. The fast fashion companies do not refer to details of traceability of the
products once collected through their stores, even though they claim to disagree
on this issue. Some fast fashion companies do deposit their leftovers to I:Co which
can be traced back from their brand logos, until they are debranded.
The slow fashion brands, Nudie Jeans, Boomerang, and Haglöfs, on the other
hand, exercise a high degree of physical responsibility towards managing the used
clothes of their own brand collected through their stores. Such liabilities as dis-
cussed earlier include collection, refurbishing services, along with reselling and
recycling thus representing multiple reverse logistics processes. These brands sell
the clothes as second-hand directly through their own stores only after they attain a
certain quality standard. Those that do not pass the quality test are instead converted
to a completely different product category. Nudie Jeans, for example, engages with
collection of its own used brand through its stores, provides free repair services to
wearers in case they want to extend their period of use of the jeans, and in other
cases takes back the jeans from the wearer to wash, repair, and put them up for
resale. Only those jeans which have achieved the Swedish “Good Environmental
Choice” eco-label are resold, and the rest are recycled to make something com-
pletely different out of the denim rags. Nudie’s recycled product range includes
carpets and camper seats. Similarly Boomerang’s concept of “Boomerang Effect”
includes a holistic management of their used own brand through a return system,
reselling vintage and redesigning the rest into interior home decors.
Communication of information related to such comprehensive post-retail ini-
tiatives is also done in a very systematic way. Niinimäki et al. (2015) suggest that
wearers and shoppers who are actively interested in sustainability look for related
information and news primarily through the company websites apart from in-store
communication of sustainability. Lack of special campaigns and immediate first-
page information on the company website invariably results in not capturing the
attention of the less proactive customers. In this context, Nudie Jeans is a pioneer
in communicating its efforts transparently through its website. It has a very dedi-
cated website that conveys all its post-retail initiatives and processes. Not only do
all these brands use their regular stores to communicate their story to the wearers,
but Nudie by setting up its repair shop inside the regular shop, and Boomerang and
Haglöfs by mixing reselling of second-hand with new ones in regular stores also
reach out to the consumer. In addition, Nudie Jeans also offers its wearer a mul-
titude of information, both audiovisual and readable, including washing guides,
self-repairing booklet, end-of-life possibilities, and the like to communicate the
services and other actions for becoming more sustainable. Overall, these brands
engage in a very high degree of information responsibility.
In an alternative business model based upon leasing, Beibamboo exercises
complete physical management of the clothes to and from each wearer along
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 151

with its maintenance through washing and minor repairs if required. Furthermore,
under the leasing model the brand also retains complete ownership of the prod-
uct throughout its lifetime. Similarly in autumn 2013 Uniforms for the Dedicated
also selected some parts of its collection for short-term leasing in its store in
Stockholm thus contributing towards communicating careful shopping (Niinimäki
et al. 2015). It also communicates such efforts through its official website, and the
rental concept is labeled as “The Collection Library.” Here interested renters can
read about the idea of what it calls “time share” and can get all practical details
and terms related to renting a Uniforms for the Dedicated product. In addition, its
owner Mike Lind considers the use of store as the platform to communicate these
efforts to customers as not many of them are totally aware of the concept.
Redesign brands are also at the forefront of taking physical responsibility
of the wastes and used clothes that are neither produced nor imported by them.
However, this is executed in a slightly different way. These companies either buy
or receive various kind of wastes, such as clothing wastes (in the case of Mocklis,
Skryta, and Dream and Awake), production spills (in the case of Design Stories),
and used textiles (in the case of Stormie Poodle) from a number of suppliers or
partners including charities, retailers, or even individual people. These suppliers
or partners can be commercial, such as the hotels supplying used linen in the case
of Stormie Poodle or nonprofit charities in the case of Design Stories, Mocklis,
and Skryta. After collection, these small redesign brands engage with design and
prototype development. Considering the relatively small size of business, these
redesign brands have limited financial and infrastructural leverage, hence they are
compelled to outsource many of the value-appropriating services, such as sorting,
washing, and sewing required to regenerate value of the upcycled product to pris-
ons or to other service-providing companies.
Furthermore, information responsibility of these small-scale redesign brands
are predominantly through physical platforms, such as training sessions and work-
shops as compared to communication through websites. Dream and Awake, for
example, communicates its redesign potential to the wearers through its mobile
redesign studio offering a suitable space, tolos, and materials as well as skills and
knowledge to those who can redesign their own garments. Design Stories similarly
conducts workshops for instructing and developing the redesign processes together
with others (partners and clients). Such workshops are conducted at many places,
including colleges, companies, and organizations and cover several different top-
ics, for example, design process, sustainable design, design and waste, energy, and
design, among others. It further shares certain cases and project stories through its
website. However, both the responsibility and the amount of information commu-
nicated by these brands are not as extensive as can be found in the case of the large
slow fashion brands, heavily focused towards brand development. Instead these
efforts are mainly small-scale and project-oriented. The other brands incorporated
in the study merely communicate any further information on their post-retail initia-
tives through their websites apart from just portraying themselves as slow fashion.
Overall, it can be highlighted that the slow fashion brands exercise the high-
est degree of responsibility through their post-retail initiatives. This is attributed
152 R. Pal

by more holistic physical management of their own used brand by undertaking


multiple reverse logistics activities, along with extensive efforts taken in com-
municating sustainability. In fact these slow fashion brands epitomize their post-
retail concepts and initiatives through social media, particularly their websites
and stores, in such an explicit way that customers without the slightest hesitation
can grasp their core business priority. Fast fashion brands and retailers and the
small redesign brands follow next in terms of their total liability towards closing
the loop. Although the fast fashion businesses do outsource most of the activi-
ties concerning physical management of the used items through partnership, they
financially bear the cost of it. Furthermore, these fast fashion businesses engage
in mega events and competitions to exemplify their efforts although a deeper
look may raise issues related to transparency in information sharing along the
revalue chain. The redesign brands undertake physical management of the items
in a slightly different way. Even though these brands outsource most of the value
appropriation activities such as washing, sewing, and the like, they take complete
responsibility in upcycling leftovers and wastes of other actors to make some-
thing new and valuable. However, possibly due to financial limitations owing to
the smaller size these brands have a lower level of communication efforts through
various channels.
Table 2 summarizes the above discussion in terms of closing the material and
liability loops and establishes a qualitative rating of the sustainable value-genera-
tion efforts for each business model category.

10 Brand Positioning: Are the Fast Fashion Businesses


“Stuck in the Middle”?

With the increasing cults of throw-away fashion and hence growth of textile
wastes, the post-retail segment offers business opportunities for fashion companies
beyond just recyclers, charities, and second-hand retailers (Hvass 2014). The post-
retail segment and businesses associated with it are nothing new and for several
decades copious activities such as donation of used clothes to charities, reselling
used clothes in flea markets, and so on have existed, even though the system of
diverting wastes to landfill and/or energy recovery still maintains the majority.
However, recently in light of the unsustainable practices of the textile and fashion
industry resulting in depletion of the world’s resources and environmental prob-
lems gaining prominence (Birtwistle and Moore 2007), fashion businesses are
increasingly undertaking post-retail initiatives to overcome their unsustainable
practices and image. Hvass (2014) highlights that in such an environment, fash-
ion companies are increasingly rethinking their existing value propositions and
collaborations with a multitude of stakeholders to devise sustainable solutions for
closing the loop. The relation between sustainability and fashion business mod-
els in the case of forward value chains is pretty straightforward, concluding that
the resource-hungry, cheap fast fashion businesses are unsustainable, whereas the
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 153

slow fashion brands built upon timeless design, high durability, and green con-
cepts are more sustainable in nature (Fletcher 2013). However, the relation is less
explored when it comes to different post-retail initiatives undertaken by fast and
slow fashion businesses.
Post-retail responsibilities for these fashion companies, in general, can be dis-
tinguished predominantly into two main categories, second-hand retailing and
product take-back schemes, and are increasingly driven by the demands of gen-
erating a circular economy (Ellen McArthur Foundation 2013). The key environ-
mental factors driving these operating post-retail business models aim towards
generating a resource-efficient circular economy, and have been prioritized by all
important actors in civil society, business, and government. These drivers fall back
to the notion of closing the loop both by:
1. Recirculating the raw materials back into the consumption cycle in infinite
loops
2. Taking extended liability or responsibility in handling the material reflow and
related information
Although the first closing the loop process is conducted through reverse logistics
activities following the five-R (i.e., reuse, reduce, recycle, redesign, and reimag-
ine) approach to take care of the tangible flow, these additionally extend the intan-
gible liabilities or responsibilities of the companies in managing the circularity.
In this context, traditional business model components, viz. key activities, cus-
tomer value proposition, and economic profit formula (Magretta 2002), cannot
alone define the success and value generated through these businesses. Sustainable
value generation in this context involves closing both the material and liability
loops to attain a resource-efficient circular economy and exercise extended organi-
zational responsibility.
Although implementing a closed material loop through post-retail initiatives, it
can be concluded that the fast fashion companies show minimum resource effi-
ciency owing to their business strategy of offering discount vouchers to customers
on donating used clothes. In such a case, the potential to displace the purchase of
a new item is considerably low owing to the possibility that customers get induced
into the spiral of throwing way old stuff from their wardrobe more frequently than
ever to get discounts on new purchases. In fact such a spiral can increasingly lead
to a scenario of perpetual discounts available year-round in the stores, a symbol of
fast fashion culture (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst 2010; Birtwistle and Moore 2007).
On the other hand, the small redesign brands offering no possibility to buy prod-
ucts made out of virgin raw materials can be considered to offer higher displace-
ment potential.
Findings from the current study further show that in the liability loop, prod-
uct stewardship executed by the fast fashion businesses is comparatively lower
than the slow fashion brands’. Out of the two predominant business strategies
highlighted by Hvass (2014), the fast fashion businesses only undertake product
take-back schemes through their retail stores, whereas the slow fashion brands
combine it with reselling as a part of their post-retail responsibility. Furthermore,
154 R. Pal

some of the slow fashion brands follow a leasing business model thus taking com-
plete ownership of the products throughout its extended lifetime thus increasing
the extent of responsibility undertaken. In addition, lack of traceability and of
communicating transparency regarding used clothes flow further decreases cred-
ibility for the collectors (fast fashion companies), hence their commitment in post-
retail activities as perceived by the wearers (Palm et al. 2014). Even though there
is an increasing need to communicate more information regarding the treatment
of the collected clothes, not much has been done by the retailers to address this
issue. With a higher degree of control on the post-retail initiatives the slow fash-
ion brands possess and also communicate their efforts more transparently through
social media and various other channels. Overall, the fast fashion businesses are
positioned quite delicately in terms of generating their sustainable value in the
post-retail initiative, as shown in Fig. 2.
The main challenge of the fast fashion business model in terms of the sustain-
ability advantage in generating value in post-retail market, as depicted in Fig. 2,
can be labeled the “stuck in the middle” challenge. On one hand the fast fashion
businesses show a lower level of responsibility compared to that executed by the
slow fashion brands, whereas in terms of displacement potential they can be rated
the least.
Even though it emerged that the trade-off between sustainability and “speed
of fashion” is not completely dichotomized in the case of post-retail initiatives,

Fig. 2  Brand positioning in post-retail segment. FF Fast fashion businesses, SFB slow fashion
brands, ReD slow redesign brands
Sustainable Value Generation Through Post-retail Initiatives … 155

and fast fashion businesses do execute considerable stewardship in “responsibil-


ity management,” they are, however, under competitive pressure from both slow
fashion and redesign brands in terms of closing the liability and material loops,
respectively. In this context it could perhaps be concluded that the “stuck in the
middle” positioning of the fast fashion companies may eventually reduce their sus-
tainability advantage due to emerging pressures from both sides by slow fashion
and redesign brands.

11 Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the trade-off between sustain-
ability and “speed of fashion” in fashion business models (classified into slow and
fast fashions) as evident in forward value chains is equally observable in post-
retail initiatives. In this context, this explorative study sheds light on various issues
related to post-retail initiatives taken in the fashion industry in terms of sustainable
value generation and strategic positioning of various operating fashion business
models. First, a deeper understanding of diverse post-retail initiatives undertaken
by various fashion businesses is presented, and is thematically analyzed into tradi-
tional business model components, viz. key activities, customer value proposition,
and profit formula. The study categorized these fashion business models into four
broad types: fast fashion, slow fashion, slow fashion with leasing, and redesign,
based upon the differences underlying their business model components. A deeper
conceptual underpinning to post-retail initiatives is provided in terms of closing
the loop, viz. material efficiency and liability. Secondly, the study advances the
understanding of the source of sustainable value generation in the post-retail mar-
ket in terms of closing the material and liability loops, thus adding to environmen-
tal and social profit generation. This way it conceptualizes the success drivers of
post-retail businesses. By analyzing these post-retail initiatives of various slow
and fast fashion businesses, the study shows that the trade-off between sustain-
ability and speed is not as rigid in the case of the reverse value chain as it is in
the forward value chain, probably because there is always an aspect of greenness
and social responsibility rendered by all businesses when operating in post-retail.
However, the fast fashion businesses are somewhat in a “stuck in the middle” posi-
tion in comparison to the slow and redesign brands along the material and liability
loops.
Future research along this line can explore various possibilities. Quantitative
and simulation studies can be conducted to explore the role and benefits of both
displacement potential and product responsibility in closing the loops to attain
higher resource efficiency and liability. These studies can delve in detail into
many issues, including consumer purchase behavior with and without discounts,
effect of redesigning on new purchases, effect of reuse on new purchases, and so
on. Furthermore, a detailed quantitative formulation of the results of this study is
highly desirable.
156 R. Pal

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Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn,
Rejuvenates Nature and the Sustainable
Fashion Industry of Korea

Kyung Eun Lee and Eulanda A. Sanders

Abstract Sustainable production and consumption in the fashion industry has


become an imminent and crucial phenomenon globally. Adoption of natural fibers
is an eco-design approach to accomplish sustainable product development capital-
izing on environmentally conscious characteristics such as renewability and bio-
degradability. Therefore, several Korean textile companies (e.g., Ssang-Young,
Oh-Sung) and textile research institutions (e.g., Korea Institute for Knit Industry)
have led the development of Hanji yarn, a yarn made from cellulosic fibers of the
inner bark of the mulberry paper trees (IBMP) using manufacturing processes
adapted from traditional Korean paper production methods. The unique raw mate-
rials and novel production processes used to produce Hanji yarn has resulted in
a textile product that can increase the aesthetics and functionality of apparel and
products of other product categories. Fabrics created from Hanji yarn have been
adopted by several global apparel companies, specifically within the activewear
market. The success of Hanji yarn within the apparel and textile industry is a
prime example of integrating sustainable materials and technology to promote
green fashion in the global market.

Keywords Sustainability · Hanji yarn · Natural materials · Corporate social


responsibility

K.E. Lee (*)


Department of Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management,
Iowa State University, 28 Mackay Hall, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
E.A. Sanders
Department of Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management,
Iowa State University, 1052 LeBaron, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 159


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_7
160 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

1 Introduction

1.1 Definition of Sustainability

Sustainability is a fundamental process of businesses to protect the environment


and prevent harm to natural resources (Khan and Islam 2015; Choudhury 2015).
Sustainability in business concerns an entire life cycle of natural resources, how
these resources are collected, processed, applied, and refilled, and the influence
of consumption and discarding of manufactured products (Khan and Islam 2015).
Gardetti and Muthu (2015) explain sustainability from an entrepreneurial stand-
point, which may embrace pollution avoidance, efficient resource utilization,
adoption of sustainable technology, corporate social responsibility (CSR), human
rights, transparent management, and stakeholder relationship management (SRM).
Defining sustainability in relation to apparel manufacturing, Roy Choudhury
(2015) addresses the importance of balancing three areas within the supply chain:
(a) society (e.g., fair trade, human rights), (b) economy (e.g., economic returns),
and (c) environment (e.g., efficient energy use, recycling raw materials and
energy). Sustainability of apparel products refers to creating an environmentally
and socially responsible design philosophy and trend in products (Adams and
Frost 2008). In accordance with the definitions in previous studies related to sus-
tainability, this case study is focused on how apparel products are made from natu-
ral materials.

1.2 Impact of Apparel Industry on Environment

The apparel industry comprises a large sector of the world’s economy and contrib-
utes approximately US $3 trillion (Gardetti and Muthu 2015). The harmful impact
of the apparel industry to our environment, and ultimately our society, occurs in
the various stages of the apparel product life cycle: through the production of raw
materials (fibers, yarns, and textiles), production of garments (construction, pack-
aging, and logistics), and post-production activities related to the end-use (recy-
cling or discarding) of products (Khan and Islam 2015). Problematic sustainability
issues in the apparel industry result from the development of textiles involving
the use of toxic chemicals, synthetic materials, and energy in wet-processes such
as dyeing, printing, and finishing (Sivaramakrishnan 2009). The accumulation
of harmful synthetic chemical residuals used in textile production is discharged
directly into water sources, negatively affecting the soil, water, and environment
(Oceotextiles N.D.). There are over 70,000 synthetic chemicals used commer-
cially, despite a lack of scientific testing on their potential impact on the environ-
ment (Sivaramakrishnan 2009). In addition to chemical discharges, an excessive
amount of water and electrical energy is consumed during textile manufacturing
processes (Oceotextiles 2013). The stagnation of technological developments
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 161

and lack of further concrete research in the textile industry affects our environ-
ment because textile manufacturers usually depend on their previous knowledge
and experiences that are kept confidential rather than scientific approaches (Roy
Choudhury 2015).

1.3 What Is a Sustainable Firm?

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC, N.D.) defines the sustainable apparel
firms as the ones that make an effort to aggressively reduce environmental impact
of their products such as Nike, Patagonia, Stella McCartney, Eileen Fisher, and
NAU. For instance, Patagonia is a member of the Blue Sign® system, which is
one of the most respectable environmental sustainability auditing systems in tex-
tile production from fiber to processes, and the company produced its 100 % base
layer products solely with Blue Sign® system approved fabrics (Fetcher 2012).
Organizations, developed countries, environmental protection agencies, and the
apparel companies have developed production standards and regulations to con-
trol the disposal of toxic materials such as the Oeko-Tex standard, Blue Sign, and
the Global Organic Textile Standard (Abreu 2015). Previous studies have identi-
fied three conceptual approaches characterizing a firm’s endeavors to protect the
environment: (a) corporate social responsibility (CSR), (b) green supply chain
management (GSCM), and (c) eco-design. Khan and Islam (2015) assert that the
importance of an expanded role of the designer, as well as other stakeholders such
as the manufacturer, merchandiser, and consumer, is needed in the production,
usage, and disposal of the apparel products in consideration of current environ-
mental issues (see Tables 1 and 2).

Table 1  Hanji yarn’s global market growth (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015) (Unit: US
$1 million)
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2018 (Expected)
Hanji paper 0.15 0.49 0.86 1.27 11.82
Hanji yarn 0.45 1.82 3.18 4.55 34.55
Hanji fabric (Knit) 1.73 6.18 10.91 15.45 109.09
Hanji textile products 25 25 43.64 61.82 436.36

Table 2  Hanji yarn production capacity growth in Korea (Korea Institute for Knit Industry
2015) (Unit: ton)
Year 2011 2012 2013 2018 (Expected)
Hanji paper 100 200 300 750
Hanji yarn 220 380 550 1,400
Hanji fabric (Knit) 600 1,000 1,500 3,700
162 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

1.3.1 Corporate Social Responsibility

The commitment of all stakeholders in the apparel companies to sustainable prac-


tices is demonstrated in complying with the corporate social responsibility pro-
grams. CSR is a firm’s obligation to execute their business activities in a manner
that is not destructive to society or to the environment (Steiner and Steiner 2009).
Apparel companies need to develop initiatives to motivate stakeholders includ-
ing the owners, members along the supply chains, and retailers, to be dedicated to
green-fashion businesses (Abreu 2015).

1.3.2 Green Supply Chain Management

Green supply chain management (GSCM) is a conceptual approach used to enhance


the economic positioning of a firm’s global environmental initiatives (Zhu et al. 2005).
GSCM creates awareness in apparel companies in order to direct their businesses
towards eco-friendly approaches, which are advantageous both to protect the environ-
ment and to use sustainability to enhance the brand image of a company (Zhu et al.
2005). ISO 14001 is one of the global institutional certifications used to acknowl-
edge a company’s performance in satisfying GSCM environmental requirements.
ISO 14001 regulations measure a firm’s environmental management system in legal
terms, as well as other requirements (International Organization for Standardization
2004). Global environmental certifications provide a systemized method to evaluate
an apparel company’s level of commitment to eco-friendly standards.

1.3.3 Eco-design

Apparel companies should initiate a phase within product design with sustain-
able practices in mind (Choudhury 2015). Eco-design is creating products with
an emphasis on the environmental effects and responsibilities. Therefore, all
decisions and actions during design and product development processes adhere
to environmental approaches (Lewis et al. 2001). Eco-design can enable a firm’s
long-term growth by increasing innovative product designs, in which the product’s
core element is sustainability (Pigosso et al. 2013). In addition, eco-design gen-
erates competitive new business opportunities and paradigms, allowing additional
perceived value to the companies (Hansmann and Claudia 2001).

1.4 Natural Materials and Hanji Yarn

Sustainable product design may be accomplished by various methods, such as


selecting natural fibers and processing methods, building sustainable consump-
tion behaviors, and recycling materials (Khan and Islam 2015). An example of a
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 163

sustainable design approach is when apparel designers adopt natural fibers and
dyeing methods, absent insecticides or fertilizers. Utilization of organic, recycled,
and naturally dyed fibers are more favorable to the environment as these fibers are
renewable and biodegradable (Choudhury 2015). Natural cellulosic fibers such
as cotton, flax, hemp, jute, mulberry, and ramie have been adopted in the apparel
industry for their multifunctionalities, such as ventilation, antimicrobial, moisture
absorption, and wicking properties (Choi et al. 2012; Jang et al. 2015; Jeong et al.
2014; Kim 2006). Fibers created from mulberry have characteristics of cellulosic
fiber, which have superior breathability, ventilation, moisture absorption, wet
strength, and antimicrobial properties (Choi et al. 2012; Jeong et al. 2014; Kim
2006). Mulberry is one of the most environmentally sustainable materials because
of its rapid growth and high germinative power, especially in poor soil and cli-
mate challenges, similar to the cases of bamboo (Kew Royal Botanical Gardens
N.D.; Saito et al. 2009; Xu et al. 2011). By-products from the mulberry tree are
widely used as an ingredient for various products across numerous industries,
such as papermaking, food, optical, pharmaceutical, and textile industries, due to
its strong sustainability and multifunctionalities (Jang et al. 2015). Hanji yarn is
made with mulberry paper, which is produced in the adapted Korean traditional
paper-making techniques: molding, layering, and burnishing to allow strength and
flexibility (Choi et al. 2012; Kim 2006). The mulberry paper is transformed into
yarn through the processes of slitting, twisting, and weaving/knitting that generate
minimal negative environmental impacts (Ssang-Young 2015).

1.5 The Purpose of the Case Study

Despite Hanji yarn’s sustainable attributes discussed earlier and its rapid increase
of revenue growth in the global market, there is a lack of literature describing
uses of Hanji yarn in the fashion industry. The purpose of this case study is to:
(a) review the manufacturing processes and sustainable characteristics of Hanji
yarn, (b) identify the current business state of Hanji yarn in the fashion industry,
and (c) suggest directions for future research for the natural fibers to contribute to
green fashion business practices. Additionally, this chapter provides information
on Hanji yarn to stakeholders in the apparel industry: including designers, manu-
facturers, merchandisers, and consumers.
This study was conducted based on a comprehensive review of previous stud-
ies about Hanji yarn and seven documents provided by six organizations that use
Hanji yarn in their businesses in Korea and the United States: Hanji yarn manu-
facturers (Ssang-Young), branded labels (Hyundai Dymos; Isae; The North Face
Korea; Troa), and a textile research and development laboratory (Korea Institute
for Knit Industry). These documents are in a variety of formats determined by
each company. For example, Ssang-Young presented the company’s comprehen-
sive analysis report of their Hanji yarn business from the years 2007 to 2015. Isae
and Troa provided the company’s press kits, containing images of the Hanji yarn
164 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

manufacturing processes, images of the products, and visual presentation of retail


locations selling these products made with the Hanji yarn. The North Face Korea
shared the manufacturing processes of Hanji yarn T-shirts and product images.
Hyundai Dymos reported a conceptual car-seat cover developed from Hanji paper
and yarn in 2015. The Korea Institute for Knit Industry provided a Hanji textile
product market analysis report written in 2015 and the project report of the Warm-
Biz apparel line development using Hanji yarn executed in 2014.

2 Use of Mulberry Products

The pulp fiber from mulberry trees has traditionally been used as a raw material
to make papers mainly in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, China, Thailand,
and the Philippines (Jang et al. 2015). Hanji is a Korean paper made with mulberry
pulp using traditional Korean paper-making techniques such as molding, layer-
ing, and burnishing, which originated over 1,600 years ago (Choi et al. 2012; Kim
2006). Hanji yarn was developed by Korean manufacturers and research institutions
starting in the late twenty-first century (E-daily News 2013; Hankook Daily 2009).
The original Hanji in a nonwoven paper structure is transformed into yarn through
modern production techniques such as paper slitting/twisting and water-supplying
(Ssang-Young 2015). The combination of the unique fiber structure and novel pro-
duction processes allows Hanji yarn to have excellent breathability and strength,
which enhances wearing comfort (Choi et al. 2012; Kim 2006).
Hanji yarn can be woven and knitted from low to high yarn counts and can be
blended with other cellulosic fibers such as cotton and rayon to enhance tensile
strength and morphostasis of the fabric (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015;
Park and Lee 2013). Hanji yarn’s stiffness and rough surface prohibit a stable and
uniform twist of the yarn, which can result in yarn breakage and needle disruption
during the knitting processes. Because of this, the mulberry paper strips used to
make the yarn have been redeveloped as a ply-twisted or filament yarn (Park and
Joo 2012).

3 How Hanji Yarn Is Manufactured

3.1 Historical Footnotes of Hanji Paper

The Goryeo Dynasty of Korea (918–1392) was the most flourishing period of
printed publications using Hanji paper (Yum et al. 2009). Hanji paper-making
techniques were developed in the eighth century (Yum et al. 2009). Mulberry pulp
was the most commonly used raw material for paper-making (Kim 2006). Hanji
was originally used as a material to cover walls, ceilings, windows, and doors in
traditional Korean housing due to its natural breathable properties (Kim 2006).
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 165

The durability of Hanji paper has been proven by the condition of nine publica-
tions printed on Hanji from the fourteenth century to the early twentieth century.
These documents are listed on the Memory of the World Register by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and are all
in good condition (UNESCO N.D.). Previous studies show the incorporation of
technologies to the Hanji paper properties, such as titania nanorods and gamma
irradiation. Applying titania nanorods to the surface of mulberry fibers enhances
antimicrobial, antiyellowing, and self-cleaning capabilities by spreading UV radia-
tion through titania nanorods (Jang et al. 2015). Gamma irradiation of the Hanji
paper improves the sterilization of organic products such as insects and fungi (Choi
et al. 2012). The researchers’ efforts in development of Hanji paper preservation
methods using advanced technologies allow new opportunities for textile manufac-
turers to produce durable Hanji yarn (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015).

3.2 Raw Materials of Hanji Yarn

The mulberry paper tree has many properties advantageous to the paper-making
industry, such as high productivity, ease of cultivation, and usefulness of biomass
resources (Takasaki et al. 2011). The raw material of Hanji paper is a pulp fiber
from the inner bark of the mulberry paper tree (IBMP) that is made of a fibroid
material with numerous minute gaps that allow air circulation. Thus, it possesses
great ventilation and humidity control (Choi et al. 2012; Kim 2006). The Korea
Institute for Knit Industry (2015) explains that the pulp fiber of IBMP has a long
length and narrow width, which results in higher tensile strength, compared to
short fiber lengths in other yarns. The average fiber length of the IBPM is the sec-
ond longest at 9.37 mm, behind hemp at 14.46 mm and IBPM’s average width
is 0.027 mm (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015). The chemical composition
of IBMP consists of 16.3 % of lignin, 69.1 % of holocellulose, and 13.7 % of
pentosan; all substrates combined produce fibers with high moisture absorption,
wet-strength, and antimicrobial properties (Jeong et al. 2014). Normally, the one-
year-old mulberry paper tree is ideal to produce good quality paper, because it
contains a high polymerization (DP) degree of 7,000–9,000 that creates uniform
distributions of the fiber (Jeong et al. 2014).

3.3 Hanji Yarn Manufacturing Processes

The conventional method for manufacturing Hanji yarn consists of four steps: (a)
Hanji paper is made by traditional Korean paper-making techniques of molding,
layering, and burnishing, (b) the paper is cut into very fine strips in a designated
width to form a paper tape, (c) the paper tape is twisted using a spinning wheel,
and (d) the twisted paper tape is woven or knit into a fabric using a power loom
166 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

(Park and Lee 2013; Troa N.D.). There have been limitations to mass production
of Hanji yarn by using conventional processes and old knitting instruments, such
as unevenness in paper slitting and yarn breakage during the twisting processes.
Thus, new manufacturing methods have been developed by researchers and man-
ufacturers in four common processes to produce Hanji yarn: (a) the use of rein-
forcing agents in the Hanji paper-making process, (b) the cutting of Hanji tape
with a rotary slitter, (c) the use of a continuous water-supplying instrument while
twisting the Hanji tape into yarn, and (d) weaving to the target density and uni-
form structure (Park and Lee 2013).

3.3.1 Paper-Making Process

The distinctive processes in this stage are an adaptation of various raw materi-
als and paper-reinforcing mediums from the early stage of paper making to over-
come limitations of traditional methods (Park and Lee 2013). Paper yarns possess
some disadvantages in flexibility in comparison to nonpaper-based yarns (Park
and Joo 2012). Hence, a longer materials arranged in a parallel format should be
selected to create a fine and strong Hanji yarn (Park and Joo 2012). Hanji paper is
made at a neutral pH level (7.5 ~ 9.0) without using additional acids or stabilizing
agents, therefore, it has a long lifespan and high preservability (Korea Institute
for Knit Industry 2015).

3.3.2 Preparation of Hanji Tape Yarn

The prepared pulp fiber is processed to make a batter mixed with the reinforcing
agents. Then, a finished batter is beaten repeatedly to generate the shape of paper.
After that, the processed paper is cut at a predetermined width using a rotary slitter
to form a paper tape (Oh et al. 2010; Park and Joo 2012). The Korea Institute for
Knit Industry (2015) provided the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images in
Fig. 1, comparing the fiber structure of Hanji 20s and cotton 30s yarn. Despite the
fact that both yarns’ fiber radii are 240 μm, Hanji yarn’s fibers were agglomerated,
whereas cotton yarn has a dispersed fiber structure. Hanji yarn’s fiber agglomera-
tion creates a high elastic resilience.
Hanji tape’s weight and width determine the fineness of Hanji yarn. Tape yarns
in lower weights and narrower widths result in finer yarns. General Hanji tape’s
weight is roughly 12–14 g/m2, and its width is between 1.2–0.8 mm (Oh et al.
2010; Park and Joo 2012). The North Face Korea cut their Hanji tape in 1.5 mm to
make a thicker, stronger yarn for outdoor sportswear (The North Face Korea 2015).
Park and Lee (2013) suggest decreasing the weight of Hanji paper to around 8 to
10 g/m2 to create a finer Hanji yarn. Park and Joo (2012) address the necessity of
using a tape within the minimum weight of 13 g/m2 to generate uniform distribu-
tion of the yarn’s twisted structure. If a paper tape is less than 10 g/m2 in weight,
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 167

Hanji 20s Cotton 30s

Fig. 1  Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of Hanji and cotton yarn in 240-μm
fiber radius (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015)

potential risks such as crumbling, irregular structures, and breakoff can occur dur-
ing the slitting procedure (Park and Joo 2012).

3.3.3 Preparation of Paper Yarn

A finished Hanji tape is placed in the machine direction and inserted into a twist-
ing cone-shaped device connected to a water supply, making the yarn (Oh et al. 2010;
Park and Joo 2012; Park and Lee 2013). The water supply is set to feed water prior to
twisting at a regular speed of 60–90 cc/min to supply water targeting the middle part of
the paper yarn for major benefits: (a) improved breakoff, (b) increased flexibility, and (c)
creating a uniform twist with less fluffiness than other natural yarns (Park and Joo 2012;
Park and Lee 2013). Controlling cut-off times of the water supply influences the fine-
ness of the yarn (Park and Lee 2013). The yarn count of woven textiles made from Hanji
is often lower than textiles woven from cotton and hemp fibers, therefore Hanji textiles
are more flexible in comparison to cotton and hemp textiles (Park and Joo 2012). See
Fig. 2.

3.3.4 Weaving/Knitting Process of Paper Yarn

Hanji yarn allows both weaving and knitting to make textiles. The twisted Hanji
yarn is woven to make a fabric in a 2 × 2 basket structured instrument (Oh
et al. 2010). It is important to have a lightweight and uniformed distribution
of mulberry papers to produce a very fine Hanji yarn (Oh et al. 2010; Park and
Joo 2012). However, an overly uniform distribution may cause poor flexibility
in Hanji yarn (Park and Lee 2013). Park and Lee (2013) found that the tensile
168 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Mulberry Paper Tree Hanji Batter Hanji Paper

Hanji Fabric Hanji Yarn winding Hanji Yarn Twisting Hanji Tape Slitting

Fig. 2  Hanji fabric production process (Troaco.com N.D.)

Knotgrass Korean traditional ink Mud Persimmon Seaweed

Fig. 3  Hanji fabric dyed in natural materials (Isae.co.kr N.D.)

strength of the Hanji fabric is higher in the warp direction than in the weft direc-
tion, based on the fabric density of 52 × 40/in2.

3.3.5 Natural Dyeing

The Hanji fabric’s excellent dyeing properties and color resolution capabilities are
aptly suited to the natural dyeing techniques applied in Korean traditional methods
(Isae 2015). Hanji can be dyed in a wide variety of natural materials. For example,
Isae (2015) presented various natural dyeing methods using knotgrass (indigo),
Korean traditional ink, mud, persimmon, and seaweed applied in different natural
fabrics including Hanji. Troa (2015) sold their denim collection natural-dyed with
knotgrass (indigo), Korean traditional ink, safflower, coal, and chestnut. See Fig. 3.
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 169

4 Advantages for Hanji Yarn

4.1 For the Environment

Hanji yarn is completely biodegradable, renewable, and recyclable as a 100 %


natural material (Park and Joo 2012). Mulberry paper can be easily blended with
other natural materials without compromising its desired characteristics. This pro-
motes the use of natural materials to develop functional textiles (Korea Institute
for Knit Industry 2015). Hanji yarn products dyed with natural materials do not
generate toxic chemicals in water waste for manufacturing (Troa 2015). Hanji yarn
provides a high level of ventilation and moisture absorption, which can be used to
develop cooling clothing. Such clothing could contribute to reducing energy usage
during summer months (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015).

4.2 For Consumers

There are four key advantages of Hanji yarn identified for consumers: (a) antimicrobial
activity, (b) wearing comfort, (c) promotion of health, and (d) textile aesthetics. Such
advantages of Hanjji yarn extend the range of its use to apparel, bedding, filtering, and
hygienic products (Gil et al. 2010).

4.2.1 Antimicrobial Activity

The chemical composition of the inner bark of mulberry paper (IBMP) trees
allows antimicrobial activity in Hanji fabric which helps to prevent atopic derma-
titis (Ju et al. 2013) and provides deodorization (Jang et al. 2015; Park and Joo
2012; Takasaki et al. 2011). Ssang-Young (2015) compared antimicrobial activity
between 100 % Hanji and 100 % cotton yarn by leaving both yarns at 77 °F with
80 % humidity for one month in April. The results of testing demonstrated that
Hanji yarn was minimally damaged, whereas cotton was excessively decomposed
(Ssang-Young 2015; see Fig. 4).

4.2.2 Wearing Comfort

The natural characteristics of IBMP in moisture absorption and wicking enhance


the wearing comfort of Hanji fabric (Jang et al. 2015). The weight of Hanji fabric
is only 0.5 g/cm2, thus, Hanji yarn is favorable to blend with other materials with-
out substantially increasing additional weight (Oh et al. 2010). Mulberry paper’s
high human skin affinity minimizes allergic or toxic effects to the body (Gil et al.
2010). Hanji yarn is categorized as a “filament yarn without mow,” which has
170 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Hanji yarn Cotton yarn

Fig. 4  Ssang-Young’s antimicrobial activity testing results comparing Hanji and cotton yarn left
at 77 °F with 80 % humidity for one month in April (Ssang-Young 2015)

unique textures allowing fabric softness and a cooling sensation (Gil et al. 2010;
Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015; Park and Joo 2012).

4.2.3 Promotion of Health

Hanji yarn’s high cellulose composition contains strong UV radiation-absorbing proper-


ties; hence, it effectively protects the skin from high-degree UV exposure (Gil et al. 2010).
Mulberry paper has capabilities in far-infrared radiation in which the action boosts blood
circulation as much as red clay (Gil et al. 2010; Ju et al. 2013). The potential health benefits
of textiles made from Hanji yarn is an area of needed study by health and textile scientists.

4.2.4 Textile Aesthetics

The mulberry tree grown in Korea has a long fiber length and high durability because
of a broad daily temperature range and four seasons (Gil et al. 2010). Park and Lee
(2013) examined Hanji yarn’s high tensile strength, which allows durability and
resiliency of Hanji textile products. They also found that its fabric’s color fastness in
washing and dry-cleaning is 4 grade, and the stain-resistance is 4–5 grade in which
both grades are equivalent to cotton fabric. Hanji yarn has dyeing properties that
bring good color resolution (Gil et al. 2010; Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015).
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 171

4.3 For Apparel Companies

Hanji yarn has been used to manufacture various sustainable products, such as
apparel and home textiles in the fashion industry of Korea. Thanks to the continu-
ous efforts of Hanji yarn manufacturers and governmental support, the global mar-
ket for Hanji yarn has grown constantly over the last five years and Hanji yarn has
become one of the premium fashion products in the global market (Korea Institute
for Knit Industry 2015; MBC 2014).
The local economies of the textile industry in Korea have been improved due
to the increasing volume of Hanji yarn production (MBC 2014). For instance, the
Ssang-Young company made US $1.8 million by launching the Hanji yarn busi-
ness in 2009 (Hankook Daily 2009) and grew its Hanji yarn’s annual sales to
US $2.7 million in 2013 (E-daily News 2013). Oh-Sung made a Hanji yarn pro-
curement contract for US $2.7 million with Kolon Sportswear company in 2010
(Yonhap News 2010).

5 Current Business State of Hanji Yarn in the Fashion


Industry

Mulberry-based fibers have been highly preferred in the textile industry especially
for manufacturing of organic fabrics (Park and Joo 2012). Currently, the global mar-
ket size of Hanji yarn products in the fashion industry is about US $50 million and
estimated to be increased by US $500 million over the next five years (MBC 2014).
Similar to the Hanji yarn business of Korea, Japanese paper yarn sales have grown
over 10 times compared to 5 years ago in the global market (Ssang-Young 2015).
Therefore, the global paper yarn market in general might be forecasted to grow rap-
idly in the future. Hanji yarn production contributes to the revitalization of local
economies by generating new business and employment opportunities. For instance,
Yonhap News (2010) reports that Northern Jeolla province in Korea was the hub of
the textile industry with three of the largest textile manufacturers of the country in
the 1980s and 1990s. However, from the late 1990s to mid-2000s, the textile busi-
ness of Jeolla has dramatically decreased because of changes in market conditions
and consumers’ tastes. Successful Hanji yarn textile manufacturing business reju-
venated Jeolla’s economy after its approximately 10 years’ stagnation, helping over
8,000 employees in about 870 textile companies (Northen Jeolla Province Daily
2014). There are many global apparel companies (e.g., manufacturers, branded
companies, research institutions), that have made distinctive contributions in green
design and management with the adoption of Hanji yarn.
172 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Fig. 5  Hanji yarn products: fabrics, yarns, socks, undergarments, and golf shirts
(Lohashanji.com N.D.; Ssang-Young 2015)

5.1 Manufacturers

The producers of Hanji yarn include Ssang-Young, Oh-Sung, and Sung-Sil located
in Jeolla province of Korea, which is the center of Hanji production. Ssang-Young’s
production capability of Hanji yarn is 10 tons per month (Ssang-Young 2015). Ssang-
Young manufactures products in sportswear, undergarments, infantwear, ties, scarves,
socks, and bedding textiles for their private labels and OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) contracts with apparel brands including sportswear companies
such as The North Face, Millet, and Fila (Ssang-Young 2015). Ssang-Young holds
two global certifications that prove their product’s quality and sustainable manage-
ment: ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental
Management Systems; Ssang-Young 2015). Sung-Sil specializes in functional sock
production (Yonhap News 2010). Oh-Sung produces apparel lines for sportswear and
undergarment companies such as Kolon Outdoor sportswear and Wacoal Lingerie
(Yonhap News 2010). See Fig. 5.

5.2 Research Institution (Korea Institute for Knit Industry)

Korea Institute for Knit Industry is a textile research institution specializing in


R&D of apparel and industrial textile products, established in 2001. Korea Institute
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 173

for Knit Industry has been actively involved in the development of eco-friendly
fabrics using natural materials including Hanji yarn (Korea Fashion and Textile
News 2015a, b). Warm-Biz is a government-funded project that Korea Institute
for Knit Industry performed in 2015 in collaboration with the textile manufacturer
Oh-Sung to develop a workwear line using different cellulosic fibers including
Hanji yarn with lightweight, enhanced insulation, and moisture absorption func-
tionalities (Korea Fashion and Textile News 2015a, b). Warm-Biz is a campaign
corresponding to climate change to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions
that followed the success of Cool-Biz, which was initiated by the Japanese govern-
ment in 2005 (Aliagha and Cin 2013). The Japanese government aggressively pro-
moted the Cool-Biz and Warm-Biz campaigns to keep thermostats at 68 °F, while
keeping less or extra layering to maintain the thermal comfort of clothing in 2011
(Aliagha and Cin 2013; Japan Today 2014). According to Korea Institute for Knit
Industry’s Warm-Biz project report (2015), the Warm-Biz Hanji fabrics were
invented in both knitting and weaving techniques. The report (Korea Institute for
Knit Industry 2015) illustrates the detailed information about the textiles and gar-
ments developed. The Hanji fiber of the knit fabric used in the innerwear line was
blended with Hanji, cotton 24s, and spandex of differentiated ply twist and fineness
(denier) to improve Hanji’s elongation. The woven fabrics were developed in Hanji
30s and 13s yarn blended with cotton, in which cotton was applied in the warp
direction and Hanji was implemented in the weft direction. After that, silver or
gold dust was coated, and microperforated aluminum was laminated on the yarn to
prevent releasing of body heat and reduce ammonia activity by 80 %. The Warm-
Biz Hanji fabrics in the dobby texture were used to make a shirt and pants, and
the fabrics in twill weave were applied to a jacket and pants. The Korea Institute
for Knit Industry (2015) demonstrated the lab testing results comparing a body
temperature conservation between a regular Hanji and silver dust coated Warm-
Biz fabric in the images taken by a thermographic camera (see Fig. 6). The results
presented that the silver-coated Warm-Biz Hanji fabric retained 84.2 °F, approxi-
mately 4 °F higher than the 80.6 °F of the regular Hanji fabric.
The Warm-Biz workwear line (see Fig. 7) developed by Korea Institute for Knit
Industry will be distributed to government employees and expanded to company

Regular Hanji fabric Silver coated Warm-Biz Hanji fabric

Fig. 6  The thermographic pictures comparing body temperature conservation between the regu-
lar Hanji and silver dust coated Warm-Biz Hanji fabric (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015)
174 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Silver coated Men’s under garments Silver

Gold coated Blazer Silver coated jacket Silver coated shirt Silver coated T-shirts

Fig. 7  The Warm-Biz workwear line developed by Korea Institute for Knit Industry (Korea
Institute for Knit Industry 2015)

workers starting in the winter of 2015 (Korea Fashion and Textile News 2015a, b).
Korea Institute for Knit Industry developed another Hanji composite yarn funded
by the Korean government in collaboration with the Dytec textile laboratory and
the textile manufacturer Cotton Queen in 2015 (Northern Jeolla Province Daily
2014). Hanji composite yarn has enhanced functionalities in 8 % elongation and
80 % elastic resilience, which can be used to produce casual and outdoor sports-
wear apparels, compared to previously developed Hanji yarns (Korea Fashion and
Textile News 2015a, b).

5.3 Branded Companies

Troa is a New York based eco-friendly apparel company that sold its branded Hanji
yarn denim lines to leading fashion retailers in fashion capitals of the world such
as New York, Tokyo, and Paris (Troa 2015). According to Troa’s press kit (Troa
2015), buyers of Troa include top global retailers such as Barneys New York,
Harvey Nichols, Ten Corso Como, and Collette. Troa’s materials also demonstrates
that one of the unique elements of Troa’s Hanji yarn products is an adoption of
abaca plants blended with mulberry paper yarn to create fabrics that are soft, yet
more durable than cotton (Troaco.com N.D.). Of Troa’s denim lines, 30–100 % are
dyed naturally to create unique colors depending on the seasons, through the use
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 175

Troa Hanji denim lines and design director, Han Song

Fig. 8  Troa’s Hanji products (Troa 2015)

of different dyeing techniques such as yarn dye and piece dye (Troa 2015). Troa
sold “black tuxedo jeans” made with Hanji yarn dyed in Korean ink in collabora-
tion with actress Gwyneth Paltrow and the online boutique Goop.com (Troa 2015).
Troa continuously invests efforts in developing novel Hanji fabrics with high qual-
ity to produce their denim lines (Troaco.com N.D.). See Fig. 8.
Isae, founded in 2000, is a premium designer clothing and home textile label
specializing in handmade natural fabrics dyed with natural materials (Isae.co.kr
N.D.). Isae presents outerwear jackets, dresses, and vests in Hanji fabric dyed in
176 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Fig. 9  Isae’s Hanji apparel collection and flagship store (Isae.co.kr N.D; Isae 2015)

knotgrass (indigo), Korean traditional ink, mud, and persimmon. Their products
are sold in over 70 retail locations in Korea (Isae 2015). Isae produces most of
their products by hand in collaboration with Hanji yarn artisans (Isae.co.kr N.D.).
Various natural materials are used such as organic cotton, linen, ramie, hemp, and
kenaf for Isae’s apparel and home textile products (Isae.co.kr N.D.). There are four
high-end conceptual flagship stores run by Isae, which contain clothing and acces-
sory lines, home textiles, and pottery, representing the brand image and lifestyle of
the company (Isae 2015; see Fig. 9). The flagship stores target international con-
sumers who visit Korea to test Isae’s products for preparing additional store open-
ings in global locations (Isae 2015).
The North Face Korea initiated ordering Hanji yarns in Ssang-Young to
produce its branded sportswear T-shirt lines in 2015 (The North Face 2015).
Additional orders of Hanji yarn will be made by The North Face depending on
market response (The North Face 2015). The North Face Korea is operated by
Youngone Outdoor, a sister company to Youngone Corporation, which is a mul-
tinational manufacturer of outdoor and athletic clothing, functional textiles, foot-
wear, and gear (The North Face 2015). Youngone has strong buying power for
raw materials because it makes US $1.6 billion in annual sales by manufactur-
ing products for outdoor sportswear companies (Younone.co.kr N.D.). The North
Face’s order of Hanji yarn shows meaningful economic support for local textile
mills in the Jeolla province of Korea. It also triggers the creation of additional
business opportunities with other large corporations such as Kolon Sports and
Blackyak (Northern Jeolla Province Daily 2014).
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 177

Fig. 10  The North Face Korea’s Hanji yarn T-shirts (The North Face Korea 2015) and ECOTEC
(Daegu Daily 2012)

Youngone’s Chairman and CEO Kihak Sung currently serves as a chair of the
Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), an organization supporting tex-
tile and apparel companies founded in 1967 (Kofoti N.D.). Chairman Kihak Sung
has made significant contributions to the further consumption of green materials
in the fashion industry. He supports local mills, which manufacture eco-friendly
materials, including Hanji yarn, by expanding distribution channels, increas-
ing export opportunities, and enhancing R&D capabilities. KOFOTI hosts sym-
posiums to establish the future growth strategies of the green fashion businesses
under Chairman Kihak Sung’s guidance (Northern Jeolla Province Daily 2014).
KOFOTI established ECOTEC in 2012, a Korean eco-label to certify green quality
and management of textile products and companies (KOFOTI 2012). See Fig. 10.
Hyundai Dymos is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motors, manufacturing car interior
coverings and accessories; they presented eco-friendly conceptual car-seat cover
lines made with Hanji fabric in 2014 (Hyundai Dymos 2015). This was the first
case of the adoption of sustainable traditional fabrics in the automobile indus-
try in Korea. The Hanji fabric car-seats were designed for Hyundai Motor’s lux-
ury sedan, Genesis 2015 (Naver 2014). There were two seat-coverings and nine
backboard garnishes designed in collaboration with artisans at ZIIN Company
who specialize in craft design and development using Korean traditional materi-
als, including Hanji (ZIIN 2015). Eight garnish designs were obtained for Korean
design patents in 2015 (Hyundai Dymos 2015). According to Hyundai Dymos
(2015), naturally dyed Hanji fabrics that embodied the figure of traditional Korean
Bojagi (a patch worked wrapping cloth) were applied to the upper part of the seat-
coverings to minimize the surface friction of the seat. Korean traditional papercraft
178 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

Seat covers (upper shoulder area) and Backboard garnish covers

Seat and garnish cover making processes

Fig. 11  Hanji fabric seat-coverings developed by Hyundai Dymos and ZIIN (Hyundai Dymos
2015; ZIIN 2015)

techniques, such as Ji-Seung, Ji-Ho, and Jeon-Ji, were performed to dress the
backboard garnishes (ZIIN 2015). Developed seat-coverings and backboard gar-
nishes were not able to be commercialized because of limitations associated with
mass production of elaborate Hanji fabric handcrafts for seat-coverings (Hyundai
Dymos 2015). However, Hyundai Dymos plans to continue supporting the inte-
gration of natural materials into their car interior products in the future (Hyundai
Dymos 2015). See Fig. 11.

5.4 Governmental Support

The Korean government has been aggressively promoting Hanji yarn and eco-
friendly materials to businesses in Korea (Korea Fashion and Textile News 2015a, b).
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 179

There are governmental funds and grants available for natural material manufactur-
ers and research institutions in Korea. For instance, the Northern Jeolla provincial
government supported seven local Hanji yarn manufacturers in the R&D of Hanji
yarn related products for a total of US $0.3 million in 2015 (Financial Services
Commission of Korea 2015). The city of Jeonju has been hosting an annual Hanji
Culture Festival, which has presented Hanji textiles and apparel products and
paper handicrafts for 20 years (Naver 2014). The Korean government declared
green growth as the strategic priority of the Korean textile industry (Ministry of
Government Legislation 2010).

6 Future of Hanji Yarn in the Apparel Industry

The Hanji yarn business in Korea has grown rapidly, reaching US $61.82 mil-
lion in global Hanji textile product sales in 2013, and it is expected to increase
to approximately US $436.36 million by 2018 (Korea Institute for Knit Industry
2015). Thus, Hanji yarn has a huge potential to generate economic benefits
and new employment opportunities for the local provinces in Korea continu-
ously. Korean fabric mills’ capability to produce Hanji yarn is forecasted to
increase from 550 to 1,400 tons per year (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015).
Therefore, local Hanji yarn manufacturers may obtain more business opportunities
with large apparel companies to procure Hanji yarn in high volume. Hanji yarn
textiles’ distinctive contributions to the global fashion scene are being presented as
a trendy fashion icon in denim and sportswear lines (The North Face 2015; Troa
2015). Hanji yarn products are distributed to a wide range of market segments
from high-end to mass merchants globally (Troa 2015).
The lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) directs careful and respect-
ful consumption behavior towards healthy and sustainable directions (Emerich
2011). LOHAS has become a popular culture in the fashion industry today.
LOHAS product market size was approximately US $14.9 billion in 2008 and
is growing 2.7 % annually (Oh et al. 2010). In a study conducted by the Natural
Marketing Institute (2010), 90 % of American consumers were motivated to buy
green products in general and 35 % of them responded their willingness to pay
a premium price for green products in the LOHAS consumer survey (Emerich
2011). LOHAS encourages eco-design and contributes greatly to the growth of
green textiles such as Hanji fabric in the fashion industry (Emerich 2011).
Currently, many global apparel brands and retailers such as the North Face and
Kolon Sports adopt Hanji yarn to make products such as functional sportswear,
premium fashion apparel, and home textiles, and their order quantities have been
constantly increasing (Korea Fashion and Textile News 2015a, b). Manufacturers
and research institutions’ continuous efforts in Hanji yarn development will identify
the broader range of Hanji yarn usage. Integration of advanced technologies such
as application of titania nanorods or silver dust to Hanji yarn suggests new market
opportunities to companies specializing in performance textiles or sportswear.
180 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

There are some challenges to the growth of the Hanji yarn business. Versatile
application of Hanji yarn in the apparel industry is still limited due to weaker
tensile strength as a paper-based yarn, despite the constantly developing manu-
facturing techniques (Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015). Many Hanji yarn
manufacturers currently struggle to match their production capacities to the
demands of buyers, except very few companies who are relatively larger with
more advanced production techniques and infrastructures, such as Ssang-Young
and Oh-Sung (MBC 2014). The Korean government and KOFOTI constantly sup-
port local Hanji manufacturers to enhance their production capacities, but there is
room to grow the Hanji yarn business in a global marketplace.

7 Conclusion

The present case study about the Hanji yarn business of Korea includes the fol-
lowing: the advanced manufacturing processes, advantages, and the current busi-
ness state of Hanji yarn in the fashion industry. Manufacturers of Hanji yarn have
advanced manufacturing processes by selecting Hanji yarns of proper widths and
weights, adding water-supply methods, and differentiating knitting and weav-
ing techniques (Oh et al. 2010; Park and Joo 2012; Park and Lee 2013). Six
major advantages of using Hanji yarn have been identified for the environment
(e.g., eco-friendliness, fast growth of the mulberry tree), the consumers (e.g., anti-
microbial activities, wearing comfort, promotion of health, textile aesthetics), and
the apparel industry (e.g., economic benefits to local fabric mills) (Gil et al. 2010;
Kew Royal Botanical Gardens N.D.; Korea Institute for Knit Industry 2015; Park
and Joo 2012; Xu et al. 2011). The textile and apparel businesses related to Hanji
yarn have grown dramatically over the last five years and are expected to con-
tinue growing in the future (MBC 2014; Naver 2014). The recent success of Hanji
yarn in the textile industry has helped rejuvenate local economies in Korea by
generating new opportunities for business and employment (Korea E-daily News
2013). The Korean government and various private organizations avidly support
the usage of Hanji yarn and other eco-friendly materials in the fashion industry
(Financial Services Commission of Korea 2015). Many global textile manufactur-
ers and apparel companies have invested their efforts in facilitating the adoption
of Hanji yarn in their products (Isae 2015; Ssang-Young 2015; The North Face
Korea 2015; Troa 2015).
Hanji yarn and its related businesses contribute to the development of sustain-
able production and consumption of products in the fashion industry. This case
study addresses how natural materials can contribute to rejuvenate nature and the
sustainable fashion industry of Korea. Green design and management should be
the priorities in textile and apparel companies. The sustainable business practice
of utilizing natural fibers such as Hanji yarn is important for not only the benefits
to the apparel companies, but also for consumers and for academics preparing
students to use natural materials in the fashion industry.
Hanji, the Mulberry Paper Yarn, Rejuvenates Nature … 181

Future research should be conducted regarding the potential growth of global


business opportunities within Hanji yarn products. Standardized assessment meth-
ods should be examined to evaluate the green design and management of com-
panies involved in Hanji yarn manufacturing. Topics related to the integration
of advanced technologies into Hanji yarns will be important because they could
potentially add additional values to the natural materials. There were limitations
in identifying the current business state of Hanji textile manufacturers and retailers
in international countries such as the United States and China. If there was acces-
sible information for Hanji textile companies overseas, it would have been helpful
to determine more accurate facts regarding the Hanji yarn businesses from a global
perspective.

Appendix

Table 3

Table 3  Hanji yarn related company listing


Category Name Contact Phone Location Website
Manufacturer Oh-Sung CEO/Lee, 82-63-212-0661 Jeonjoo, N/A
Junyup Korea
Ssang-Young CEO/Kim, 82-63-830-5114 Iksan, www.Lohashanji.
Kang-Hoon Korea com
Sung-Sil CEO/Chung, 82-63-272-0762 Jeonjoo, www.Sung-Sil.
Tae-Doo Korea com
Research Korea Institute General 82-63-830-3500 Iksan, www.knitcenter.
institution for Knit Director/Baek, Korea re.kr
Industry Chul-Kyu
Private Korea Chairman/ 82-2-528-4058 Seoul, www.kofoti.or.kr
organization Federation Sung, Ki-Hak Korea
of Textile
Industry
Apparel Isae FNC CEO/Chung, 82-2-763-6818 Seoul, www.isae.co.kr
company Kyung-A Korea
Troa CEO/Song, 201-961-2211 New York, www.troaco.com
Han USA
Youngone Chairman/ 82-2-390-6114 Seoul, www.youngone.
Corporation Sung, Kihak Korea co.kr
Automobile Hyundai CEO/Yeo, 82-41-661-7061 Seo-San, www.hyundai-
company Dymos Seung-Dong Korea dymos.com
Artcraft ZIIN CEO/Han, 82-2-766-5201 Seoul, www.Ziin.co
design Sora Korea
company
182 K.E. Lee and E.A. Sanders

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Sustainable Production Processes in Textile
Dyeing

L. Ammayappan, Seiko Jose and A. Arputha Raj

Abstract Value addition for textiles is an important process and it is required for
all products including yarn, fabric, garment, fashion apparel, floor covering, and
the majority of technical textiles. Value addition may be either an additive or sub-
tractive process. In the subtractive process part of the fiber components may be
removed by some physical or chemical process because textile fibers have natural
as well as added impurities during production. In the additive process, either color
or functional chemicals may be added to improve aesthetic as well as functional
properties. For each textile processing, the processor used enormous amounts
of chemicals and water in order to attain the desired result. After processing the
residual processed chemicals and waters are treated with effluent treatment and
discharged into the mainstream. The amount of residual unfixed dyes, metal com-
pounds, formaldehyde-based dye-fixing agents, hydrocarbon-based softeners,
and all types of dye-bath auxiliaries as well as their degradation nature against
the environment are the deciding factors for its sustainability. Technologies have
been developed for the past five decades starting from fiber to finished product in
order to reduce the effluent load, energy, processing cost, and manpower as well as
increase the process efficiency and reproducibility. There are many factors influ-
encing the overall efficiency or value addition of a textile product, which play an
important role in its sustainability. This chapter deals with the basic theory of dye-
ing processes, factors influencing their performance, potential pollutants, sustain-
able technologies developed thus far, and future perspectives in dyeing.

Keywords Dyeing · Pollution · Natural fiber · Pretreatment

L. Ammayappan (*) · S. Jose


ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fiber Technology,
12 Regent Park, Kolkata 700040, West Bengal, India
e-mail: [email protected]
A. Arputha Raj
ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Adenwala Road,
Matunga (East), Mumbai 400 019, India

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 185


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_8
186 L. Ammayappan et al.

1 Introduction

Humans need food for survival; dwellings for protection against nature such as
sunlight, rain, and storms; as well as privacy and clothing for civilization with
protection of the body against the environment. In older days, the fashion sector
generally designed clothing as per requirements and desire; hence they wanted to
differentiate from others. After the invention of textile fiber followed by hand spin-
ning/hand loom weaving, artisans introduced coloration on clothing. They strongly
believed that the color perceived by humans from nature could change the mood
as well as the personality. Soon they identified different natural dyes from vari-
ous parts of plants and some insects, applied to fabrics by different methods and
termed dyeing or coloration. Dyers developed their own dyeing methodology from
their experience and traditional knowledge. Successful dyeing technology based
on most of the natural dyes were kept secret in many countries for many years,
because such dyeing technology was believed to be a prestige art in ancient history
and executed only by skilled persons.
Depending upon the durability of color on fiber and aesthetic appeal of the
clothing, every dyeing process is distinguished by the end-user; for example,
empire clothing should be dyed with purple/crimson red for a royal look; saint
clothing is dyed with orange color for an indication of their devotion to God; dev-
otee clothing is dyed with golden yellow color for their positive promise to reli-
gion. Natural dye coloration has limitations due to the limited number of colors,
medium fastness properties, low yield, and nonreproducibility. After invention of
synthetic dyes, dyers preferred to go with coloration based on synthetic instead
of natural dyes due to the wide range of colors, good fastness properties, ease of
application, and reproducible shades. After modernization of the dyeing industry,
processors set up their dyeing industry as per their end-products and the produc-
tion capacity. There was no stringent restriction on discharge of unfixed dyes/
chemicals from the textile-processing industry as well as the amount of eco-
friendly dyes/finishing chemicals present on clothing before the 1990s. During the
1990s, there was an awareness of compulsory effluent treatment for wastewater
discharged from all processing industries and introduction of “carcinogenic chem-
ical free” clothing. R&D laboratories have identified carcinogenic dyes/chemicals;
subsequently the European Union (EU) banned those dyes/chemicals. Testing
authorities have introduced various standards for eco-friendly/green products.
Soon it became mandatory to test the finished clothing for eco-friendliness. Today
for an exportable textile material to a developed country, the supplier should pro-
vide suitable certification for the product such as Oeko-Tex, Blue Sign, iVN,
KRAV, JOCA, REACH, ZDHC, GOTS, and Eco label.
Some of the synthetic dyestuffs are considered harmful to humans and the envi-
ronment. Awareness of the harmfulness of synthetic dyestuffs led to the devel-
opment of eco-friendly dyeing methodologies, green dyes, and energy-saving
machinery/process. Dyeing is one of the large-scale processes and so scientists are
focused on each and every raw material/process for their sustainability. Over the
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 187

past years, dyers follow only sustainable dyeing technology; however, R&D works
also have been used to fine tune the existing methodology to narrow their target
and to enhance the quality of the product. It is the right time to overview the types
of dyes and their application on fibers, existing dyeing practices, dyeing mecha-
nisms, environmental issues due to dyeing, and alternative potential dyeing tech-
nology for sustainability.
This chapter explores the suitable synthetic dyes for dyeing, factors responsi-
ble for improving dyeability, potential areas in processing methodology, material
selection, machinery development, and management for sustainable dyeing tech-
nology with special reference to natural fiber based clothing.

2 Natural Fiber

Natural fiber is derived from a biopolymeric material and described by the flex-
ibility, fineness, and specifically high length to transverse dimension ratio. Natural
fibers have been used for the development of fashion textiles since civilization
began. Natural fibers are biopolymers of long chain molecules, formed by the
polymerization of cellulose or protein monomer. The fixation of dyes inside the
fiber network is mainly governed by the morphology and chemical composition
of the fiber. For example nonionic disperse dyes have good affinity towards poly-
ester fibers at high temperature, whereas anionic acid dyes have good fixation on
protein fibers. Good understanding of the morphology and characteristics of tex-
tile fibers could suggest the proper selection of dyes with good fastness properties,
color depth, and suitable dyeing process in economic and eco-friendly points of
view.
Each natural fiber is differentiated from others in terms of physical, chemical,
and mechanical properties. Depending on the comfort and ease of processing, their
demand by the textile market may be varied. Each natural fiber has its own dye-
ing methodology; however, cellulosic fibers or protein fibers have a common dye-
ing protocol. Classification of natural fibers based on their chemical constitution is
given in Table 1 (Mussig and Stevens 2010).

3 Dyeing Process

Humans have always been fascinated with color, because undyed clothing does
not normally attract attention. To make different designs and aesthetic appeal in
clothing, experts introduced the dyeing process. Dyeing is a textile wet process-
ing in which color is incorporated into fibrous products in different forms such as
loose fiber, yarn, fabric, and nonwoven in a suitable dyeing machine. Before dye-
ing, preparatory processes are required to remove natural as well as added impuri-
ties present in the fiber. The sequence of preparatory processes for each product
188 L. Ammayappan et al.

Table 1  Classification of natural fibers based on sources


Cellulosic fibers Protein fibers
Seed Bast Leaf Fruit
Animal hair Fur Silk
Sheep Camel
and goat and
camelids
• Cotton • Jute • Sisal • Coir • Wool • Camel • Horse • Silk
• Milkweed • Flax • Henequen • Sugar • Alpaca • Musk • Spider
palm Ox silk
• Kapok • Hemp • Abaca • Palm • Mohair • Vicuna • Angora
rabbit
• Cattail • Kenaf • Pineapple • Pashmina • Guanaco • Hare
• Mesta • Date Palm • Cashmere • Llama • Bison
• Ramie • Manila • Cashgora • Vicuna • Yak
hemp
• Banana • New •Pygora • Antelope
Zealand flax
• Bamboo
• Sunnhemp

may be different, depending on the characteristics of the dye and the form of the
substrate (Trotman 1984).

3.1 Preparatory Processes

The main objective of the preparatory process is to make the textile substrate
ready for subsequent processing. It might be either an additive process by giv-
ing additional functionality to the fiber or a subtractive process by removing the
unnecessary impurities (Madaras et al. 1993; Trotman 1984).

3.1.1 Desizing

Desizing removes the added sizing material either by acid- or enzyme-assisted


hydrolysis. Presence of any sizing materials such as starch, polyvinyl alcohol,
and guar gum, could hinder the penetration of dyes and chemicals inside the fiber.
Desizing is carried out by hydrolysing the sizing material by any one of the fol-
lowing chemicals: amylase enzyme, sodium persulphate, oxidizing agents, and
hydrochloric acid. Among them, enzyme-based desizing is preferred for its sus-
tainability (Cavaco-Paulo and Gubitz 2003).
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 189

3.1.2 Scouring

Scouring removes the adhered as well as added fatty matter present in the tex-
tile material by a saponification process. Natural fibers have impurities including
pectin, fat, hemicelluloses, oil, minerals, natural coloring matter, and wax. These
impurities are mainly acidic in nature and can be easily removed by a hot alkaline
condition. Recently lipase-based scouring and combined scouring and bleaching
have been preferred in terms of economy and sustainability (Ammayappan et al.
2003)

3.1.3 Bleaching

Bleaching removes the natural coloring matter present in the natural fibers by
either reducing or oxidizing agents. Processors prefer hydrogen-peroxide–based
bleaching for its durability and sustainability. For dark color shades a combined
scouring and bleaching process is preferred in order to save water and energy
(Ammayappan et al. 2003).

3.1.4 Carbonizing

Carbonizing removes vegetable-based impurities such as burrs, seeds, or dust


adhered to the greasy wool fleece by acid backing followed by neutralization.
Sulphuric acid converts the cellulose biomass into dehydrocellulose followed by
charred mass and it can be removed by crushing and beating. This process is gen-
erally preferred for light color shades (Ammayappan 2009).

3.1.5 Degumming

Degumming removes the gummy substance (20–25 % sericin) present in the silk
cocoon by the hot alkaline solution. Degumming improves the luster, color, hand,
and texture of the silk materials.

3.1.6 Mercerization

Mercerization is used on cellulosic textiles with 250 g/L of NaOH for 180 s at
5 °C in order to improve its reactivity and luster. Mercerization partially converts
the cellulose molecule into soda cellulose and that can improve the dyeing as
well as fixation rate of dyes in light to dark shades. Reduction in concentration of
sodium hydroxide to attain the mercerized effect is the focus of this process for its
sustainability (Marsh 1941)
190 L. Ammayappan et al.

4 Dyes

Dye is an organic molecule, used to impart color to the textile fiber. Each dye
molecule used for natural fiber has the following three groups: chromophore,
auxochrome, and solubilizing. Chromophore provides a distinct color to the
dye molecule due to absorption of certain wavelengths of visible light and sub-
sequent transmission/reflection of other regions. An auxochrome is a functional
group attached to the chromophore and it modifies the wavelength and intensity
of absorption of light, so that it intensifies the color produced by the chromophore.
The solubilizing group makes the dye molecule water soluble. For example: Azo
group (–N=N–) is a chromophore; –OH, –NH2, –OCH3 is an auxochrome; –
SO3Na is a solubilizing group. Dyes are classified based on their mode of applica-
tion and the different types of dyes with their sustainability have been discussed in
the following (Venkataraman 1971; Broadbent 2001; Bird and Boston 1975).

4.1 Acid Dyes

Acid dyes are sodium salts of sulphonic acid or carboxylic acids (R–SO3Na/R–
COONa) and applied in acidic pH on wool and silk fibers. The majority of azo-
based acid dyes are banned due to their carcinogenicity. Today, these groups of
dyes have been replaced with metal complex dyes (Lewis 1992; Ammayappan
2003).

4.2 Basic Dyes

Basic dyes are halides of tertiary aromatic ammonium compounds that can bond
with the functional group of textile fiber such as –COO− or –O− during dyeing.
They are mainly applied to protein fibers, acrylic fiber, and tanned cellulosic fibers
especially for bright shades. Basic dyes did not have good washing as well as light
fastness properties; they can be improved by after-treatments with tannic acids or
direct dyes. Silk fashion textiles prefer selective basic dyes that have eco-sustaina-
bility for their brilliant shade (Ingamells 1993)

4.3 Direct Dyes

Direct dyes have very good affinity towards all kinds of natural fibers in the
absence of any additives. Direct dye-dyed materials show moderate washing and
light fastness properties due to weak hydrogen bonding with the functional groups
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 191

of fiber. However, fastness properties can be improved by suitable cationic fixing


agents. Azo- and benzidine-based direct dye consumption in the centralized sec-
tor is reduced due to its carcinogenicity, however, cottage industries are still using
them due to their low cost (Cegarra 1998; Shore 1995).

4.4 Mordant Dyes

Acid dyes have moderate fastness properties due to their poor aggregation inside
the fiber matrix. To improve the aggregation of anionic dyes, the mordanting
process is introduced in which a metallic compound is applied to the substrate.
However, mordant dyes are banned due to the carcinogenic nature of the chro-
mium metals as well as lengthy processing (Angelini et al. 1997; Mendez et al.
2004; Cho 1999).

4.5 Metal Complex Dyes

Metal complex dyes are premetalized dyes; that is, one or two dye molecules are
coordinated with a metal ion during synthesis. Metal complex dyes are of two
types, 1:1 and 1:2 metal complex dyes, in which one metal cation is bonded with
one and two dye molecules, respectively. These dyes are mainly applied to woolen
and silk textiles for dull shades and good aggregation, so that this class of dyestuff
has good sustainability (Lewis 1992; Ammayappan 2003).

4.6 Reactive Dyes

Reactive dye has a chromophore, one or two reactive auxophores, and a solubilizing
group. This dye forms covalent bonding with functional groups of the fiber through
either substitution or addition reaction and is mainly applied to cellulosic fibers in
the presence of an electrolyte for exhaustion and an alkali for fixation. Recently
bifunctional reactive dyes have been introduced in which both triazine and sul-
phato ethyl sulphone reactive groups are present in a single dye molecule in order
to enhance the dye fixation and fastness properties at a moderate dyeing tempera-
ture. Low salt/alkali fixation reactive dye, low MLR dyeing machine, and excellent
bleaching fastness are the important sustainable factors (Broadbent 2001).

4.7 Vat Dyes

Vat dyes are anthraquinone or indigo based insoluble dyes and are traditionally
used to dye cellulosic textiles in a vat. Solubilization and stabilization of sodium
192 L. Ammayappan et al.

salt of leuco vat dye is the crucial factor and it consumes more chemicals and
energy than other parameters. R&D interventions are mainly focused on reduc-
ing the consumption of the reducing agent in order to sustain this dyeing process
(Broadbent 2001).

4.8 Sulphur Dyes

Sulphur dyes are amino/nitro aromatic compounds with –S=S– linkages and most
popular for black and brown shades on cellulosic textiles. Men’s fashion wear
for wild black and brownish shades are developed mainly from sulphur dyes.
Recently, sulphur dyes have been slowly phased out due to the polluting nature
of the dye-bath effluent. Dyeing methodology using glucose for the substitution
of sulfide-reducing agents and reducing dye by electrochemical processes are the
promising sustainable processes (Shore 1995; Broadbent 2001).

4.9 Solubilized Vat Dyes

Solubilized vat dyes are sodium salt sulphuric esters of the leuco vat acid and
applied to cellulosic textiles directly in a neutral or slightly alkaline condi-
tion. They are famous for durable and elegant pale shades on cellulosic textiles.
This class of dyes was never widespread and has declined due to their high cost
(Broadbent 2001).

5 Influencing Factors for Dyeing Process

The dye molecule is a complex organic compound with one chromophore and one
or more auxophores for its fixation with textile fibers. In aqueous solution, it exists
either as an individual or aggregate form and the state depends on the ionic nature
and molecular weight of the dye molecule. Dyeing involves the following three
important steps (Peters and Vickerstaff 1948; Broadbent 2001; Ingamells 1993).
• Migration of the dye molecules from the dye bath towards the surface of the
fiber and subsequent adsorption on the fiber surface
• Diffusion of the dye molecule from the surface to the inside matrix of the fiber
due to the concentration gradient of the dye molecule
• Fixation or bonding of the diffused dye molecules with the functional groups of
fiber polymer through different chemical bondings followed by orientation and
aggregation (Johnson 1989)
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 193

Among the three steps, the diffusion process is the rate-determining step. The dif-
fusion behavior of a dye molecule differs in each fiber and it helps to select the
suitable dye as per the dyer’s requirements such as the cost of dyeing, durability,
and end use. The diffusion of the dye molecule inside the fiber matrix depends
on the dye molecular size, dye molecular shape, ionic nature of the dye, diffu-
sion coefficient, dyeing adsorption profile, substrate type, substrate preparation,
and water quality (Madaras et al. 1993). The dyeing process depends on many
factors in order to get uniform and solid shades with excellent fastness properties
(Johnson 1989; Madaras 1993; Ingamells 1993). These factors are discussed in the
following chapter in terms of their role in the sustainability of the dyeing process.

5.1 Pretreatment

During the dyeing process, if the adsorption of the dye molecule on the surface of
the fiber surface is good, then there will be uniform and solid dyeing. So pretreat-
ment is required to improve the wettability as well as functionality of the fiber that
can lead to uniform dyeing.

5.2 Dye Concentration

Dyeing can be carried from pastel shades to dark shades in order to match the
requirements of various customers. For pale shades, the dyeing process requires
special attention to attain a uniform shade whereas for dark shades it requires
additional time, dyeing auxiliaries, and after-treatments in order to improve its
fastness properties.

5.3 Dyeing Condition

The diffusion of dye molecules from the surface to the inside of the fiber matrix
is the rate-determining step. Dyeing time, dyeing temperature, and material-to-
liquor ratio play important roles to enhance the dyeing rate. Dyeing time depends
on the affinity of the dye towards the fiber substrate as well as the method of dye-
ing. High molecular weight/less affinity dye molecules require a longer duration
to diffuse and form bonding with the fiber polymer than low molecular weight/
high affinity dye molecules. If the affinity of the dye molecule towards the natural
fiber is good, dyeing can be done at low temperature such as cold brand reactive
dyes, that is, dyed at 30 °C. However, medium to high temperature (60–95 °C)
is required to attain good aggregation of dye molecules and appreciable fastness
properties (Bae et al. 1997). The material-to-liquor ratio (MLR) indicates the
194 L. Ammayappan et al.

amount of liquor required for processing with respect to the weight of the sub-
strate. MLR can be selected based on the dyeing machine and dyeing method.
Recently a modern jet dyeing machine has been developed with a low MLR dye-
ing process in order to reduce the cost (Rys and Zollinger 1972).

5.4 Dyeing Auxiliaries

Dye bath auxiliaries including leveling agents, surfactants, acid, or alkali are
required to keep the dye molecule active and in individual form. Natural fib-
ers form negative zeta potential when immersed in water. Electrolytes such as
NaCl/Na2SO4 are used to neutralize the zeta potential. Acid/alkali maintain the pH
of the dyeing bath in order to improve dye fixation (Noah et al. 1986).

5.5 Compatibility of Dyes

Compatibility between dyes is required for combination shades. For a solid combi-
nation shade, both dyes should have uniform diffusion behavior, fixation rate, acti-
vation energy, and fastness properties, otherwise the dominant dye will be diffused
inside the fiber at a faster rate and the second dye will remain in the bath itself.

5.6 Mechanical Agitation

Mechanical agitation generally enhances the migration of the dye molecule


from the dye bath to the surface of the fiber substrate, so that dyeing time can be
reduced. Without agitation of the dye bath, agglomeration of dye molecules fol-
lowed by uneven dyeing may occur. If both the substrate and dyeing liquor are
moving, it will ensure a high degree of evenness.

5.7 Quality of Water

Water has a high surface tension and a high dielectric constant and so dyeing is
generally carried out in an aqueous medium. Presence of a hardness-creating sub-
stance in water can create problems during dyeing by reacting with the dye mol-
ecules. A dye house prefers soft water of 50 ppm for quality dyeing.
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 195

5.8 Dyeing Methods

The dyeing method plays a critical role in the cost of dyeing and selection of dye
for a particular substrate with desirable shade and fastness properties.

5.8.1 Exhaust Dyeing

The exhaust dyeing method imparts color to the textile material in a dyeing bath in
the presence of thermal energy, chemical additives, water or solvent, and mechani-
cal action of the dye bath or material. Popular exhaust dyeing machines are soft
flow, jigger, and jet dyeing machine. It is a batch dyeing process suitable for small
(10 kg) to large (1000 kg) lots. Research work has been carried out to reduce the
dyeing temperature and dyeing liquor (MLR) to sustain the dyeing method (Shore
1995; Shamey and Zhao 2014).

5.8.2 Pad → Steam Dyeing

The exhaust dyeing method for certain reactive and vat dyes consumes time,
wáter, and energy. To save energy, the pad → dry → steam process has been intro-
duced in which woven fabric in open width form is padded through 50–300 gpL
dyeing solution with 100 % expression followed by steaming with saturated steam
at 105 °C for 5–10 min. During steaming, dye molecules on the surface of the
fiber migrate towards the swollen fiber structure and are fixed. It is a continuous
process and consumes low liquor such as MLR of 1:1 or 1:2. However, the fast-
ness properties are less and the effluent discharge is higher than exhaust dyeing
(Madaras et al. 1993).

6 Environmental Impact of the Textile Dyeing Industry

The textile sector plays an important role in the gross domestic product (GDP)
of some of the developing countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and
Cambodia. Depending upon the population and life style of the people in a coun-
try, the consumption of the different textile products may be varied. If there are
more consumers, there will be more requirements for clothing and that leads to the
establishment of many textile dyeing industries to meet these requirements. The
establishment of dyeing industries is based on government policy on installation of
effluent treatment plants. The phenomenal growth of the dyeing industry can bring
prosperity to a country by giving more employment; however, it is also responsi-
ble for the deterioration of environmental surroundings by discharging effluents.
Apart from the air and noise pollution, water pollution poses a big threat to the
196 L. Ammayappan et al.

environment due to the discharge of large amounts of liquid effluents into pub-
lic sewers, inland surface water bodies, rivers, and irrigation land. The discharge
of the effluent can pose a wide range of problems that lead to deterioration of a
healthy life for the people. Among textile wet processing starting from preparatory
processes to chemical finishing, dyeing is one of the major areas that consumes
more water than other processing (Correia et al. 1994; Bartea and Bartea 2008)
Recently the demand for textile clothing is increasing proportional to the
human population, and so the consumption of synthetic dyes has increased, It is
estimated that over 7 × 105 tons of synthetic dyes are annually produced world-
wide for dyeing various textile fibers. After dyeing, nearly 200,000 tons of unfixed
dyes are discharged to effluents every year due to the inefficiency of the dyeing
process (Forgacs et al. 2004; Dos Santos et al. 2007).
The textile dyeing industry uses more than 8000 chemicals and most of the
chemicals are reported to be unhealthy to humans. Presently, water consumption
for a dyeing process varies from 30–150 L/kg of cloth, depending on the type of
dye and substrate as mentioned in Table 2. Apart from dyeing, water is required
for washing the dyed materials to achieve desirable fastness properties. The World
Bank estimates that 17–20 % of industrial water pollution comes from the textile
dyeing treatment given to fabric. These data give an indication of the effect of con-
ventional dyeing systems on the environment (Vijayaragavan 1999).
It is reported that after treating one ton of cotton fabric, the effluent would have
200–600 ppm BOD, 1000–1600 ppm of total solids, and 30–50 ppm of suspended
solids contained in a of 50–160 m3. For woolen textiles for 1 ton of scoured wool
the effluent would have 430–1200 ppm BOD, around 6500 ppm total solids in the
of 100–230 m3 (Robinson et al. 2001). Organized textile sectors treated the tex-
tile effluents before discharging into water bodies, whereas cottage industries did
not conform to the norms set by the pollution control board. Textile effluents are
generally hot, alkaline, strong smelling, and colored. The environmental and eco-
logical effects of textile processes are complex issues. Processing procedures and
social and legal constraints vary widely from country to country. It is the time to
rethink the existing dyeing system and streamline the sustainable dyeing process
in order to preserve the natural resources for our future generations.
Sustainability of a dyeing process can be assessed by its ability to discharge a
low amount of unfixed dye, that is, effluent, to the drainage. If the aggregation and

Table 2  Water consumption in the textile industry (Moustafa 2008)


Fiber type/make-up Mean Water Consumption in L/kg
Material
(a) By fiber type Cotton 50–120
Wool 75–250
Other natural fibers 10–100
(b) By make-up Fabric 100–200
Hosiery 80–120
Printing 0–400
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 197

Table 3  Fixation degree of different dye classes on textile support (EWA 2005)
Dye class Fiber type Fixation Interaction between dye and fiber
degree (%)
Acid Wool, silk, 80–95 Hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding, van
nylon der Waals forces
Basic Acrylic, silk 95–100 Hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding,
Direct Cellulose 70–95 Hydrogen bonding, van der Waals
forces
Metal Wool 92–98 Hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding,
complex van der Waals forces, hydrophobic
bonding
Reactive Cellulose 50–90 Covalent bonding, hydrogen bonding
Sulphur Cellulose 60–90 Hydrogen bonding, van der Waals
forces
Vat Cellulose 80–95 Hydrogen bonding, van der Waals
forces
Disperse Polyester, nylon 90–100 Van der Waals forces, hydrophobic
bonding
Modified Acrylic 95–98 Ionic bonding, van der Waals forces,
basic hydrophobic bonding

chemical bonding between fiber and dye molecule is good, then there will be less
discharge of unfixed dyes. Woolen textile exhausts a higher amount of metal com-
plex dyes than other dyes and thus its sustainability is good (Bertea and Bertea
2008; O’Neill 1999). It is reported that the cotton textile dyeing system discharges
more effluent than other fibers as mentioned in Table 3 (EPA 1997). Presently
attention is focused towards the right-first-time production techniques that reduce
color loads in the effluent by optimization of processes.

7 Sustainable Dyeing

Pure textile material, high fixing dye molecules, low MLR dyeing machine, eco-
friendly dyeing method, right-first-time dyeing, skilled manpower, well-planned
supply chain, management and stringent policy of the government are the impor-
tant factors to sustain the dyeing industry in order to meet the global requirements
of the fashion industry. Each management is responsible for knowing about the
eco-friendly approaches starting from the materials selection to supply of the fin-
ished garments to the market (Mahapatra 2011; Bide 2014). In the sustainability
of the dyeing industries for the smooth supply of fashion garments, the factors dis-
cussed below play a major role.
198 L. Ammayappan et al.

7.1 Materials

7.1.1 Fiber Substrate

The dyeing method is mainly dependent on the type of fibers: that is, wool fiber
cannot be selected for dyeing with vat dyes and cellulosic fiber is not suitable for
dyeing with acid dyes. From the sustainability point of view woolen/silk textiles
exhaust nearly 95 % of dyes, and cellulosic textiles exhaust nearly 60–85 % of
reactive dyes. However, in tropical regional countries customers prefer cool and
comfort apparel such as cellulosic textiles, whereas dry cool regional countries
prefer warm and hydrophobic apparel like woolen textiles. Cotton fiber is avail-
able at an economic price, thus dyers prefer cotton textiles for easy marketing and
technologists focus on improving the dye fixation.

7.1.2 Pretreatment

Pretreatments are preferred to improve the dyeing property of a textile substrate.


Pretreatment can be classified as physical and chemical pretreatments and it can
also improve the appearance, hand, performance, and durability (Ammayappan
2013a). Some pretreatments mainly focus on the surface of the textile substrate
and it may be either an additive or subtractive process

Physical Pretreatment

Surface modification of textile fibers in the absence of an aqueous system is


termed physical pretreatment. Physical treatment is successful in a pilot-scale
study only, due to the huge investment involved and it is less compatible with the
conventional processing supply chain. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) treatment, low
temperature plasma (LTP) treatment, gamma (δ) radiation, ozone treatment, laser
treatment, microwave treatment, e-beam irradiation, and ion implantation are the
important physical treatments to improve the dyeability of fibers (Atav 2014).

UV Radiation Treatment
Ultraviolet radiation is an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from
400 to 100 nm. UV has the ability to form free radicals and modifies the wool
fiber surface to improve its dyeability. It is reported that aromatic amino acid
and cystine residues in the wool polymer act as UV-absorbing species and thus
absorb UV radiation that lead to oxidize the wool fiber surface in the presence
of air. UV-radiated wool fiber has more functional groups than conventional wool
fiber and so this photomodification increases the affinity towards anionic dyes
at temperatures lower than 90 °C. This technology also improves the production
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 199

efficiency of wool fabrics especially for heavy shades, especially black and navy
blue (Ammayappan 2013b).

Low Temperature Plasma Treatment


Plasma is the fourth state of matter and it is a mixture of electrons, ions, and free
radicals. It is produced from an electrical discharge either under vacuum or atmos-
pheric pressure. Plasma has the potential to rupture any polymeric surface physi-
cally because it has high activation energy. Plasma treatment in the presence of
nonpolymerizing gases such as air, oxygen, and nitrogen etches the outer surface
of the fiber up to 30–50 nm depth as well as partial surface oxidation. Physical
etching is responsible for the abrasion of the outer layer and surface oxidation
introduces new anionic groups, that is, carboxylate groups in the cellulose chains
and sulphonate groups in the cuticle cells of wool fiber. This surface modification
enhances the dyeability of fiber and is considered an effluent-free and environmen-
tally friendly process (Ammayappan et al. 2012).

Ozone Treatment
Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent, used to oxidize the textile fiber surface
for improving its dyeability through formation of additional functional groups.
Ozone is generated through corona discharge, UV light, and electrolysis. Atav and
Yurdakul (2011) reported that ozonation on luxury fiber improved the dyeability at
lower temperatures by modifying the fiber surfaces.

Gamma Radiation and Others


Gamma radiation denoted γ has electromagnetic radiation of high frequency
(above 1019 Hz) and energy (above 100 keV). Like UV radiation, gamma radi-
ation, e-beam irradiation, and ion implantation are used to modify the fiber sur-
face, however, due to the high cost, these processes are not common (Beevers and
McLaren 1974; Atav 2014).

Chemical Pretreatment

Chemical pretreatment for a textile substrate is mainly based on the chemical


nature of dye as well as substrate. If anionic dyes can be selected for dyeing, the
textile substrate should be modified to cationic nature by the additive process so
that dyeability can be improved as with chitosan treatment or quaternary ammo-
nium compounds on protein fibers (Wei 2009; Schindler and Hauser 2004). There
are many chemical treatments reported in the literature, and selective chemical
treatments (mainly quaternary ammonium compounds and enzymes) are mainly
applicable in terms of a commercial point of view.
200 L. Ammayappan et al.

Chitosan
Chitosan is a natural biopolymer, chemically called beta-(1, 4)-2-(amino)-2-de-
oxy-D-glycopyranose. It has an amino group and protonates to NH3+ at acidic
pH < 6.5 as a cationic polyelectrolyte and it can easily interact with anionic dye
molecules. Chitosan-treated wool fiber has more cationic groups than untreated
wool fiber and thus a short dyeing time can be reduced. It is also used to improve
the dyeability of immature cotton fiber. However, this treatment may impart a
stiff feel due to the formation of a polymerization film on the surface of the fiber
(Rippon 1984; Jocic et al. 2005; Kitkulnumchai et al. 2008).

β-Cyclodextrin
Cyclodextrins are torus-shaped cyclic oligosaccharides, built from six to eight
(α = 6, β = 7, γ = 8) D-glucose units. They form a dye-cyclodextrin complex
and the complex can improve the dyeability of textile fibers. Among three cyclo-
dextrins, β-cyclodextrin possesses better complexation efficiency than others.
β-cyclodextrin forms an inclusion complex with dye molecules due to a slight
bathochromic shift of the absorption maxima of the dye molecule. β-cyclodextrin
is also used as retarding agents during dyeing of the wool fibers. Sulphonated
β-cyclodextrin is fixed with wool fiber by the pad → dry → cure method and
forms electrovalent bonds under the acidic condition and sulphonation modified
β-cyclodextrin act as deep dyeing promoters for wool fabrics (Ammayappan and
Jeyakodi Moses 2009b).

ColorZen
Cotton fibers are pretreated with a nontoxic chemical called ColorZen and the pre-
treated cotton fibers are spun into yarn and woven into fabric and then dyed with
a conventional reactive dyeing process. ColorZen-treated cotton consumes 90 %
less water than a conventional dyeing procedure so that there is an energy saving
of 75 % and one third of the time. OekoTex Standard 100 approved ColorZen LLC
and stated that ColorZen is 100 % free of harmful substances and safe for use on
products for babies through adults (Anon 2015a).

Enzymes
Enzymes are used in the textile industry for the development of environmentally
friendly preparatory processes as well as dyeing processes at lower temperature.
Pectinases, cellulases, proteases, peroxidases, and lactases can replace insistent
chemicals used in dyeing. Protease enzyme treatment improves the diffusion of
dye molecules inside the wool fiber and increases the adsorption rate by decreas-
ing the apparent activation energy for the dye. Commercial alkaline and neutral
protease enzymes are mainly used for improvement in dyeability of selective
woolen textiles. The lanazym process is based on purely enzymatic treatment for
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 201

wool fabric with Perizym-AFW and it improves dyeability and washing fastness.
Wool tops/knitted fabric treated with ammonia in the presence of sodium chloride,
followed by an enzymatic treatment not only enhance the dyeing behaviour, but
also shrink resistance. Similarly cellulase enzyme is used to enhance the brilliancy
of the shade for cellulosic textiles (Lee et al. 1983; Cavaco-Paulo and Gubitz
2003).

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds


During dyeing of cotton fiber with direct or reactive dyes, electrolyte (NaCl or
Na2SO4) are added to reduce the negative zeta potential present on the surface
of the fibers. The addition of salts can increase in the BOD/COD of the efflu-
ent. Reactive quaternary ammonium compounds have been introduced to reduce
the addition of electrolytes for dyeing of reactive dyes with cellulosic fiber.
Glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride, N,N-dimethylaze-tidinium chloride, and
N-methylol acrylamide are the compounds used to provide cationic sites in the
cotton fiber (Burkinshaw 1989; Burkinshaw 1990; Lei and Lewis 1990; Lewis and
Lei 1989).

7.1.3 Substrate

Textile products can be dyed in various forms including loose stock, sliver, top,
yarn, fabric, garment, and nonwoven. Different factors such as production line,
end product, potential of the dye house, and manpower decide the options for
the dyeing operation in relation to the textile processes (Madaras et al. 1993;
Ingamells 1993).

Loose Fiber

Loose fiber dyeing is mainly employed for the production of mélange yarn: loose
stock is mainly dyed on the principle of circulating the liquor through the station-
ary material. Dyeing at the loose stock, sliver, and top stages can be applicable to
dyes with poor leveling properties. However, this dyeing methodology takes too
long with low production.

Yarn

Fine single yarn, knitting yarns, and high-twist fancy yarns are dyed in the form
of cross-wound packages. Because there is no subsequent dyeing processing steps
involved, the dyer must ensure level dyeing and it is the main concern in this dye-
ing method.
202 L. Ammayappan et al.

Fabric

Woven or knitted fabric is preferred for continuous dyeing and bulk production.
Dyers can select dye in a wide range both in terms of leveling property and dyeing
machine. Either the fabric is transported through the liquor (winch/jigger) or both
the liquor and fabric are moved in opposite directions in the machine (jet dye-
ing machine). Open width fabric can be dyed in the jigger or pad-batch method,
whereas the rope form can be dyed in a jet/winch dyeing machine. R&D work has
been carried out to perfect a soft flow dyeing machine to reduce the energy, water,
dye, and chemicals.

Garment

Garment dyeing is generally preferred for fancy effect and it requires more
amounts of dyes, dyeing time, and skilled manpower. Automatic garment dyeing
is carried out in a paddle/drum machine and used for dyeing house, fully fashioned
garments, pullovers, and hats. Both material and dye solution are moved by means
of the paddle blade/perforated drum.

Nonwoven

It is difficult to dye nonwoven products, inasmuch as these products can deform their
structures. Nonwoven is usually dyed manually in a pot using a variety of colors.

7.2 Dyes

Selective dyes can have demerits such as hydrolysis at high temperature, low
exhaustion rate, and poor fastness properties and these properties also reduce the
sustainability. Research work has been carried out to enhance the exhaustion, fixa-
tion, and fastness properties.

7.2.1 Modified Dyes

For dyeing of 1 kg of cotton fabric with reactive dyes, up to 100 L of water are
required in the conventional dyeing system. In addition, unfixed/hydrolyzed reac-
tive dyes generally cause a reduction in fastness properties and require more rins-
ing treatment. M/s. Huntsman Textile Effects introduced a new tri-reactive dye
called AVITERA–SE in the presence of ERIOPON LT (Clearing additive for
reactive dye) and it requires 15–20 L of water to dye 1 kg of cotton fabric. They
also introduced a clearing additive for hydrolyzed and unfixed reactive dye called
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 203

Table 4  Energy required for dyeing process and washing-off for 1 kg of cotton fabric
Dyeing System Water (L) Energy CO2 emission Processing
(kg steam) (kg electricity) time (h)
Hot dyeing system 60–100 9.0 35.0 9.0
Conventional warm 40–80 6.5 2.5 7.0
dyeing system
Best available technology 30–40 3.9 1.5 5.5
Huntsman AVITERA SE 15–20 1.7 0.65 4.0
and ERIOPON LT

ERIOPON® LT, which requires less than 60 °C rinsing bath to obtain the required
colorfastness. The saving in water and energy by the Huntsman process in com-
parison with the best available technology (BAT) for reactive dyes is given in
Table 4 (Lewis 2014; Anon 2015b).

7.2.2 Natural Dyes

Natural dyes have been used by humans to impart color to textile clothing since
ancient times. Some people still use natural dyes for coloration of fashion tex-
tiles due to their distinct color, uniqueness, functionality, and ease of application.
Coloration of textiles with natural dyes in the presence of biomordants could be
one of the alternative sustainable and quality dyeing methods (Ammayappan and
Seiko Jose 2015).

7.2.3 Dyes with Excellent Fastness Properties

Modified vat dyes for cellulosic textiles, 1:2 metal complex dyes for woolen tex-
tiles, leveling acid dyes for silk textiles, and bifunctional reactive dyes for cellu-
losic textiles give very good to excellent fastness properties. The selection would
be based on the cost of dyeing and the end use (Lewis 2014).

7.3 Dye Bath Additives

Ionic dye molecules exist as aggregated molecules and their diffusion inside
the fiber polymer depends on the size of aggregation. If the radii of dye aggre-
gates exceed the pore size of the fiber, dyeing time will be long. Dye bath addi-
tives are either ionic or nonionic in nature and can be added in the dyeing bath to
keep individual dye molecules through stabilization. Dye bath additives such as
the exhausting agent, fixing agent, protecting agent, and leveling agent are used
to improve the dyeing rate as well as uniformity of dyeing. They are anionic, cati-
onic, amphoteric, and nonionic in nature (Ammayappan et al. 2011).
204 L. Ammayappan et al.

7.3.1 Protecting Agents

Dyeing at high temperature of woolen textiles can lead to adverse effect on


downstream processing as well as product performance. JA. Rippon of CSIRO,
Australia developed an amphoteric surfactant called Sirolan-LTD, used to remove
the lipids on the surface of the wool fiber. By using this protective agent, dyeing of
woolen textiles can be carried out at 80–90 °C for all classes of dyes with excel-
lent fastness properties. After dyeing, the residual substance biodegrades easily
and leaves no toxic residues (Lewis and Rippon 2013)

7.3.2 Leveling Agents

Dye migration and fixation inside the fiber matrix decide the solidity of the shade.
If the affinity of the dye molecules towards the fiber is high, there is a possibil-
ity of rapid diffusion and it may lead to uneven dyeing. Leveling agents are used
to improve the leveling of the dye molecules by controlling the dyeing rate and
improving the uniform distribution of dye molecules. It is mainly used for dye-
ing of woolen textiles with metal complex and high molecular weight acid dyes
(Ammayappan 2009).

7.3.3 Liposomes

Liposomes are spherical synthetic layers of phospholipids, which are formed like
closed vesicles with an aqueous core, ranged from 10 to 100 nm in diameter. They
consist of hydrophilic phosphate and choline groups, and a hydrocarbon hydro-
phobic part. The hydrophobic part is used as a carrier for the dye and can be easily
absorbed by the wool fiber. The interaction between the lipid of liposomes and cell
membrane complex of wool leads to uniform diffusion of dye molecules inside
the fiber at low temperature (85 °C). Commercially liposomes are used as a tex-
tile auxiliary in wool dyeing which has been adapted by some textile industries.
This process also has additional benefits including improved smoothness with
retention of mechanical properties with a clear reduction in the dye house effluents
(Ammayappan 2009; De La Maza et al. 1997).

7.3.4 Reverse Micelle Medium

The reverse micelle system is used to dye protein fiber with anionic dyes in a non-
aqueous dyeing medium. Acid dye is dissolved in the water-pool in the presence of the
organic compound called decamethyl cyclopentasiloxane (D5) to form a dye solution/
nonaqueous medium emulsion. This system has an organic solvent as a continuous
phase and dyes with hydrophilic fiber in a nonaqueous medium (Sawada and Ueda
2003; Song 2007). This process can reduce the consumption of water for dyeing.
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 205

7.4 Dyeing Methods

7.4.1 Air Dyeing

Air dyeing was developed by M/s. Colorep, a California-based company and this
process used up to 95 % less water and up to 86 % less energy in comparison with
conventional dyeing methods. This process resembles transfer printing of polyes-
ter fiber with disperse dyes in which air is used instead of water for the penetration
of the disperse dyes into the fiber. The disperse dye is applied on some special
types of paper and the dye is transferred to the fabric surface by the application of
heat. They reported that this technology could save around 75 gallons of water for
dyeing of a single pound of fabric (Otsuki and Raybin 2015; Anon 2015c).

7.4.2 Digital Printing

Similar to the AirDye principle, recently digital printing has been used for fashion
garments in which designs can be printed on the fabrics, so that there is a reduc-
tion in water usage up to 95 % and energy up to 75 % in comparison with a con-
ventional printing process (Anon 2015d).

7.4.3 Hand Dyeing of Natural Dyes

Eindhoven-based designers Renee Mennen and Stefanie van Keijsteren introduced


a traditional hand-dyeing method to develop fashion clothing in which they have
used selective natural dyes with eco-friendly mordants for the development of a
monochrome rainbow of red colors on woolen and cotton textiles (Anon 2015d).

7.4.4 Dyeing at Inert Atmosphere

M/s Master S.R.L, Italy, has introduced an environmentally friendly dyeing pro-
cess called Genius2 for indigo and sulfur dyes on cellulosic textiles in a nitrogen
atmosphere. This process kept the leuco vat/sulphur dye exists in nano stage and
a special diffusion/fixation unit is used to enhance the fixation of dye molecules.
Similarly they also developed a continuous dyeing machine for denim fabrics
called IndigoGenius, in which indigo/sulphur dyes can be dyed at nitrogen atmos-
pheric conditions. This process shows high color yield and reduction (up to about
−80 %) in consumption of sodium hydroxide and hydrosulfite in comparison with
conventional dyeing (Anon 2015e).
206 L. Ammayappan et al.

7.4.5 Nano-Dye Process

M/s. Nano-Dye Technologies, Inc., United States, introduced a process called


Nano-Dye. It is a continuous dyeing system in which dye molecules are kept in
individual nano stages as well as modifies the charge of the cotton fiber to cat-
ionic charge. These modifications lead to the highest dye exhaustion of reactive
dyes with a low amount of additives, so that it consumes 90 % less energy, 70 %
less wáter, and almost nearly zero solid waste than a conventional dyeing process
(Anon 2015f). This process is in the developmental stage and will be implemented
in late 2015.

7.4.6 Super-Critical Carbon Dioxide Dyeing

DyeCoo, a Dutch-based Company, developed industrial super-critical carbon diox-


ide (scCO2) dyeing technology by using carbon dioxide to act as a fluid similar
to water through temperature- controlled pressure chambers. In this method, the
dyestuff is first dissolved in scCO2 and is then transferred to the substrate. The
dissolved dye gets subsequently absorbed and diffused inside the fiber due to the
swelling effect of scCO2. After dyeing, residual dyes and scCO2 can be recovered.
It is observed that the equilibrium sorption of the dye on fiber is increased with
increase in pressure and temperature (Schmidt et al. 2003)

7.4.7 Microwave-Assisted Dyeing

Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from


10−3 to 1 mm, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz (Yurika 2005).
Generally it is used to heat the bulky woolen cheese rapidly in a uniform manner
and consequently in dyeing inasmuch as it saves dyeing time, wáter, and chemi-
cals. Haggag et al. (2014) inferred that microwave-assisted dyeing of cellulosic
textile with reactive dyes reduced the dyeing time, salt, and alkali consumption
around 90 %, 75 %, and 20 %, respectively, without deteriorating the fastness
properties. Zhao and He (2011) treated woolen fabric in a microwave oven at
2450 MHz, 250–1000 W for 30–180 s and inferred that microwave-modified wool
fiber showed an improvement in diffusion behaviour of dye molecules without
deteriorating its mechanical properties.

7.4.8 Ultrasound-Assisted Dyeing

Ultrasound consists of high-frequency (>18 kHz) inaudible oscillations. A current


of 50–60 Hz alternate current is converted into a high-frequency electrical energy
by the generator. High-frequency electricity is fed to the transducers and is trans-
formed into mechanical vibrations. The transducer system vibrates longitudinally,
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 207

transmitting waves into the liquid medium. In liquid as the ultrasound waves prop-
agate, they form microscopically small bubbles. These bubbles expand and finally
during the compression phase they collapse violently and generate shock waves.
The waves are responsible for ultrasonic effects observed in a liquid/liquid sys-
tem (Ammayappan 2009). Ultrasound influences the dyeing process by dispersing
dye molecules into individual form, increasing activation energy of dye molecules,
and making rapid diffusion inside the fiber structure so that it enhances the rate
of dyeing. Yu et al. (2010) studied ultrasound-assisted dyeing of wool fiber with
reactive and acid dyes at 50–55 °C and found that this process is more economi-
cal than a conventional dyeing process in terms of energy, color yield, and prod-
uct quality. Ferrero and Periolatto (2012) compared the dyeing of wool fiber with
and without ultrasound. It is reported that ultrasound-based dyeing exhausted acid
dyes at 60–80 °C, whereas a conventional method required 90–95 °C for equiva-
lent exhaustion.

7.4.9 Electrochemical Dyeing

Electrochemical dyeing is introduced to replace conventional dyeing of cellu-


losic textiles with vat or sulphur dyes in which electrochemical energy is used to
reduce the dyes instead of conventional chemical reduction with sodium sulphide
or sodium hydrosulphite. Anbu Kulandainathan et al. (2008) carried out electro-
chemical dyeing of vat dyes with a very low concentration of sodium dithionite by
using iron-deposited graphite as the cathode and reported that the color intensity
and washing fastness of the dyed fabrics were found to be equal with convention-
ally dyed fabrics. Bechtold et al. (2008) reduced a sulphur dye in a multicath-
ode electrolyzer and observed that there is a positive correlation between redox
potential and color depth of the dyed samples. Babu et al. (2009) performed elec-
trochemical dyeing of vat dyes with ferrous/ferric complexes coupled with Ca
complexes instead of hydrosulphite. Ferric triethanol amine (TEA) complex in
alkaline medium is a well-known redox mediator and can be used to reduce the vat
dyes in this electrochemical process. After dyeing, the solution can be reused by
filtering the dyes in the complexes.

7.5 Machinery Development

Jet dyeing machines are used to dye hosiery fabrics and work on the principle
of accelerating water through a nozzle to transport fabrics through the machine.
Recently low liquor ratio jet dyeing machines have been introduced, in which
low friction Teflon internal coatings and advanced spray systems are used to
speed up the dyeing and rinsing process. Similarly ultralow liquor ratio jet dye-
ing machines operate at a 6:1 liquor ratio in comparison with the LLR jet dyeing
machine (8:1). M/s. Cleantech Solutions International, Inc., China has developed a
208 L. Ammayappan et al.

dyeing machine which uses both air flow and fluid flow in the dyeing process with
a series of nozzles, cloth wheels, and cloth spreaders. This dyeing machine can use
60–70 % less water, 50 % less additives, 30 % less power, and 40–50 % less steam
than a conventional dyeing machine. Due to less consumption of chemicals, it also
shortens the dyeing time by 1–2 h by ensuring good color evenness (Anon 2015g).
M/s. Then Maschinen GmbH, Germany, introduced the Airflow® Lotus 200
dyeing machine in which they replaced the dye liquor with moisture-saturated air
flow for transporting piece goods in jet-dyeing machines with low MLR. It leads
to high transportation, energy savings of up to 40 %, and 25 % reduction in pro-
cessing time in lowest water levels (Anon 2015h). A new airflow technology,
aerodynamic, has been developed by M/s. Fong’s Europe GmbH, Germany and
dyed cotton-based textiles in both woven and hosiery with less than 4:1 MLR. It is
reported that total water consumption by a conventional jet dyeing process ranged
40–100 L whereas aerodynamic technology requires 38–45 L of water/kg for cot-
ton textiles (Anon 2015i). Similarly, M/s. Thies GmbH, Germany, has developed
dyeing machinery called Thies 2000 iMaster H2O for cotton and cotton-blended
hosiery fabrics with 1:3.7 MLR. It is reported that it consumed 0.28 kW power
and 17–50 L of water/kg of fabric and can save up to 50 % energy as well as water
consumption (Anon 2015j).

7.6 Management

Other than development in the dyeing machinery and method, respective manage-
ment is also responsible for sustaining the dyeing process by executing the stand-
ard protocols to save energy and chemicals (Park and Shore 2009; Teli 1996). They
should make the proper arrangements to explore the sustainability of the dyeing
process among all staff members and also encourage the involvement of staff
members to follow the rules for sustainability by giving incentives and awards.

7.6.1 Right-First-Time Dyeing

The main objective of the right-first-time dyeing (RFTD) is to increase the produc-
tivity of a processing unit by achieving the desired shade on a product at the first
attempt in the right time by selecting the proper dye/dyeing method/machinery. By
RFTD, every dyeing industry can save dyeing time, increase profit, and reduce the
dyeing cost as well as reduce the pollution load (Park and Shore 2009).

7.6.2 Efficient Practices

Efficiency of the dyeing process can be improved by the automation of the unit
processes in the dyeing unit. It also leads to reducing the pollution or waste and
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 209

energy without deteriorating the strength, but improves the fastness properties of
clothing in consistent ways (Perkins 1991; Thiry 2011). Some of the potential and
efficient practices are given below:
1. Dye bath reuse: It is applicable for dark shades in batch process and unfixed
dyes of the previous bath can be reused in order to reduce the effluent load.
2. Continuous dyeing for knits: Based on the capacity and the customer require-
ment, hosiery fabrics can be dyed continuously in order to reduce the dyeing cost.
3. Automated color mix kitchen: Dye can be dosed in the dyeing machine in a
controlled manner so that waste in dye can be reduced.
4. Automated chemical dosing: Monitoring the dye bath additives can greatly
improve the dyeing quality with good reproducibility of the process and main-
taining the process fortitude.
5. Countercurrent washing: Water is the main source for a dyeing unit; if the con-
current washing plant can be implemented it can conserve 20–30 % of water.

7.6.3 Design-Stage Planning

The planning stage for new processes and products is essential because it offers
the opportunity to design sustainable dyeing technologies. It can be achieved by
deploying an experienced R&D group comprising scientists, technologists, dyers,
and management staff. This group can survey the latest trends in dyeing and con-
duct brain-storming sessions with all categories of people to execute the sustain-
able dyeing process (Jeyakodi Moses and Ammayappan 2006).

Design-Stage Planning for Processes

Design-stage planning for processes focuses on arranging the dyeing procedure in a


proper way to reduce the pollution load. It can be executed by examining the existing
dyeing process at the fundamental design level and rectifying/modifying the demer-
its in order to improve the dyeing quality. For example, dyeing cost is a major role
in planning of the dyeing industry and so management must consider the following
dyeing sequence in order to select the proper dyeing process for their material.
Solubilised vat > Vats > Bi-functional reactive > Metallised direct > Azoic and
unmetallised direct > Liquid sulphur (for cellulosic textiles)
1:2 Metal complex > Reactive > 1:1 Metal complex > Acid dye > Direct dye
(for protein fiber textiles)

Design-Stage Planning for Products

Today’s consumer expectations are environmentally friendly, cost-worth, and well-


designed products. Each industry management must adopt an innovative supply
210 L. Ammayappan et al.

chain for delivering the product as per the customer’s requirements including envi-
ronmental aspects. For example, shades and colors should be selected that use the
most environmentally benign dyes.

7.6.4 Dissemination of Standardized Methodology

Every successful dyeing technology has ease of adaptability from one to another
corner of the world in terms of repeatability, cost, economics, and eco-friendli-
ness. The standardization protocol and reporting format of the dyeing process can
be used to transfer its information. This type of dissemination surely produces suc-
cessful results and it requires minimal cost and effort.

7.6.5 Biofiltering of Wastewater

Wastewater treatment is considered a supportive methodology for sustaining a


dyeing process indirectly. A comprehensive technology called a “sequencing batch
biofilter granular reactor” has been developed in which it oxidizes the textile dyes
by ozone treatment followed by a biofiltration. The treated effluent holds more
microorganisms than traditional technologies and produces 80 % less sludge than
conventional filters (Lotito et al. 2011).

7.6.6 Smart Tailoring

Reduction of the wastage in garment manufacturing can indirectly sustain the dye-
ing process. Direct Panel on Loom (DPOL) or Smart Tailoring technology was
created by Indian designer Siddhartha Upadhyaya, and can be used to manufacture
a garment by well-planned weaving, fabric cutting, and patterning in a consequent
manner so that this process minimizes garment waste as well as helps in saving
energy and water by 70–80 % (Anon 2015d).

7.6.7 Eco-Labeling

Eco-certification of a garment can also suggest that management select suitable


material, dyes, process, and machinery in order to provide credible assurance to
the consumer. It also leads to gain universal recognition, enabling processors and
manufacturers to supply a universally acceptable product. There are two types
of eco-labeling systems: the first type is privately owned certification agencies
such as Oeko-Tex 100 and second type is association based agencies such as the
European Union Eco-label (Ammayappan and Jose 2015).
Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing 211

7.7 Education

A long-term approach to sustain the dyeing process can be achieved by formalized


employee education. Education programs are more general and less job-oriented
than training programs. Several specific topics have been documented in the litera-
ture, including:
1. In-depth understanding of chemistry, reaction kinetics of dye, and dye-
ing machinery among technical executives is essential to foster awareness of
sustainability.
2. Establishment of corporate-level work groups to develop and distribute infor-
mation about sustainable dyeing processes.
3. Internal training and education through in-house newsletters is an effective way
to communicate information and educate employees.
4. Several useful external training and education mechanisms including confer-
ences, equipment and trade shows, in-plant courses by outside experts or plant
technical personnel, and promoting correspondence courses from textile col-
leges to update their knowledge on sustainable dyeing.

8 Future Perspectives

Adaption of bulk-scale production of a technology in any sector depends on its


public demand, feasibility, economy, and government policy. The natural dye
industry has existed as a small-scale sector for a long time. After introduction of
synthetic dyes and their ease of application protocol, many governments promoted
the dyeing industry based on synthetic dyes because it contributes a major share of
the GDP as well as employment for a country. Initially, there was no restriction in
the testing of the dyes and discharge of the dye effluent. Subsequently the textile
world sent out an alarm to check the quality of the synthetic dyes in terms of eco-
friendliness during the 1990s. After imposing the ban on selective synthetic dyes,
the dyeing sector undertook many innovative methods to reduce the water, energy,
and chemicals used in processing cotton textiles by 50 %; for example, during the
1990s 130–200 L of water/kg of fabric were used to dye 1 kg of cotton textile
which was reduced to 65–70 L in the 2000 s, and chemical and energy consump-
tion were reduced to 40 and 50 %, respectively.
In the twenty-first century, there are many restrictions starting from raw mate-
rial procurement to certification of the finished goods. In practice those rules can
be followed in the developed countries, but the adaption of those rules and regu-
lation may be varied in the developing countries such as India, Bangladesh, and
Cambodia, where the majority of the textile dyeing industries are running. Most
of the dyeing industries did not follow those rules due to the involvement of huge
investment in costly machinery, advanced purification systems, and modern efflu-
ent treatment plants that led to the closure of many dyeing industries. However,
212 L. Ammayappan et al.

to meet the global demand for clothing, they move their dyeing operations to
another city without following the rules for sustainability. It is the responsibil-
ity of all members of the dyeing sector to achieve a sustainable impact by having
clear management of the supply chain of fashion textiles. This is the correct time
to rationalize the tactical plans by collaborating in all possible ways to make the
dyeing industry sustainable for our future generations.

9 Conclusion

Dyeing was introduced in our civilization as an art for imparting colors on tex-
tile clothing in order to enhance the dignity of the people. Natural dye based col-
oration was an art and executed by skilled artisans for many centuries. After the
invention of synthetic dyes and industrialization in the nineteenth century, con-
sumption of synthetic dyes for coloration progressed rapidly. Selection of a dye
for coloration is based on the cost of the dye and consumer demands. Coloration
of textile materials with synthetic dyes has increased due to the increase in popu-
lation up to the 1990s. After exploration of carcinogenicity of synthetic dyes and
introduction of the eco-label, consumers became aware of the eco-friendliness of
their products. The eco-label creates not only awareness of green textile; it also
acts as a starting point for the sustainable dyeing processes and reduces the pollu-
tion load.
Researchers and academicians are constantly working on sustaining technol-
ogy that can reduce the pollution load in the textile industry, because conventional
dyeing consumes more energy and water. Natural textile fibers are heterogeneous
and have natural impurities, thus it is always a great challenge for scientists to
develop a suitable technology for an energy-efficient, cost-effective, and particu-
larly sustainable dyeing methodology. Adaption of a sustainable technology from
laboratory to industry is a deciding role and it depends on so many factors such
as their economy, ease of operation, and technological know-how about the dye-
ing. Development of quality and green textile products by adapting those sustain-
able technologies irrespective of their cost can surely lead to survival of natural
resources, which is the basic need of future generations.

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Developments in Sustainable Chemical
Processing of Textiles

A. Arputharaj, A.S.M. Raja and Sujata Saxena

Abstract Chemical processing adds value to the textiles by improving aesthet-


ics and imparting functional properties. It is usually carried out in the aqueous
medium and thus requires a large amount of water. A number of chemicals and
auxiliaries are employed in the process many of which are not biodegradable.
Unused chemicals are discharged along with the process water as effluent which
has to be treated at huge costs to make it comply with environmental regulations.
Textile processing is energy intensive also as many treatments are carried out at
elevated temperatures. Requirement of these inputs depends upon the nature of the
fibre and machine used. As discharge and treatment of the aqueous effluent and
unavailability of soft water required by the textile industry is the biggest challenge
towards ensuring sustainability of the textile-processing industry, most of the
developments in this field have tried to address these issues in various ways. This
chapter analyses the key issues in the textile wet processing with special empha-
sis on the usage of dyes, chemicals, water, energy, carbon footprints, and prob-
lems associated with disposal of harmful chemicals to the environment. Research
and development in sustainable processing using enzymes and natural products
with better biodegradability have been discussed. Waterless technologies for tex-
tile processing with special citations of supercritical and plasma technology have
been reviewed. Developments in dyes and dyeing for higher sustainability were
critically analysed and alternatives for the source reduction at various processing
stages have been explored. Social responsibility of different stakeholders for sus-
tainable textile wet processing has also been discussed.

Keywords Sustainable processing · Textile processing · Carbon footprints ·


Eco-friendly processing · Waterless technologies · Source reduction · Social
responsibility

A. Arputharaj (*) · A.S.M. Raja · S. Saxena


Chemical and Biochemical Processing Division, ICAR-Central Institute
for Research on Cotton Technology, Adenwala Road, Matunga, Mumbai, India
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 217


S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion,
Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0111-6_9
218 A. Arputharaj et al.

1 Introduction

Chemical processing is the most important operation in the manufacturing of tex-


tile products. It not only adds value to the textile products, but also improves the
comfort and aesthetic properties. Textile materials have undergone chemical pro-
cessing since time immemorial. In all the years, the basic objectives of chemical
processing, that is, colouring and finishing have not changed, but in recent times
this field has expanded and diversified. The array of numerous fibres with differ-
ent chemical nature such as cotton, wool, silk, polyester, nylon, and acrylic among
others has greatly increased the complexity of the chemical processing. Chemical
processing methods of textiles can be broadly classified into three major groups—
cellulosic, protein, and synthetic origins (Ramesh Babu et al. 2007)—and the
major steps involved for these groups are listed in Table 1.
Application of a particular unit operation in the actual processing is depend-
ent upon the nature of the material (i.e., fiber, yarn, fabric) and the end use of the
material (i.e., apparel or technical textiles). Figure 1 explains the input–output
structure of the chemical processing industry. This process involves heterogeneous
interaction between fibre polymers which are solids and chemicals that are mostly
liquids or in aqueous solution form. Chemical processing of textiles requires a
huge amount of water and energy. Water, which is left after the different processes
is contaminated with residual dyes and chemicals that are harmful to the environ-
ment if not properly treated. The textile processing industry is considered one of

Table 1  Different stages Cellulosic Protein Synthetic


in the processing of fibrous
Desizing Carbonization/degumming Prewashing
materials
Scouring Scouring Bleaching
Mercerization Bleaching Heat setting
Bleaching Colouration Colouration
Colouration Finishing Finishing
Finishing

Fig. 1  Input–output structure of chemical processing industry


Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 219

the major environment polluting sectors. It is also one of the biggest greenhouse
gas (GHG) emitters on Earth. Environment-related issues in the chemical process-
ing sector have been strongly felt the world over since the last decade of the previ-
ous century.
The German ban on azo dyes in the 1990s can be considered as the eyeopener
for the textile processing industries about the environmental impact of different
chemicals used in wet processing operations. Textile industries are triggered to
implement green processes due to the introduction of new eco-labels and stringent
environmental norms for the effluents by the governments. The growing number
of green buyers worldwide is also driving the industries to adopt eco-friendly
sustainable methods for processing. Textile processes require an enormous quan-
tity of energy in the form of heat which leads to significant consumption of fos-
sil fuels and increase in carbon footprints. Hence textile processing industries are
the prime targets of the environmentalists in their crusade against pollution. This
industry needs to satisfy the demands of stringent legislation and norms imposed
by governments and other international bodies to comply with sustainable issues.
As per the report of World Commission on Environment and Development (1987)
sustainable development is defined as ‘Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.’ This chapter analyses the important sustainability issues in textile wet pro-
cessing such as usage of water, energy, and problems associated with usage and
disposal of harmful chemicals to the environment. Research and development in
sustainable processing and finishing using natural materials and enzymes which
have better biodegradability have also been discussed. Waterless technologies
such as supercritical carbon dioxide and plasma technology have been reviewed.
Research and commercial developments taken place in dyes, mainly reactive dyes
and dyeing including machinery developments, have been critically analysed.
Alternatives for the source reduction using eco-friendly alternatives for various
processing steps have been explored. Advantages and limitations of eco-labels and
social responsibility of different stakeholders in the implementation of sustainable
textile processing have also been discussed.

2 Current Practices and Sustainability Issues in Textile


Processing

Sustainability issues in textile processing can be categorized into three major areas
as follows.
• Usage of water
• Energy consumption and carbon footprints
• Pollution load and waste generation
220 A. Arputharaj et al.

2.1 Usage of Water

Water is the one of the main inputs in chemical processing industries and the tex-
tile wet processing sector ranks among the top 10 water-consuming industries.
Water is used for various operations in wet processing as illustrated in Fig. 2. The
main difference between textile processing and other industries is that, whatever
water is used in the process, the final product is not carrying the water. Most of the
water used in the processing is discharged as effluent which is contaminated with
toxic dyes and chemicals. Reusing this water requires tedious and complex efflu-
ent treatments. It is estimated that approximately 50–200 L of water are required
for the conversion of one kg of raw textile into finished product.
Cotton is the king of natural fibres and finds predominant use in the manufac-
ture of apparel-based textiles. Cotton accounts for nearly 40 % share of the total
global fibre consumption. Raw cotton fibres have to undergo a series of chemical
processes to convert them into finished products. Table 2 gives information about
the water consumption in cotton processing. Cotton preparatory processes includ-
ing bleaching consume nearly 38 % water out of the total water consumption for
cotton processing (Karamkar 1999).

Fig. 2  Water usage in textile


wet processing
Solvent for
dissolution

Medium for washing off


Processing Water agent

Production
of steam

Table 2  Water requirements Process Requirements (litres/kg of product)


for cotton processing
Desizing 2.5–21
(Menezes 2011)
Scouring 20–45
Bleaching 2.5–25
Mercerization 17–32
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 221

Table 3  Temperature requirement of different textile chemical operations


Process Cotton Wool Polyester
Scouring 100 °C (alkali boiling) 40 °C 70 °C
Bleaching 95 °C (peroxide) 80 °C (peroxide) 95 °C (peroxide)
Dyeing 85 °C (reactive dyes) 85 °C (acid dyes) 130 °C (disperse dyes)

2.2 Energy Consumption and Carbon Footprints

Energy is used in every process during the conversion of raw fibre into the finished
product and its requirement depends upon the type and sequence of preparatory,
dyeing, and finishing steps that are followed. Generally all thermal energy con-
sumed in wet processing is for either heating the process bath or removing water
from the textiles. Most of the textile operations are being carried out either in
warm or high temperature conditions as shown in Table 3.
Energy requirements in textile processing also depend upon the type of
machine used for processing. It is reported that long liquor ratio machines require
more energy than short liquor ratio machines. The hank dyeing process using
the cabinet machine requires more energy than the cheese dyeing process as the
amount of liquor to be heated up is more. (Hasanbeigi 2010). Table 5 gives the
general energy requirements for the processing of textile material. As this energy
is mainly derived from the burning of fossil fuels it contributes to an increase in
the carbon footprints of the textiles.
Globally the textile and clothing sector significantly contributes to the increase
in carbon footprint (Muthu et al. 2012). Carbon footprints of natural fibres are
comparatively lower than synthetic fibres as being derived from petroleum based
raw materials the embodied energy of synthetic fibres is much more than natu-
ral fibres. On the contrary, cultivation of natural fibres such as cotton reduces the
carbon footprints (Athalye 2012). Apparel and textiles account for approximately
10 % of the total carbon impact in the world. The estimated consumption of elec-
tricity for the annual global production of 60 billion kilograms of fabrics was esti-
mated to be 1 trillion kilowatt hours (Zaffalon 2010) (Table 4).

2.3 Pollution Load and Waste Generation

(a) Pretreatment of Textile Materials


Pretreatment of textile material is carried out to remove the natural and added
impurities to make the fibre accessible to dyes and finishing chemicals. In the
desizing of cotton, sizes such as starch, polyvinyl alcohols (PVA), and the like
are removed by the hydrolysis process. Presence of starch in the desizing efflu-
ent increases the biological oxygen demand (BOD). The desizing process is
the main contributor to increased BOD in cotton processing. In general, about
222 A. Arputharaj et al.

Table 4  Energy Process step Equipment used Energy (kJ/kg)


requirements for the
Scouring and bleaching Open width 3.0–7.0
processing of textile material.
(Hewson 1998) Beam 7.5–12.5
Soft flow 3.5–16
Dyeing Jigger 1.5–7.0
Winch 6.0–17.0
Drying Cylinders 2.5–4.5
Stenter 2.5–7.5
Heat setting Stenter 4.0–9.0

50 % of the water pollution is due to wastewater from desizing, which has a


high BOD that renders it unusable (Ramesh Babu 2007). Noncellulosic sub-
stances including wax, pectin, proteins, and so on, present in the fibre wall are
removed during the scouring process. Conventionally, scouring of cotton is
carried out at temperatures reaching up to 120 °C in a strong alkaline medium.
Auxiliary agents such as wetting agents, emulsifiers, and sequestering agents
are also added to the scouring bath to improve its efficiency. The scouring pro-
cess results in the effluent of high BOD, COD, TDS, and alkalinity (Naveed
et al. 2006).
In the bleaching operation, natural and added coloured impurities are removed
either by using reducing or oxidizing chemicals. Use of a chlorine based
bleaching agent results in generation of adsorbable organo halides (AOX)
(Wasif 2010). Hydrogen peroxide based bleaching is considered an ecological
alternative to chlorine bleaching. However, this process also requires a large
amount of water, high temperature, inorganic/organic stabilizers, and neutral-
izing agents. Auxiliary chemicals which are used in the bleaching bath such
as phosphate based peroxide stabilizers increase the TOC and COD values of
effluents. Upon neutralization of highly alkaline waste baths, large amounts of
salts are produced. Apart from water and chemicals, the peroxide process also
requires huge energy because it is carried out at the temperatures ranging from
90–120 °C. In wool processing, the carbonization process is done to remove
the vegetable matter using sulphuric acid at high temperatures. The wool is
steeped in the sulphuric acid solution, which causes the burrs to break up. This
process also requires large amounts of water and chemicals for carbonization
as well as neutralization of the sulphuric acid. In addition, the disposal of used
sulphuric acid also poses a very big problem to the environment.
Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO) are used in the textile industry as wetting
agents and detergents. Nonylphenol ethoxylates and octylphenol ethoxylates
are important members in the family of APEO. They are also used in the scour-
ing and bleaching operations. APEOs are found to be toxic to aquatic organ-
isms due to their hormone-disruptive properties. They are highly persistent and
nonbiodegradable. It creates problems in the wastewater treatment and dis-
charge of treated water into the environment (Anon 2013).
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 223

(b) Colouration
Dyeing is the uniform application and fixation of colour to the textile mate-
rial. Currently most of the dyeing is being carried out using synthetic dyes
which are derived from the aromatic intermediates obtained from coal tar.
Commercial dyes are not 100 % pure substances and the content of active
ingredient varies from 20 to 80 %. They may contain heavy metals in their
composition which will finally go into the product or into the effluent. Copper
and chromium are mostly present in the metalized direct, reactive, and metal
complex dyes. Potassium dichromate is used in the oxidation of vat and sul-
phur dyeing of cellulosic material. This results in Cr6+ in the effluent which is
a known carcinogen. Metal salts are also used in the mordant dyeing of woolen
goods. Presence of heavy metal in the finished product above prescribed limits
is objectionable and banned by many eco standards. Removal of heavy metal
atoms from the effluent is very difficult unless a very tedious procedure is fol-
lowed. Wastewater composition from the dye house depends upon the nature of
the dyeing technique and the machinery used. Apart from the dyes, many other
auxiliary chemicals are used as additives in the dye bath. Carriers are used in
the dyeing of polyester to facilitate its dyeing at atmospheric conditions. They
are found to be toxic not only in the effluent but also are of concern to the
health of workers. Table 5 lists various ingredients in the effluent of the respec-
tive dye class other than dyes.
Most of the dyeing auxiliaries are nonrecyclable and contribute to the high
BOD/COD in the effluents. Usage of a huge amount of salt in reactive dyeing
of cellulosic material in the exhaust method will result in effluent with high
TDS (total dissolved solids). Removal of salt from the effluent needs to be
done either by evaporation or by using reverse osmosis methods. The problem
of highly coloured effluent containing unexhausted dye is a major issue in the
dyeing of cellulosic fibres. It is approximately calculated that content of resid-
ual dyes in the exhausted dyeing of cotton materials is 10–50 % for reactive
dyeing, 5–30 % for direct dyeing, 5–20 %, for vat dyeing, and 10–40 % for
sulphur dyeing which goes into the effluent. Discharge of dye-containing efflu-
ents into the water bodies is undesirable, not only due to the colour, but also
due to the release of toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic substances during their
further degradation (Zaharia et al. 2009). The adverse effects of dyes on the
aquatic environment can also be the result of toxic effects on the fish and other
aquatic life forms due to their long persistence in the environment and buildup

Table 5  Various ingredients in the effluent of the different dye class


Dye class Main ingredients
Direct, Reactive Sodium chloride/Glauber’s salt, surfactant, urea, and alkali
Vat, Sulphur Sodium hydrosulphite, sodium sulphide, alkali, salt
Disperse Carrier, acetic acid, sodium hydroxide, sodium hydrosulphite, dispersing
agent
Acid Glauber’s salt, acetic acid/sulphuric acid, and surfactant
224 A. Arputharaj et al.

in deposits. Azo dyes derived from aromatic compounds show both acute and
chronic toxicity (Börnick and Schmidt 2006). Reducing agents such as sodium
hydrosulphite (hydros) and sodium sulphide used in vat and sulphur dyeing
produce decomposition products which in turn increase the sulphide content in
the effluent. Discharge of sulphides to drain is not permitted due to the delete-
rious effect of sulphuric acid formed by bacterial oxidation of liberated hydro-
gen sulphide.
(c) Finishing
Textile finishing is a very important operation in the wet processing sequence
because it improves or modifies the hand and functionality of textiles. The
finishing process can be classified into mechanical and chemical finishing. In
chemical finishing, different kinds of chemicals are used to enhance the hand
and functionality of textiles. Formaldehyde is one of the widely used chemicals
in the manufacture of a large number of textile auxiliaries such as dye fixing
agents, resin precondensates, softeners, and so on. Formaldehyde based sub-
stances are used as additives in many finishing formulations as cross-linking
agents to improve durability. There is a probability of release of formaldehyde
by these substances when they are put into use either during application or
in the actual usage of the finished product. It is found that formaldehyde is a
skin irritant and respiratory sensitiser. The International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) changed its classification of formaldehyde from a group
2A substance ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ to a group 1 ‘carcinogenic to
humans’ in 2004.
Durable water repellency on textile material is being achieved with finishes that
contain a polymer in which long-chain perfluoroalkyl groups are attached. These
fluorinated polymers often contain residual raw materials and trace levels of long-
chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) as impurities. The residual raw materials
and the products themselves may degrade in the environment to form long-chain
PFAAs. Due to widespread use, long-chain PFAAs including perflurooctanoic acid
(PFOA) and perflurooctane sulphonic acid (PFOS) have been detected globally in
the environment. PFOA and PFOS, the most widely known and studied long-chain
PFAAs, have been shown to be persistent in the environment, have a long elimina-
tion half-life in wildlife and humans, and have toxicological properties of concern
(Lau et al. 2007).
Shrinkproof treatment of wool is normally done by pretreatment using chlo-
rine followed by the resin treatment. Because in this process AOX generation in
the effluent exceeds the permitted level (40 ppm), an eco-friendly alternative is
required for antifelting finishing of wool materials.
Textile materials have been treated with various synthetic antimicrobial agents
such as quaternary ammonium compounds (QAc), polyhexamethylene biguanide
(PHMB), nano silver, and so on to impart antimicrobial efficacy. Among differ-
ent antimicrobial agents used for the development of antimicrobial textile prod-
ucts, triclosan (2,4,4′-trichloro-2′-hydroxydiphenyl ether) has an important place
due to its very low inhibition concentration (MIC) of less than 10 ppm for the
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 225

bactericidal effects. However, when exposed to sunlight in the environment, tri-


closan breaks down into 2,8-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin which comes under toxic
polychlorinated dioxins, hence its use is being restricted.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a major class of brominated flame
retardants are used for the textile finishing (Shin and Baek 2012). PBDEs are
found to be very toxic to human beings (Darnerud et al. 2001). They are chemi-
cally similar to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), which has already been banned in
many countries. Some flame retardants have toxicity due to the heavy metal con-
tent in their structure. Phosphorous, halogenated compounds, antimony, and zirco-
nium based flame retardants increase toxicity of the wastewater. Dust containing
flame retardants such as antimony oxide are also very toxic to the environment.

3 Approaches for Sustainable Textile Processing

To overcome the sustainability issues associated with textile processing, textile


processing with eco-friendly chemicals with reduced water and energy usage can
be the logical approach. Developments in sustainable processing can be classified
as in Fig. 3.

• Enzymes
• Natural dyes
• Natural finishing chemicals
Natural based
materials

• Super critical fluid


• Plasma
Water conserving
• Laser technology
techniques • Low MLR techniques

• Combining the processes


• Continuous processing
Energy conserving • Low temperture process
techniques

• Eco friendly alternatives


Source reduction

Fig. 3  Approaches for sustainable textile processing


226 A. Arputharaj et al.

The following sections discuss in detail the different developments taking place
in the sustainable processing of textiles.

3.1 Enzymatic Techniques for Sustainable Textile Processing

The enzyme based processes are considered eco-friendly and sustainable. Among
the different processes, the enzyme based textile processing methods are adopted
by the industries effectively. The enzymes are biocatalysts and are specific
towards the substrate. The handling of enzymes is safe and they are biodegrada-
ble. Enzymatic/biotechnological application in textiles can be considered as old as
natural dyes. Indigo dyeing was carried out by our ancestors by the fermentation
method which is the one of the most important methods of producing enzymes
even today. The traditional fermentation methods that were used for textile pro-
cessing are complex and time consuming. Hence with the introduction of synthetic
chemicals during the eighteenth century, the biobased textile processing meth-
ods were not used. However, towards the end of the twentieth century, biotech-
nology got huge attention from researchers and several new techniques, so-called
modern biotechnology developed. The researchers were able to develop effective
biomolecules including enzymes through genetic engineering. At the same time,
textile industries faced a huge problem by way of pollution from the use of syn-
thetic chemicals. The industries started to explore the use of biomolecule based
processes for scouring, dyeing, finishing, and so on. In this section, the following
enzyme based processes are discussed in detail with respect to their advantages,
limitations, and sustainability implications.
• Amylase based desizing process
• Enzyme based scouring and bleaching processes
• Catalase enzyme based bleach cleanup
• Protease based shrinkproofing of wool
• Enzyme for increasing moisture management properties of synthetics
• Denim washing using enzymes

3.1.1 Amylase Based Desizing Process

Conventionally acid hydrolysis of starch using hydrochloric or sulphuric acid


was employed for the desizing process. However, the amylase based desiz-
ing process is common and well established in the industries. Amylase enzymes
of different specification and workable at different pH ranges are available. The
use of amylase enzymes reduces the use of water, chemicals, and energy during
desizing (Saravanan et al. 2012). Another advantage of using amylase enzyme is
that it does not damage the fibre as compared to the conventionally used acids.
Irrespective of the enzyme or acids, the starch is converted into sugar and its
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 227

derivatives during desizing. Though sugar is nontoxic, it is not recyclable and the
effluents create many environmental problems. Hence, the enzyme based desiz-
ing process needs to be modified to address the above problem. In this direction,
attempts have been made to desize using amyloglucosidase enzyme instead of
a conventional amylase enzyme in order to hydrolyse starch into single glucose
units. After that, the glucose oxidase enzyme was used to generate hydrogen per-
oxide from the glucose generated during desizing (Eren et al. 2009).

3.1.2 Enzyme Based Scouring Process for Cotton

Conventionally, cotton textile is treated with sodium hydroxide for scouring pur-
poses at high temperature and pressure. An alkaline pectinase enzyme based pro-
cess was developed as an alternative to alkaline scouring which can also be done
at moderate temperature. The enzyme gently acts on cotton fabric and leads to less
damage, less pilling, and uniform dye uptake compared to conventional alkaline
scouring. Apart from pectinase enzymes, other enzymes such as cellulase, pro-
tease, cutinase, and others have been proposed by the researchers for the scouring
of cotton. The enzyme is substrate (pectin) specific in nature and is not able to
remove noncellulosic impurities completely due to poor access to the substrates
when used on industrial scale. In order to make the enzyme based scouring pro-
cess industrially adoptable, it is proposed to use a combination of enzymes such as
pectinase + cellulase, pectinase + protease, pectinase + cutinase (Agarwal et al.
2008), pectinase + lipase (Kalantzi et al. 2010), or pectinase + xylanase (Battan
et al. 2012). Attempts have also been made to combine enzyme based scouring and
activator assisted bleaching in single bath to remove the noncellulosic impurities
from the cotton textiles (Hebeish et al. 2009).

3.1.3 Enzyme Based Shrinkproofing for Wool

It is well documented that papain, a proteolytic enzyme of plant origin was used
for shrinkproofing of wool in earlier years. However, the wool had to be pre-
treated with a reducing agent like sodium sulphite to achieve an effective shrink-
resistant property before enzyme treatment. The efficiency of the proteolytic
enzyme papain in conferring shrink resistance to wool tops and woven fabrics
has been enhanced by pretreatment of the wool with lipase (El-Syed et al. 2001).
The proteolytic enzymes from bacterial sources are commonly used for imparting
shrink resistance and handle to wool. This enzyme is applied on wool in alka-
line pH. A pretreatment with alkaline peroxide before the enzyme treatment is
necessary for effective activity of the enzyme on wool. The enzyme activity on
wool depends on the pH, temperature, time of the treatment, and concentration of
enzyme.
An acid protease enzyme from fungi source was applied on wool serge fabrics
to improve the handle and shrink resistance and compared with the conventional
228 A. Arputharaj et al.

alkaline protease. The results indicated that acid protease enzyme improved
the handle as much as the alkaline protease but not shrink resistance (Raja and
Thilagavathi 2010). Cortez et al. (2007) investigated the transglutaminase medi-
ated grafting of silk protein on wool and its effects on wool properties. The graft-
ing leads to significant effect on the properties of wool yarn and fabric, resulting
in increased bursting strength as well as reduced values of felting shrinkage and
improved fabric softness.

3.1.4 Enzyme Treatment to Increase Dye Uptake

Enzyme pretreatment on wool fabric decreased the resistance of the fibre to dye
diffusion and so it increased the adsorption rate constant and decreased the appar-
ent activation energy for the dyestuff when compared to untreated fabric. Enzyme
pretreatment of wool fabric with trypsin increased exhaustion of natural dyes such
as crocin, beta-carotene, curcumin, chlorophyll, and carmine without change in
fastness property (Liakopoulou et al. 1998).

3.1.5 Catalase Enzyme Based Bleach Cleanup

Currently, hydrogen peroxide is the preferred bleaching agent for the bleaching
of textiles. When hydrogen peroxide bleaching of cotton is done prior to dyeing
of cotton with reactive dyes, the presence of residual peroxide will create uneven
dyeing and promote hydrolysis of the reactive dye. In order to prevent the above
process, normally fabrics are treated with chemicals to completely clean up the
peroxide before dyeing with reactive dye. Conventionally, the hydrogen perox-
ide bleached fabrics have to undergo two to three washes with water and treat-
ment with sodium thiosulphate for removing the peroxide. The process requires a
higher amount of water, energy, and time. Biotechnology has come to the rescue
to reduce the washes with the introduction of catalase enzymes for removing the
residual hydrogen peroxide. Catalase enzyme can effectively remove the residual
hydrogen peroxide in place of chemicals. The catalase based processing requires
less water in terms of reduced rinsing steps and it is also eco-friendly. The catalase
treated fabrics exhibit uniform dye uptake and good colour values (Amorim et al.
2002). Efforts have been made to reuse the catalase treated bleach cleanup bath for
subsequent dyeing also. (Tzanov et al. 2001).

3.1.6 Enzyme for Increasing Moisture Management Properties


of Synthetic Fabrics

The use of synthetic fibres such as nylon, polyester, and acrylic for the produc-
tion of apparel and technical applications has a huge share of the textile market.
The limitation of these fibres in the apparel sector is their inherently poor moisture
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 229

management properties. Enzymes are traditionally considered as suitable for appli-


cation on natural fibres. Nylon fabrics are treated with the protease and mixture of
protease and cutinase enzymes to improve moisture uptake. The above enzymes
hydrolyse the surface amides present in the nylon to improve moisture uptake
(El-bendary et al. 2012). Similarly, polyester based textile materials were treated
with esterase, lipase, and cutinase enzymes to improve the moisture absorp-
tion characteristics as well as to improve the surface softness and reduce pilling.
Conventionally, the polyester fabric has to be treated with sodium hydroxide to
improve the above properties. However, such treatment led to higher strength loss
and damage to the fabric. The use of lipase and cutinase enzyme substitutes the
harsh chemical treatment and the process is considered eco-friendly (Heumann
et al. 2006). Acrylic fibres are modified by the nitrilase enzyme (Matamá et al.
2007). The enzymatic modification processes for synthetic fibres are still at a nas-
cent stage and require further studies for commercialization.

3.1.7 Denim Washing Using Enzymes

Nowadays denim is accepted by all age groups and genders as a popular form of
clothing. As per the Global Market Report 2012, global denim fabric production
capacity is over 7 billion yards and is estimated to increase to 9 billion yards by
2021. The use of cellulase enzyme for denim washing is one of the established
and successful applications of biotechnology in textiles. About 80 % of the denim
washing industries use cellulase alone or in combination with pumice stone for
processing. One of the problems associated with the use of cellulase for denim
washing is backstaining of denim due to redeposition of indigo dye (Pazarlioğlu
et al. 2005). The backstaining problem due to the action of cellulase enzyme can
be reduced with subsequent laccase enzyme treatment (Tarhan and Sarıışık 2009).
The laccase enzyme treatment alone or in combination with cellulase provides
optimum washing of denim with less backstaining (Montazer and Maryan 2010).

3.2 Use of Natural Eco-friendly Materials for Processing

3.2.1 Biosurfactants

Surfactants derived from microorganisms are called biosurfactants Microorganisms


produce biosurfactants/antibiotics during the stationary growth phase when the
nutrients are exhausted in the medium. This is one of the mechanisms of popula-
tion control in microorganisms especially in an environment deficient in nutrition
and space. The nature of antibiotics produced by microorganisms depends on the
type of strain and the medium used for growth. The group of antibiotics produced
by microorganisms are glycolipids, phospho-lipids, ornithine-lipids, fatty acids,
lipoproteins and lipopeptides, and aminoacid lipids. The antibiotics produced by
230 A. Arputharaj et al.

microorganisms also have surfactant properties (Desai and Banat 1997). Hence,
the application of these substances in textile material will have a dual function
such as surfactant and antimicrobial properties apart from their nontoxic nature
to humans and the environment. Lipopeptides are a group of antibiotics produced
by Bacillus sp. Lipopeptides have high antimicrobial activity and also have sur-
factant property. Lipopeptides are resistant to harsh environments such as wide
ranges of temperature, pH, salt concentration, acids, and so on (Makovitzki et al.
2006; Mageshwaran et al. 2012). Savarino et al. (2009) derived biosurfactants from
the urban waste biomass and used them for the dyeing of cellulose acetate mate-
rial. Dyeing results indicated that there is no significant difference between the
surfactant obtained from the biomass and synthetic surfactants in terms of surface
activity and other properties.

3.2.2 Natural Dyes

The art of dyeing is as old as our civilization. From ancient times to the nineteenth
century, natural dyes were the only source to colour textiles. Natural dyes are the
colouring materials obtained from natural resources of plant, animal, mineral, and
microbial origins. The use of natural dyes started diminishing after the invention
of synthetic dyes in the later half of the nineteenth century. In recent years, the
use of natural dyes is gaining renewed interest mainly among eco-savvy people.
Natural dyes are considered eco-friendly, skin friendly, and are found to have
health benefits to the wearer. Natural dyes can be used for dyeing almost all types
of natural fibres and recent research shows that it can be used to dye some syn-
thetic fibres also. Apart from the textile application, natural dyes are also used for
different applications including food colour, medicine in traditional medical sys-
tems, and leather processing, among others. There are several challenges and limi-
tations associated with the use of natural dyes.
The availability of natural dyes needs to be increased in a sustainable man-
ner by utilizing the byproducts and wastes from agriculture and agroprocessing
industries and judicious collection of forest produce. This may be supplemented
by growing important dye-bearing plants on wastelands and marginal lands
which may also provide an alternative cash crop to cultivators. Establishment of
proper characterization and certification protocols for natural dyes would defi-
nitely improve consumer confidence in natural dyed textiles and would bene-
fit both producers and users. If natural dye availability can be increased by the
above-described measures and the cost of purified dyes can be brought down with
a proper certification mechanism, there is a huge scope for adoption of these dyes
by small-scale dyeing units as they lack the resources to install and operate expen-
sive effluent treatment plants needed to bring the synthetic dye effluent within the
limits set by regulatory authorities. If at any time in the future, the availability of
natural dyes can be increased to very high levels by biotechnological interventions
such as tissue culture or genetic engineering resulting in mass production of these
dyes by microbes at low cost, only then can their usage become sustainable for
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 231

mainstream textile processing. At the level where scientific developments stand


today, natural dyes are a sustainable option only for small-scale applications and
they can complement synthetic dyes as an eco-friendly option for the environ-
ment-conscious consumer and a means of providing a livelihood to various stake-
holders of the natural dye value chain.

3.2.3 Natural Product Based Finishing

The recent improvement in living standards has increased awareness about the
performance of textiles which has led to the development of functional textiles.
Textile materials are treated with different chemicals to impart various function-
alities. These chemicals may be antimicrobial, medicinal, UV protective, mosquito
repellent, and so on, to impart a specific functionality. Natural products due to
their eco-friendly and skin-friendly properties play an important role in the sus-
tainable functional finishing of textiles (Joshi et al. 2009). The natural product
based functional finishing of textiles can be broadly classified into the following
areas.
• Antimicrobial finishing
• Aroma/deodorant finishing
• UV protective and flame retardant finishing

(a) Antimicrobial Finishing


Textile materials are good media for the generation and spreading of micro-
organisms. Keratin and cellulose can be the nutrients for the growth of micro-
organisms (Purwar and Joshi 2004). The growth of microorganisms in textile
materials causes unpleasant smells, staining, loss of mechanical strength,
and the like, and it can create health-related problems for the wearer. Hence,
antimicrobial finishing of textile materials is necessary to protect the wearer
from harmful microorganisms. Antimicrobial agents were used on textiles
thousands of years ago, when ancient Egyptians used spices and herbs as pre-
servatives in mummy wraps (Seong et al. 1999). An antimicrobial finish is a
method to reduce the spread of microorganisms by either killing or inhibit-
ing their growth through contact with the fabric surface (Huang and Leonas
2000).
There are several studies in the literature on natural dyes extracted from
Quercus infectoria, curcumin, and so on (Han and Yang 2005; Singh et al.
2005) which have been used to give both dyeing and antimicrobial finishing
to textile materials. The tannins present in plants are a group of water-soluble
polyphenols in the molecular weight range of 300–5000 Da. The tannins can
be divided into two groups, namely, hydrolysable tannins and condensed tan-
nins. The hydrolysable tannins are usually compounds containing a central
core of glucose or other polyhydric alcohols esterified with gallic acid (gallo-
tannins) or hexahydroxydiphenic acid (ellagitannins). The condensed tannins
232 A. Arputharaj et al.

are polymers of flavan-3-ol (catechin) units. They are also called proantho-
cyanidin. It is well documented that the tannins present in the different parts
of the plants such as bark, leaf, fruit, and so on have antimicrobial properties
to several strains of bacteria through in vitro studies (Chuang and Wu 2007;
Han et al. 2007; Min et al. 2008). The mechanism of antimicrobial actions
of tannins can be summarized as follows: (i) tannin binds with the proteins
and enzymes present in the cell wall of microorganisms and inhibits their
growth; (ii) tannins also have the ability to bind with vital metal ions used
by the microorganisms for their growth (Biradar et al. 2008); (iii) The gal-
lic acid released from tannins is able to inhibit the growth of microorganisms
by reacting with their cell wall and inhibiting their metabolism. The antimi-
crobial efficacy of natural plant extracts depends on the source of tannins
and their concentration on the substrate. Generally, the natural tannin-treated
materials exhibit good antimicrobial efficacy against gram-positive bacteria
rather than gram-negative bacteria. In order to produce antimicrobial efficacy
against gram-negative bacteria, a higher concentration of natural materials on
the substrate is required. However, the absorption of natural substances on
textile material cannot be increased after a particular saturation point and that
is a drawback. The following are the most studied natural products for impart-
ing antimicrobial property to the textile materials.
(i) Chitosan
Chitosan is a derivative of chitin, which is the second most abundant nat-
ural polymer. Its structure is very similar to that of cellulose except an
amino group replaces one of the hydroxyl groups. Chitosan can destroy
bacteria by converting its amino group into an ammonium salt in dilute
acid solutions. Quaternary ammonium salt of chitosan can destroy the
cell wall of the microorganism by connecting to its negatively charged
protoplasm (Kim et al. 1998). Lee et al. (1999) evaluated chitosan as
an antibacterial agent along with a blood repellent finish. Chitosan was
applied to wool as a shrinkproofing polymer. Owing to the hydropho-
bic nature of wool, treatment with chitosan required pretreatments so
that polymers can adhere to the surface. It is reported that wool was oxi-
dized with potassium permanganate prior to the application of chitosan.
Although chitosan had conferred durable antimicrobial ability to wool,
the handle of the treated wool fabric was adversely affected (Heish et al.
2004). Wool fabric was finished with chitosan along with henna natural
dye for dyeing and antimicrobial finishing (Dev et al. 2009).
(ii) Neem Extract
Azadirachtin, a tetranortriterpenoid with molecular formula C35H44O16
has been identified as an active substance of neem. It is an insect anti-
feedent and ecdysis inhibitor. It contains a large number of functional
groups and is sensitive to acids, bases, and UV light. The cotton fabric
treated with the neem extract shows very good resistance to both gram-
positive and -negative bacteria but the durability is found to be very
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 233

poor. One of the major limitations with the use of natural products for
antimicrobial finish is lack of durability of the finish. Most of the applied
antimicrobial agents can be removed during washing because they
do not have any affinity to textiles or they are not fixed on the textiles.
Microencapsulation is one method used to trap the active antimicrobial
agent using wall materials such as modified starch, gum acacia, sodium
alginate, and so on and then applied on the textiles (Thilagavathi and
Kannaian 2010).
(b) Fragrance and Deodorant Finishing
Fragrance-infused textile materials are now marketed by various companies
and have wide acceptability among consumers. These kinds of fabrics are also
called aromatherapy textiles because apart from giving a freshness feeling
to the wearer they also give medicinal value such as relieving stress, cough,
allaying fear, and imparting an antibacterial property. Generally, aromatic
chemical fragrance compounds and essential oils are used for producing the
scented materials (Achwal 2004).
(c) UV Protective and Flame Retardant Finishing
Ultraviolet rays (UVA and UVB) represent a very low fraction in the solar
spectrum (200–400 nm) but affect all living organisms and their metabo-
lisms due to their higher energy. These radiations can cause a range of effects
from simple tanning to skin cancers, if the skin is unprotected (Sarvanan
2007). Many reports are available for the UV protective finishing of textile
material using naturally derived materials. It was reported that cotton fabric
treated with plant extracts derived from the dried fruit of harda (Terminalia
belrica) and rinds of pomegranate (Punica granatum) resulted in very good
UV protection 50+ (UPF). UV protection functionality was retained by the
fabric even after 10 cycles of washing (ISO 105 C10-2006 Test No 8 B No
2). Colouration produced by this process also had good fastness with washing
(ICAR-CIRCOT 2014–15). Basak et al. (2015) reported a finishing process
for cotton textiles with flame retardant property using banana pseudo-stem
sap. The extracted sap was applied to the premordanted bleached and mercer-
ized cotton fabrics using different pH conditions.

3.3 Promising Waterless Processing Technologies

Several waterless textile processing technologies have been developed by


researchers. The following technologies have been developed up to the commer-
cial level.
• Supercritical fluid processing
• Plasma processing
• Laser technology
234 A. Arputharaj et al.

3.3.1 Supercritical Fluid Processing

A substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point is a supercritical


fluid, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. Supercritical fluids have
properties between liquids and gases. Though many substances can be converted into
supercritical fluids, carbon dioxide has emerged as a suitable substance as it is cheap,
nonflammable, nontoxic, and its critical point (Tc = 31.4 °C, Pc = 73.7 bar, Fig. 4) is
much lower than that of many other substances. It has been employed for extraction
of natural substances and dry-cleaning purposes. The concept of using supercritical
carbon dioxide (SC CO2) for processing of textiles was first established by Professor
Schollmeyor of Germany in the late 1980s and received attention for practical dye-
ing applications since the last decade of the twentieth century (Banchero 2013).
As CO2 is a nonpolar molecule, it behaves as a nonpolar organic solvent in
supercritical state. Therefore water insoluble dyes such as disperse dyes can be
easily dissolved in SC CO2 without the use of dispersing agents. A cosolvent
or a modifier may be added to improve the solubility of slightly polar solutes.
Materials dyeable with such dyes including polyester, polypropylene, and polylac-
tic acid, and so on, which pose problems in dyeing under aqueous systems can be
easily dyed using SC CO2.
Sustainability Benefits
Following are the sustainability advantages of using supercritical carbon dioxide
processing over conventional aqueous based processing.
• Unused dye can be easily separated from carbon dioxide after completion of
the dyeing process by bringing the dye solution to atmospheric conditions. Dye
powder is separated and carbon dioxide also recovered. Recovered dye powder
and CO2 can be reused. This will not generate any effluent in the dyeing pro-
cess. Problems and costs related with the effluent treatment become null.
• As the processed material is not carrying any solvents, drying is not required
which saves the cost of energy and capital cost of drying machines.

Fig. 4  Phase diagram of


carbon dioxide (Gebert et al.
1994)
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 235

• Dyeing time is reduced due to the higher rate of dyeing. Therefore the rate of
production is comparatively higher.
• The nonpolar nature of CO2 results in good solubility of dispersed dyes. Thus
dispersing agents are not needed.
• Though the cost of machinery is high, operational cost is nearly 50 % lower
than the aqueous processing due to higher rate of dyeing (Vander krann 2005).
Dyeing Process
As SC CO2 processing systems operate at high temperature and pressure, the
machine essentially consists of an HTHP vessel, CO2 tank, compression pump,
container to keep dyestuff poder, and a circulation pump. First, the textile material
to be dyed is wound on the beam and kept in the HTHP vessel. Then the system
is made to attain the required pressure and temperature and CO2 is brought into
supercritical state. It dissolves the dye in this state and the resultant dye liquor is
circulated in and out of the HTHP vessel by a circulating pump. After completion
of the dyeing cycle, dye solution is depressurized to separate dyes and CO2 gas.
Clean SC CO2 is then circulated to remove the unfixed dyes from the dyed mate-
rial. Thus water is completely avoided and there is no effluent generation.
Polyester (PET) dyeing in SC CO2 is the most researched and has come up to
the commercial level. The experimental range investigated for the PET processing is
60–150 °C and 100–350 bar pressure (Van der Kraan 2005). It is recommended to heat
set the textiles prior to dyeing to avoid strength reduction and shrinkage. Polypropylene
(PP) fibres give a lot of trouble in aqueous dyeing due to their high crystallinity and
nonpolar nature. These can be dyed with good all-round fastness properties by using
hydrophobic long alkyl chain dyes under SC CO2 (Miyaski et al. 2012). This would
increase the market potential of PP in different sectors. Polylactic acid (PLA) fibre is
a sustainable synthetic fibre due to its renewable raw material origin. But it application
in the textile industry is limited due to its poor resistance to aqueous based processing
which results in high shrinkage and loss in mechanical properties. However, studies
conducted on dyeing of PLA using disperse dyes in SC CO2 medium showed that the
dyed material retained many of its mechanical properties (Wen and Dai 2007).
Dyeing of Natural Fibre Textiles in SC CO2
Much success has not been achieved in the dyeing of natural fibre textiles in SC
CO2 due to poor solubility of polar dyes in SC CO2 and poor affinity of nonpo-
lar disperse dyes towards natural fibres. Also, lack of interaction between natural
fibre polymers and SC CO2 molecules results in very less swelling of these fibres
leading to low dye uptake (Bach et al. 2002). Different approaches such as fibre
modification, dye modification, or process modification by adding other solvents
with CO2 have been tried to uncover a solution for this problem. Silk and wool
were successfully dyed in SC CO2 with nonpolar dyes containing vinylsulphone
or dichlorotriazine reactive groups with good fastness properties. The dyeing of
natural fibres from a reverse-micellar system in supercritical carbon dioxide was
attempted using ammonium carboxylate perfluoropolyether as surfactant. Higher
colour depths were obtained in silk when both SC CO2 and the textiles were satu-
rated with water. In the case of cotton SC CO2 dyed material did not have good
236 A. Arputharaj et al.

fastness properties (Sawada et al. 2003). Some efforts to use this technology in
wax removal/scouring of cotton textiles have been reported (Beck and Lynn 1997).
Supercritical carbon dioxide assisted silicone based finishing of cotton fabric was
also attempted recently (Mohamed et al. 2013).
Present Status of Commercialization
DyeCoo Textile systems, a Dutch Company, was the first one to launch a commer-
cial production system in 2007 for SC CO2 dyeing of scoured polyester in batches
of 100–150 kg. Dyeing of natural cellulosic fibres such as cotton by using SC CO2
has not yet been successful at the commercial level (Dyecoo 2010). This is the
major stumbling block in the commercialization of this technology because of
the good share of cotton and PET/cotton textiles in the woven and knitted sector.
DyeCoo is working with partners to develop and deliver dye and chemical prod-
ucts to support the waterless dyeing process to obtain the high level of colour fast-
ness and performance and expects to come up with modified reactive dye systems
which can be used for dyeing cellulosics using SC CO2 medium.

3.3.2 Plasma Technology for Textile Processing

In 1929, Lewi Tonks and Langmuir used the terminology ‘plasma’ to describe a col-
lection of charged particles. Plasma is called the fourth state of matter. If a substance
in its gaseous state absorbs higher energy, the outermost electrons which are present in
the atoms will escape from the nucleus’ control and become free electrons. The atom
becomes positively charged due to the loss of electrons. This chemical state of a sub-
stance is called plasma. It consists of positive, negative ions, atoms, electrons, mole-
cules, radicals, and photons. As the plasma is highly reactive in nature, it has the ability
to react with other substances leading to various chemical fusions and fissions. These
effects can alter the surface structure of textiles and resulting different functionality.
Sustainable advantages of plasma process over the conventional process
(Shishoo 2007) are:
• No or much less water (cooling) is used in plasma technology. Therefore no
effluent is generated in this process. This process is completely dry technology.
• Chemical and energy consumption in the process is comparatively very low.
• No extra drying process is required.
• Because the surface structure of materials is only modified by plasma, the other
properties of textiles will mostly not be affected.
• Productivity speed in plasma technology is higher than current wet processes.
• A small amount of plasma is enough to produce the required effect and different
kinds of gaseous chemicals can be processed in the same equipment.
• High innovation potential which would lead to development of new products.
Plasma Reactors
Plasma can be generated by using different types of power supply and by using
different frequency of electromagnetic radiations. This is classified as follows.
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 237

Fig. 5  Different types of plasma

Low frequency: 50–450 kHz


Radio frequency: 13.56 or 27.12 MHz
Microwave: 915 MHz or 2.45 GHz
Different types of plasma are given in the flow diagram (Fig. 5). In as much
as textile materials are heat sensitive, low temperature nonthermal plasma is very
useful for textile modification.
Low pressure plasma requires special conditions to produce plasma and was
developed many years ago. Developing low pressure conditions in the bigger size
commercial reactors is very costly and also this low pressure plasma technol-
ogy is not highly suitable for integration into the current textile processing line
of machinery. Therefore for practical textile applications, atmospheric pressure
plasma (APP) reactors are found to be highly suitable due to their capability for
inline and online application and lower cost. Plasma technology has vast potential
to contribute towards sustainable textile processing due to very minimum environ-
mental impact. This technology is contributing to sustainable processing in differ-
ent ways. In some cases it completely replaces the wet processing and in other
cases it reduces the time and temperature of processing which results in a huge
saving of energy and harmful chemical usage. The following section discusses in
detail the application of plasma technology for various textile processes.
(a) Desizing and Scouring Using Plasma Technology
It is reported that desizing of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sized cotton fabric
can be done only by using cold water washing after plasma treatment using
air + helium + oxygen plasma. It was found that plasma treatment using
helium + oxygen plasma could be an effective alternative to conventional
enzymatic desizing of starch based sizes (Cai et al. 2003 and Kan et al. 2014).
Reports are available for the reduction of cotton scouring process time using
RF plasma excited with oxygen as the plasma gas (Sun and Stylios 2004). This
will offer the advantage of saving energy and washwater in cotton processing.
Similarly in degumming process of silk, washing temperature and concentra-
tion of soap can be reduced significantly using plasma pretreatments (Long
et al. 2008). Hydrophobicity of synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon, and
polypropylene is well known due to the absence of polar groups in these
238 A. Arputharaj et al.

fibres. In many cases, improvement in the hydrophilicity of these fibres is


required for end use in different applications. Presently it is carried out using
the wet chemical method by using harmful chemicals. Plasma technology is
an effective tool to increase the hydrophilicity of synthetic fibers (Mehmood
2014). This treatment not only reduces the wetting time of the substrates but
also increases the antistatic and adhesion property of these materials.
(b) Improvements in Colouration
Plasma treatment of textile material is found to increase the percentage of
exhaustion of dyes which results in lesser amount of dyes in the effluent.
This also reduces the dyeing time and temperature. This will be very useful
in the effective usage of dyes which are giving a lot of trouble in the effluent
treatment. Though this is applicable to most of the textile fibres theoretically,
promising results are obtained for protein fibres especially for wool (Kan
et al. 2006). Pigments are used in the printing of cotton and its blended tex-
tiles. However, there are some problems in pigment dyeing of cotton materi-
als including lower colour yield and poor rubbing fastness. It is reported that
oxygen plasma pretreatment of cotton fabric showed a positive influence on
increasing colour yield, levelness, and improving the colour fastness to crock-
ing of pigment (red pigment) dyeing to cotton fabric (Man et al. 2014). This
will encourage the application of pigments on cotton materials.
(c) Plasma Based Finishing Processes
Plasma technology is mostly exploited in the finishing of textile materials.
Enormous possibilities are available to develop innovative textile products
using this technology. Plasma polymerization on cellulosic, polyester, and
nylon materials using fluorine based gases results in good water and oil repel-
lent functionality by reducing the surface energy of these substrates (Li and
Jinjin 2007; Samanta et al. 2010; David et al. 2013). This is a completely dry
process and does not require any further drying and curing processes. This
will save a lot of water, energy, and chemicals. The main advantage of hydro-
phobic finishing of textiles using plasma technology is that comfort properties
such as water vapour permeability, air permeability, and so on are not affected
which will be very useful for textiles for apparel purposes. An eco-friendly
alternative is required for antifelting finishing of wool materials. This can be
achieved by pretreating the woolen textiles using the air/oxygen plasma fol-
lowed by coating with polyurethane based resin. The advantage of this plasma
based pretreatment is elimination of the chlorine based wet treatment and also
avoiding the use of non eco-friendly chlorine based chemicals (Hartwig 2002).
(d) Commercial Machinery
Many European and American plasma equipment suppliers understood the
practical application of plasma technology for textile materials and they have
come out with a new kind of plasma based machinery for textile materials.
Table 6 gives a few of these suppliers.
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 239

Table 6  Commercially available plasma reactors for different applications


Manufacturer Application
Dow Corning, USA Surface modification and coating (Dow corning corporation 2007)
Sigma, USA Surface modification and coating (Sigma technologies 2006)
Apjet, USA Water and stain repellency (www.apjet.com)
Acxys, France Wettability, water repellent (www.acxys.com)
Diener, Germany Cleaning, etching, activation, polymerization (Diener 2006)
Plasmatreat, USA Self-cleaning, flame retardancy (www.plasmatreat.com)
Arioli, Italy Water repellent (www.arioli.biz)
Vito, Belgium Cleaning, activating, coating (www.vitoplasma.com)
Softal, Germany Water repellent, wettability (www.softol.de)
Europlasma, Belgium Surface coating, Water repellent (www.europlasma.be)

3.3.3 Laser Technology

Laser technology has the ability to achieve a faded look and worn-out effect on
denim materials. The use of laser engraving with the aid of computer design
gives special printing effects. A variety of colour removal with little or no dam-
age to the other properties of denim material can be achieved by using different
laser parameters. Laser based finishing technology has an edge over other conven-
tional processing techniques due to its waterless nature, accuracy, and possibility
of innovation (Dascalu et al. 2000; Ondogan et al. 2005; Kan 2015). The Spanish
Company, Jeanologia, who produce a denim garment processing machine using
laser technology, claim that water consumption can be reduced dramatically by
using their technology.

4 Developments in Dyeing

4.1 Salt Reduction in Reactive Dyeing

Reactive dyes are water soluble anionic dyes which differ from other classes of
dyes by undergoing chemical reaction with fibre polymer. They differ among
themselves in terms of nature and number of reactive groups. Major issues with
the reactive dyes for the dyeing of cellulosic material are their instability in aque-
ous condition and requirement of higher ionic strength in the dye bath which
require a huge quantity of electrolytes. Dyeing 1 kg of cotton with reactive dyes
requires an average of 0.6 kg NaCl and 40 g reactive dye. Many developments
have taken place to reduce the salt requirement and to increase the dye affinity in
reactive dyeing. The research in salt-free dyeing can be broadly classified into two
áreas:
240 A. Arputharaj et al.

• Use of organic salts


• Cationization of cotton

(a) Use of Organic Salts


In this area of research, organic salts are used in place of inorganic slats such
as sodium chloride and sodium sulphate. Prabhu and Sundarajan (2002) pro-
posed sodium citrate as an alternative to inorganic electrolytes. Bleached cot-
ton fabrics were dyed with reactive and direct dyes with the use of sodium
chloride and sodium citrate. The results showed that fabric dyed satisfacto-
rily with the use of sodium citrate and there was significant reduction in
total dissolved solids. Khatri et al. (2012) used trisodium nitrilotriacetate as
an alternative to sodium chloride for dyeing of cotton in the pad-steam dye-
ing method. The result showed that the above organic salt can be used to dye
cotton satisfactorily with reactive dyes with minimum pollution load. Ahmed
(2005) proposed the use of sodium edate as an alternative for salt. Guan et al.
(2007) also used polycarboxylic acid sodium salt for salt-free dyeing. Yu et al.
(2014) have reported that sodium oxalate can be used as an organic electrolyte
for cotton to replace the inorganic electrolytes.
(b) Cationization of Cotton
Several studies in the field of salt-free reactive dyeing used cationic agents
such as quaternary ammonium based chemicals for imparting a positive
charge on cotton fabrics. The agents are organic in nature and considered to
produce a minimum pollution load. The cationic agents used are 1-amino-
2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammoniumpropane chloride (Wang and Lewis 2002),
3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride–CHTAC along with
40 gpl sodium hydroxide (Hashem 2007). Several studies were conducted to
use cationic polymers instead of cationic agents to impart a cationic nature
to cotton. Generally, the process employed for coating polymers is the pad-
dry process. The polymers used are dimethylamino ethylmethacrcrylate
(Fatma and El-Alfy 2013), polyepichlorohydrin dimethylamine (Wu and Chen
1993), polyamide-epichloro-hydrin resin (Burkinshaw et al. 1989), poly(4-
vinylpyridine) quaternary ammonium compound 1 % owm (Blackburn and
Burkinshaw 2003), dentrimers (Burkinshaw et al. 2000), and amino termi-
nated polymers (Zang et al. 2007).
Chitosan along with assisting agents for penetration and starch derivatives have
been used through pretreatment before dyeing with reactive dyes without salt.
Chitosan and its derivative O-acrylamido- methyl-N-[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylam-
monium) propyl] chitosan chloride (NMA- HTCC) was used for the dyeing of cot-
ton (Gentile 2009; Lim and Hudson 2004). Wei at al. (2012) used cationic starch
and its hydrolysed starch in salt-free dyeing of reactive dyes.
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 241

4.2 Best Available Method of Reactive Dyeing

The cold pad-batch dyeing method of cotton textiles is considered the best avail-
able technology for the dyeing of cotton with reactive dyes. This is a semicontinu-
ous method of reactive dyeing of cotton and woolen materials. Ready for dyeing
fabric is padded with liquor containing premixed reactive dyes and alkali (sodium
silicate or sodium carbonate). The fabric is then batched onto rolls and covered
with polythene sheets to prevent evaporation of water and stored for 6–12 h. After
the batching period, the material is washed with water and hydrolysed dyes are
removed by soaping. Following are the sustainable advantages this method.
• In this method, salts, lubricants, leveling agents, fixatives, and defoamers are
not used. Hence, the effluent load is much less.
• Because the dyeing and fixation are done at room temperature energy consump-
tion is comparatively much less than other methods.
• Another advantage of this method includes savings on water and labor. Water
consumption for pad-batch dyeing with beam washoff is only 10 % of the
amount used compared to the dyeing of fabrics using winch machines (90 %
reduction; Marbek Resource Consultants 2001).

4.3 Development in Commercial Dyes

(a) Sulphur and Vat Dyes


Archroma (formerly known as Clariant) has developed a process called
‘advanced denim’ using prereduced liquid sulphur dyes and sugar based reduc-
ing agents. It is claimed that this technology uses less energy, water, and has
a lower pollution load. DyStar patented the DyStar indigo vat 40 % solution,
which is prereduced indigo liquid. It is claimed that denim production will be
cleaner with a reduction in sodium hydrosulfite usage by using this product.
(b) Reactive Dyes
Many commercial reactive dyes are available which require less water and
energy for dyeing. Avitera® SE which is a multifunctional reactive dye (three
groups) was introduced by Huntsman at ITMA 2011. These reactive dyes are
mainly used for the dyeing of cellulosic fibres, and are claimed to save energy
and time with reduced water consumption. Eriopon LT, a special auxiliary, is
being used to assist the washing-off of unfixed dye from the fabric. DyStar devel-
oped Remazol Ultra® RGB reactive dye range for the problematic deep shades
on cellulosic fibres. It is claimed that this range gives increased productivity and
reduces the effluent load due to preventing redyeing. DyStar’s Levafix® CA dyes
are of interest as they are AOX free. It is claimed that this range of dyes gives
high fixation with very good light fastness properties (Lewis 2014).
242 A. Arputharaj et al.

New reactive dyes (e.g., Lanasol® CE, Ciba) and optimized ranges of metal-free
acid dyes (Sandolan® MF, Clariant) have been developed to achieve a balance of
economy and performance comparable to chrome dyes in targeted applications
such as piece and hank dyeing, especially bright fashion shades for woolen mate-
rials. Basolan® AS (BASF) inhibits loss of bulk in package dyeing and damage
to the dyed wool. This type of technology is finding use in a number of applica-
tions, particularly in dyeing of wool–polyester blends at temperatures up to 120 °C
where the protective effect is claimed to be better than conventional formalde-
hyde-release agents (Cookson et al. 1995).

5 Digital Printing for Cleaner Production

Textile printing is one of the most useful techniques to produce fashion textiles.
Conventionally automatic rotary screen printing technique is mostly used for the
textile printing. Digital printing is one of the most modern achievements in the
printing field of the textile industry. It is described as an inkjet based method of
printing of colourants onto textile materials. This concept was initially introduced
in the early 1980s by Dr Sweet who was working in Stanford University, United
States. With the help of a pressure wave pattern, he could achieve a uniform size
and distance among drops (Javorsek and Javorsek 2011). This contributed to a
rapid development of inkjet printing. Furthermore, in recent years, inkjet printers
have become very popular in the field of printing on textile substrates. A typical
sequence of digital textile printing is given in Fig. 6.
The following are the sustainable advantages of digital printing technology.
• It is a clean technology because the inks are utilized to a high degree and
thereby minimise water and energy consumption in the aftertreatment.
• Unlimited colour sampling, as well as very good fastness can be obtained.
• Digital printers can switch design without stopping the machine. This is a major
advantage when compared to conventional printing where each design requires
the making of templates, turning off the machine, adjustment of pattern, and
sample printing.
• Reproducibility of designs is very good.
• There is no limitation of size of the repeats of designs.

Pre-treat Post
ment of Ink jet Washing
Drying treatment
textiles printing off
-fixation

Fig. 6  Digital printing process of textiles (Chavan 1996)


Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 243

However, there are some limitations associated with the digital printing of textiles
for complete adoption of this technology.
• Printing speed is comparatively slower than conventional rotary screen printing.
• Specific inks with extraordinary quality are to be used which increases the cost
of printing.
• Specialized pretreatment of textiles is essential to get very good printed material.
Kan et al. (2011) reported that the atmospheric pressure plasma pretreatment could
increase the colour yield of the digital inkjet printed cotton fabrics significantly.
In addition, other properties such as colour fastness to crocking, colour fastness
to laundering, outline sharpness, and antibacterial properties were also improved
when compared with those of the control cotton fabric printed without APP pre-
treatment. They found these effects are durable after several washings.

6 Chemical Substitution for Source Reduction

Source reduction is a very useful technique in sustainable processing of textile


materials as it will reduce the pollution load in the final effluent and result in a
product with lower environmental impact (Ozturk et al. 2009). As per the Okopol
Institute, Germany, chemical substitution is defined as ‘the replacement or reduc-
tion of hazardous substances in products and processes by less hazardous or
non-hazardous substances, whilst achieving an equivalent functionality via techno-
logical or organizational measures.’ Eco-friendly alternatives for chemicals consid-
ered as non eco-friendly are summarized in Table 7.

7 Developments in Machinery

Developments in textile machinery for sustainable processing mostly focus on the


reduction of water usage in the dyeing process. Currently ultra-low liquor ratio
(ULLR) dyeing equipment is available on the market for the processing of tex-
tile materials using batch methods. Some of the developments have taken place
in reducing energy usage in the processing by combining different stages of pro-
cessing. One such development in dyeing machinery is the Econtrol® process.
Monforts in collaboration with Dystar introduced the Econtrol dyeing process
in ITMA in 1995. This technique differs from other reactive dyeing methods in
terms of the fixation process where drying and fixation take place in the same step.
According to Montfort, the E-control climate inside the fixation chamber ensures a
perfect dyeing result during the drying process. By using this process cotton, vis-
cose, tencel, and linen can be dyed. It is claimed that this process uses less energy,
water, and chemicals than conventional processes (Ali et al. 2012). The German
company M/S Then has introduced a new dyeing machine Airflow Synergy/G2®
244 A. Arputharaj et al.

Table 7  Chemical substitution for non eco-friendly chemicals


S. no Purpose Chemical Alternative
1 Sizing Starch Water soluble polyvinyl
alcohol
2 Desizing Hydrochloric acid Amylases
3 Scouring of cotton Sodium hydroxide Pectinases
4 Bleaching Hypochlorites Hydrogen peroxide
5 Oxidation of vat and Potassium dichromate Hydrogen peroxide, sodium
Sulphur dyes perborate
6 Thickener Kerosene Water based polyacrylate
copolymers
7 Hydrotropic agent Urea Dicynamide (partially)
8 Water repellents C8 fluorocarbons C6 fluorocarbons
9 Crease recovery chemicals Formaldehyde based resin Polycarboxylic acids
10 Wetting agents and Alkyl phenol ethoxylates Fatty alcohol phenol
detergents ethoxylates
11 Neutralization agent Acetic acid Formic acid
12 Peroxide killer Sodium thiosulphate Catalases
13 Mercerization Sodium hydroxide Liquid ammonia
14 Reducing agents Sodium sulphide Glucose, acetyl acetone,
thiourea dioxide
15 Dyeing Powder form of sulphur Prereduced dyes
dyes
16 Flame retardant Bromated diphenylethers Combination of inorganic
salts and phosphonates
17 Shrink proofing Chlorination Plasma treatment

to get better reduction of water and energy during wet processing. (Nair 2011).
M/S Thies GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, introduced the iMaster H2O® dyeing
machine for the piece dyeing process. M/S Thies claims that this type of machin-
ery will be helpful for the dyer for better adaptability and flexibility. Globally
many such machinery suppliers are available who can supply batchwise process-
ing equipment which will require less energy and water.

8 Role of Eco Standards and Labelling in Promoting


Sustainable Processing

Today environmental issues such as global warming and their possible effect on
mankind are much in focus. As a result many enlightened customers especially
in Europe and other developed countries would like to buy environment friendly
and sustainable products even at a higher price. Many eco-labels have been intro-
duced to cater to this class of customers by ensuring the quality and performance
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 245

of products as well as their safety to human health and the environment by cer-
tifying both the products and the manufacturing process. Oekotex and the EU
official label for green textiles- EU Flower are two such popular eco-labels. The
Global Organic Textile standard (GOTS) whose latest Version 4.0 was introduced
in March 2014 aims to set requirements to ensure the organic status of textiles
from the harvesting of raw materials through environmentally and socially respon-
sible manufacturing up to labelling to provide credible assurance to consumers.
This standard takes into consideration that industrial scale production of textiles
is not possible without the use of chemicals. Hence at each manufacturing stage it
provides a list of materials which are safe and allowed and which are not allowed
to be used. Although allowing the use of a material, minimum impact on the envi-
ronment, minimum hazard, and toxicity are the criteria. It is in this context that
natural dyes and other chemicals from endangered plant species are not permit-
ted but synthetic dyes which can meet toxicity and hazardous substances criteria
and do not contain restricted or prohibited substances are allowed to be used. It
sets the compliance requirements for the entire facility in respect of environmental
management including wastewater treatment and management and also prescribes
minimum social criteria.
Eco-labels have taken the initiative to ban or restrict the use of substances
which are harmful to human health or pose a risk to the environment. For example,
the ‘unnecessary use’ of triclosan in textiles has been banned by a number of lead-
ing brands as well as governments in Europe due to health and ecological issues
(Gao and Cranston 2008). Almost all the eco-labels have specified the norms
for the maximum release of formaldehyde from the finished textile products.
Its release is restricted to 15–20 ppm for babywear and 300 ppm for the textiles
which do not have direct contact with human skin. Setting of limits for the harm-
ful substances such as heavy metals, banned carcinogenic amines, brominated and
chlorinated flame retardants, alkyl phenol ethoxylates, formaldehyde, and so on in
the final product and putting emphasis on the sustainable manufacturing process
including the minimum social requirements for certification by these labels thus
guarantees a sustainable and quality product to the consumer and contributes to
making the textile manufacturing process sustainable. Eco-labels are thus useful
for consumers to identify merchandise that has a minimum ecological impact in
their life cycle and the number of consumers recognizing eco-labels is increasing
and growing.

9 Social Responsibility and Future Outlook


in Textile Processing

Social responsibility is one of the main constituents of sustainable development.


This is applicable to the highly complex textile value chain also where more play-
ers are directly and indirectly involved in it. Figure 7 shows the key stakeholders
246 A. Arputharaj et al.

Fig. 7  Key stakeholders in


Dyestuff and chemical
textile wet processing value
manufacturers
chain
/suppliers

Byers/customers Textile wet


Processors
processing

Labels/testing
agencies

in the textile processing value chain. Sustainable commodity systems will require
participation of everybody throughout the chain (Muller 2010). If we consider the
wet chemical processing, handling of water and chemicals and their discharge to
the environment is a vital parameter in terms of social responsibility which has
already been discussed in the chapter. Each stakeholder has his own responsibility
in the textile value chain to implement sustainable processing. Dyestuff manufac-
turers should aim to supply the dyes which are eco-friendly, that is, have high sub-
stantivity with low or no requirement of electrolytes. This will result in minimum
colour content and low TDS of the residual dye bath after completion of the dye-
ing process. Intermediates used for the synthesis of dyes should be free from the
banned amines or toxic substances.
Textile processers should select eco-friendly dyes, chemicals, and auxilia-
ries and use such processes and machinery which minimize effluent genera-
tion. Suitable mechanism for effluent treatment/recycling of process water and
chemicals should also be installed to ensure the minimal effluent discharge and
its compliance with the criteria set by regulatory bodies to ensure the availability
of community resources such as water for diversified utilisation for the benefit of
humanity. Similarly they may install heat exchangers and select the processes with
lowest energy consumption to minimise costs and consumption of fossil fuels.
They can go for environmental management system standards such as ISO 14000
which will help them to manage environmental related issues in better way. It is
also the responsibility of manufacturers to ensure a proper working environment
for the workforce. Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000) is an international stand-
ard which guarantees the basic rights of workers involved in the production pro-
cesses. This will improve the product quality and brand reputation.
The main bottleneck in the implementation of sustainable technologies in tex-
tile wet processing is their high cost. Buyers’ contribution to sustainable develop-
ment in textile processing is of paramount importance here. If they are ready to
Developments in Sustainable Chemical Processing of Textiles 247

purchase the material at the enhanced costs due to the use of costlier sustainable
processing technologies, the main barrier to their implementation would be elimi-
nated. Eco-labels help consumers in identifying merchandise that has a minimum
ecological impact in their life cycle. The number of consumers recognizing eco-
labels is increasing and growing. But due to the multiplicity of eco-labels, they
are sometimes confused in the selection of eco-label. Limits of different restricted
chemicals in the different labels are also not uniform. Some uniformity and ration-
alisation of the restricted chemical limits would be helpful in better adoption of
eco-labels and provide impetus to sustainable textile wet processing.

10 Conclusion

Chemical processing is the most significant process in the textile value chain.
However, it is being criticized for its high energy and water consumption and
generation of effluent load. Implementation of stringent government laws related
to the environment, introduction of eco-label standards, and competitive market
conditions for the past few decades have forced the textile industry to look for
new eco alternatives in the form of natural biodegradable and less persistent sub-
stances. This scenario has also increased awareness in the industry about newer
technologies such as plasma, laser, digital printing, and supercritical carbon
dioxide, among others. These new technologies can be considered as sustainable
alternatives to conventional technologies because these processes not only reduce
water and energy consumption but also significantly reduce the effluent load.
Most of these technologies are successful at laboratory and pilot scale; however,
issues such as cost economics, nonsuitability for all textile fibres, and so on needs
to be resolved for their adoption into mainstream textile processing. It is the duty
of each and every stakeholder to promote and adopt sustainable textile processing
technologies to ensure a clean environment for future generations.

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