ABSTRACT
Whilst the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with garment manufacturing are low, waste in manufacturing represents a significant contribution to the overall emission for a fashion product with around 20% of the input raw materials being lost as waste in production. This is effectively a GHG “tax” which adds ~20% to every fashion item sold, since the waste is currently inextricably linked with the product. Waste represents a significant contributor to GHG emissions, both as industrial waste and as losses due to over-production.
The majority of this waste is produced as cut-outs when garments are made from flat fabric although there can also be significant losses in fabric formation and wet processing of up to a further 20%. The most accessible waste reduction strategy is to focus on garment production. The “cut and sew” garment-making process has been unchanged since clothes were first “invented” however, there may be new technologies which can convert yarn directly into three-dimensional shapes and convert waste back into valuable yarns.
In this chapter, some of the emerging technologies that could be used to eliminate or at least reduce the high levels of material wastage in fashion manufacturing are reviewed. The emergence of technologies that can convert waste back into yarn, fabricate products directly in three dimensions and digitalise production to minimise waste can all be deployed to address the significant GHG emissions associated with waste.
