Greenpeace is detoxifying the clothing industry
In 2011 Greenpeace
launched a campaign to reduce hazardous chemicals from clothing
manufacturing into the world’s waterways. The aim was to achieve zero
discharge by the year 2020.
80 international brands and suppliers took up the challenge, amongst them
luxury brands, high street fashion conglomerates, sportswear and outdoor
outfitters and a plethora of retailers.
As the year 2020 draws near, Greenpeace released a report
communicating the progress and challenges to date.
Dirty laundry
The initiative began after Greenpeace’s year-long investigation, exposing
hidden links between textile manufacturing facilities in China that
discharge hazardous chemicals into the water, and international brands such
as the sportswear giants Nike and Adidas. Greenpeace releases report ‘Dirty
Laundry’ and launches detox campaign in July 2011.
Nike and Adidas agree to be the first clean water champions by teaming up
with their suppliers and eliminating all toxic, persistent and
hormone-disrupting chemicals from their products and production processes.
The first step for companies that signed the Detox commitment was to set up
a blacklist of hazardous chemicals (aka MRSL (Manufacturing Restricted
Substances List) banned across all stages of manufacturing, with ambitious
elimination timelines and target levels to be reached in wastewater. The
ZDHC (Zero Discharges of Hazardous Chemicals) foundation, created as a
collective response for the brands, has become a meaningful programme over
the years, with the potential to scale up the Detox roadmap to the rest of
the clothing and textiles industry and to keep up the momentum for change.
A skeptic industry
Greenpeace’s call for corporate responsibility and demand for transparency
on the discharge of hazardous chemicals by factories was originally met by
many in the industry with scepticism. However, many thousands of people
supported the campaign by urging sports brands to act. As a result, Puma
became the first brand to sign up to a “Detox commitment.” It was soon
followed by Nike and adidas. Not long after, H&M became the first of many
fashion brands to commit to Detox.
Overconsumption
The Detox campaign has set the standard for addressing hazardous chemicals
in the textiles supply chain, setting targets and transparency on tracing
inputs and releases of hazardous chemicals. It has triggered policy changes
and a raft of new initiatives and tools that could facilitate the Detox
approach across the industry. However, the progress could be undermined if
significant players fail to recognise that the overconsumption of textiles
is the larger problem that must be tackled.
“Consumption of clothing is projected to
rise from 62 million tons in 2017 to 102 million tons in 2030, an increase
of 63 percent.”
The growth of fast fashion spurred an increase in use of polyester, which
now makes up 60 percent of clothing worldwide but is projected to nearly
double by 2030. Polyester is the achilles heel of fashion, polluting rivers
and seas even while its being used, with just one piece of clothing
releasing up to 1 million microplastic fibres in a single wash.
Will we get to zero discharge by 2020
Greenpeace states the implementation of the roadmap towards zero is
verifiable. The support for the Detox campaign – from fashionistas to
outdoor enthusiasts – has also demonstrated that citizens around the globe
care about how their products are made and are actively demanding change
from the industry.
Greenpeace states it will continue to support them on this quest, together
with other organisations that are calling for a fairer clothing industry
which addresses working conditions and social and environmental injustices.
Many changes are still needed to make this happen as well as to tackle the
big and increasing problem of overconsumption, which is multiplying the
negative impacts of clothing, including hazardous chemicals, the
contribution of microplastic fibres to ocean pollution, waste and
greenhouse gas emissions.
Photo and story credits: Greenpeace report Destination Zero: Seven Years
of Detoxing the Clothing Industry