Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing

Part One. Key indicators and processes in LCA

1. Carbon footprints in the textile industry

• 1.1. Introduction
• 1.2. Key issues in calculating carbon footprints
• 1.3. Carbon footprint standards
• 1.4. Calculating carbon footprints of textile manufacturing processes
• 1.5. Calculating carbon footprints of textile products
• 1.6. Carbon footprint labelling of textile products
• 1.7. Future trends
• 1.8. Conclusions
• 1.9. Further information and advice

2. Energy footprints in the textile industry

• 2.1. Introduction: key issues in calculating energy footprints
• 2.2. Methodologies and standards
• 2.3. Calculating energy footprints of textile products (applications and examples)
• 2.4. How to reduce energy footprint in textile and clothing products
• 2.5. How to reduce energy footprint in textile and clothing supply chain
• 2.6. Energy analysis in the textile industry
• 2.7. Energy analysis from the view of environmental approaches
• 2.8. Future trends
• 2.9. Conclusions
• 2.10. Additional readings about energy in the textile industry

3. Ecological footprints in the textile industry

• 3.1. Introduction
• 3.2. Methodologies and standards
• 3.3. Calculating ecological footprint of a textile manufacturing plant
• 3.4. Calculating ecological footprints of textile products: evaluation of footwear as case study
• 3.5. Future trends and challenges in calculating the EF of textile products
• 3.6. Conclusions

4. Measuring the reusability of textile products

• 4.1. Introduction
• 4.2. Importance of reusability in LCA
• 4.3. Implications of reusability in textiles and clothing products
• 4.4. Importance of reusability in LCA studies
• 4.5. Quantification of reusability of textiles and clothing products
• 4.6. Future trends and remarks
• 4.7. Conclusions

5. Environmental impacts of the use phase of the clothing life cycle

• 5.1. Introduction: the use phase in the life cycle of clothing
• 5.2. Quantifying the use phase of the clothing life cycle
• 5.3. Consumer use phase in LCA studies of textiles and clothing products – implications for LCA
• 5.4. Challenges and conclusions

6. Open- and closed-loop recycling of textile and apparel products

• 6.1. Introduction
• 6.2. Recycling textiles and apparel
• 6.3. Open-loop recycling
• 6.4. Closed-loop recycling
• 6.5. Barriers to effective OLR and CLR
• 6.6. Future trends in the apparel industry
• 6.7. Conclusion
• List of abbreviations

7. Life cycle assessment method for environmental impact evaluation and certification systems for textiles and clothing

• 7.1. Introduction
• 7.2. Life cycle assessment and environmental impacts of textiles and clothing
• 7.3. Standards and associations for environmental management systems
• 7.4. Eco-labelling and certification of textiles and clothing
• 7.5. Conclusions

8. Environmental impact assessment methods for textiles and clothing

• 8.1. Introduction
• 8.2. Review of EIA process and methods
• 8.3. An EIA tool kit for the textile and clothing industry: the SustainTex system
• 8.4. Illustrative example
• 8.5. Conclusions and future trends

Part Two. Applications of LCA in the textile industry

9. Life cycle assessment of cotton textiles and clothing

• 9.1. Introduction
• 9.2. LCA of cotton textiles
• 9.3. LCA of technical cotton textiles
• 9.4. Discussion of LCA results
• 9.5. Factors influencing sustainability of cotton textiles
• 9.6. Conclusions

10. LCA of wool textiles and clothing

• 10.1. Introduction
• 10.2. Wool LCA methodological and data challenges
• 10.3. LCA case study for wool apparel
• 10.4. Summary and future developments in wool LCA studies

11. Life cycle assessment of silk production – a case study from India

• 11.1. Introduction
• 11.2. LCI of Indian silk
• 11.3. Results and discussion
• 11.4. Conclusions

12. Comparative life cycle assessment of natural and man-made textiles

• 12.1. Introduction
• 12.2. Natural and man-made textiles
• 12.3. LCA studies
• 12.4. Concluding remarks

13. LCA of cotton shopping bags

• 13.1. Introduction
• 13.2. Shopping bags and their environmental impacts
• 13.3. Cotton shopping bags
• 13.4. LCA studies on cotton shopping bags
• 13.5. Conclusions

14. LCA of fibre-reinforced composites

• 14.1. Introduction
• 14.2. Types of fibre-reinforced composites
• 14.3. LCA method and models
• 14.4. LCA of composites made out of different materials: examples and case studies
• 14.5. Conclusions

15. Life cycle assessment and the environmental and social labels in the textile and clothing industry

• 15.1. Environmental and social labels: definitions
• 15.2. Classifications of social and environmental labels
• 15.3. Life cycle assessment and greenwashing in textiles and clothing
• 15.4. A comparison of the selected environmental and social labels in terms of LCA
• 15.5. The utility of environmental and social labels for consumers – barriers and challenges
• 15.6. Future trends and concluding remarks

16. Clothing disposal habits and consequences for life cycle assessment (LCA)

• 16.1. Introduction
• 16.2. Methods
• 16.3. Results
• 16.4. Discussion
• 16.5. Conclusions