Textiles

Widely used across the globe, textiles are produced and consumed within a sector of human activity that is highly land, water and labour intensive, and impacts the environment on multiple levels.

Jan 30th, 2024

In the ecoinvent database, the sector comprises of approximately 230 datasets, covering the cultivation of raw natural materials, their processing and transportation and the end of life of the various by-products arising from the relevant processes.

Sector Overview

Geographies covered include India (IN) and Bangladesh (BD) that are major producers on a global scale. The database also features global averages.

The ecoinvent database includes datasets on various activities within the Textiles sector. These include, cultivation of crops used for fibre production plants used for clothing (e.g., cotton, organic cotton, jute, kenaf, flax), production of other fibres (e.g., silk), manufacturing of man-made products (e.g., polyester, viscose), processing of the plants into fibres, processing of fibres into yarns, textile production with various processes (e.g. knitting, needle punching), as well as auxiliary activities of the processing of yarns and textiles (e.g. dying, sanforising, bleaching).

There are plenty of datasets that are used as inputs in textile production datasets but are not considered part of the sector. Such are datasets on fertiliser production (used in the fibre production), which are included in the Chemicals sector Further, all datasets related to irrigation are included in the Water Supply sector.

Sector Highlights

Fibre Production Plants

The sector includes data on various annual crops used in fibre production. The datasets follow the modelling principles of crop production in the agriculture sector. The sector includes data on six natural fibres, including cotton, jute, kenaf, hemp and flax. Geographical coverage spans across the most producing countries, India and Bangladesh. Further, data on organic cotton production in India are available.

Regarding emissions and emissions’ models, all crop production-related datasets are modelled following a homogeneous approach. The calculation of heavy metal emissions is based on the SALCA method developed by Agroscope. The method considers cadmium, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, chromium and mercury emissions to soil and water, based on inputs during the crop production (fertilisers, pesticides etc). Further, calculation of air emissions of CO2 resulting from fertiliser application during crop production, is based on emission factors from IPCC, considering that all carbon in the fertiliser is emitted as carbon dioxide.

Manufacturing of Fibres, Yarns and Textiles

Information on the production of fibres, yarns and textiles is included. The datasets include the raw material and water inputs, direct emissions, waste production, infrastructure expenditures, energy and material consumption. Additionally, the manufacturing of man-made yarns and textiles, including polyester, polypropylene and viscose fibres, is represented in the sector. At the same time, different yarn and textile production processes are covered such as spinning, needle punching, weaving and knitting. The datasets cover countries of the highest textile production, India and Bangladesh.

Auxiliary Activities

Auxiliary activities refer to processes necessary for the preparation of fibres, yarns or textiles into finished products. They include bleaching, dying and sanforising. The auxiliary datasets model energy consumption, inputs of raw materials, waste and wastewater production as well as emissions, while they cover the countries with the larger volumes of textile production, India and Bangladesh. They can be used in combination with fibre, yarn or textile datasets, adjusted to model a product that is not represented in the database. For example, auxiliary activities, such as the dataset “bleaching, textile”, can be used along with any textile dataset to create one representing the respective bleached textile; alternatively an unbleached version can be modelled without using the auxiliary activity.

Global Cotton Production

The sector includes a global weighted average production of cotton in China, United States and India. The data have been provided to ecoinvent by Cotton Incorporated. The dataset follows the regular modelling approach of all agricultural datasets.

Regarding emissions and emissions’ models, the dataset is modelled following a homogeneous approach. The calculation of heavy metal emissions is based on the SALCA method developed by Agroscope. The method considers cadmium, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, chromium and mercury emissions to soil and water, based on inputs during the crop production (fertilisers, pesticides etc). Further, calculation of air emissions of CO2 resulting from fertiliser application during crop production, is based on emission factors from IPCC, considering that all carbon in the fertiliser is emitted as carbon dioxide

Data Providers

Notable providers of LCI datasets to the textiles sector include, but are not limited to:

Editors

Anne Perwuelz (Main Editor), ENSAIT, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textile, France
Sebastien Thomassey (Co-Editor), ENSAIT, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textile, France
Miguel Astudillo (Co-Editor), 2.-0 LCA Consultants, Denmark
Mireille Faist Emmenegger (Co-Editor), Quantis Switzerland

Relevant Sources

While the database contains all needed information to understand the modelling and calculations behind its contents, the report below provides further information for enhanced understanding of the activities within the sector.

Faist Emmenegger M., Bajaj S., Datta A., Nigam M., Hossain M. M., Hossain M. N., (2018). Life Cycle Inventories of textile products in India and Bangladesh. ecoinvent Association, Zürich, Switzerland. Accessible at SRI project results (registration required).