Creating Sustainable Fabrics Out of Waste

 The more innovative we are creating sustainable materials for fashion clothing, the more likely we will be to create a circular economy. maake explores how the UK addresses sustainability in fashion fabrics and finds a few more innovative companies making fabric from food waste.

New Innovations, New Fabrics

We have also given you lots of feedback regarding circularity and manufacturing fashion fabrics. But another innovative way of making fashion greener involves producing materials from waste. It’s taking other people’s refuse and transforming it into fashion treasures. Let’s explore how fashion houses and fabric manufacturers are doing this.

A recent innovation, Textiles 2030 is an NGO that focuses on supporting companies and organisations in the fashion and textiles industries to “find circularity solutions and overcome shared challenges”. This way, the NGO hopes to voluntarily create a more sustainable, circular existence for fashion and fabric by 2030.

By collaborating with other companies in these industries, Textiles 2030 hopes to stop the climate crisis by the end of this decade. And with only 5 years to go, that’s a mammoth task. First steps involve researching, innovating and designing systems in collaboration with other businesses.

Their statistics tell the story of why this is so important, so let’s explore:

·      711000 tonnes of post-consumer fabrics are discarded in the general waste annually in the UK.

·      8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions in the UK come from the fashion and textiles industry.

·      This industry uses 93 billion cubic metres of water every year.

The Current Fabric Footprint

Manufacturing fabric and fabric products involves various processes and depends on the type of material and products, how those products are made, and where. Textiles 2030 realised the importance of calculating the “overall carbon and water impacts and savings associated”. The NGO has done intensive research to provide a “representative, relevant and accurate” estimate they call the Textiles 2030 Footprint Tool & Methods Report. This report started, along with Textiles 2030, at the beginning of this decade, and is currently in its fifth year.

According to statistics, The UK’s fashion and textiles sector currently supports around 1.3 million jobs – that’s one in every 25 jobs in the UK! This industry is one of the largest sectors in the country, and its influence extends worldwide.

The UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) is the country’s largest network for fashion and textiles, bringing together fashion brands, designers, manufacturers and suppliers globally and in the UK. “With a growing focus on sustainability and innovation,” UKFT tells us, they are “driving meaningful action in the transition to a circular economy.”

This organisation represents the UK fashion industry, “from jeans, Savile Row suits and designer dresses through to medical masks, upholstered car seats and next-generation fabrics”.

They created a circular manufacturing report discussing the way forward for the industry, the importance of sustainability and a shift towards circularity. One of their main focuses is embracing and integrating new technologies and innovations in this industry.

We’ve written reams about why sustainability in fashion is so important, which you can read right here.

Transforming Plant and Food Waste into Fabric

With five years to 2030, what can be done to transform food waste into fabric? The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that one-third of all food globally goes to waste. So, using this waste to create fashion fabrics is a brilliant sustainable innovation!

1.     Oranges

Italian company Orange Fiber takes ‘pastazzo’ – the citrus pulp and peels remaining from fruit after making juice out of it – and transforms this cellulose into a ‘silk-like yarn’, a textile fibre that can either be used on its own or blended with other fibres to create other materials. This material, called “TENCEL™ Limited Edition x Orange Fiber” is produced in Sicily in a sustainable closed-loop process. The company was founded in Catania in 2014. Designer brands using this fabric include Salvatore Ferragamo.

2.     Nettles

There are 3 nettle plants used to create future fabrics – these include European nettle, Ramie and Himalayan nettle. The fibre from these nettle plants is processed into alternatives for plastic in various global countries such as Japan, Scandinavia, Germany, China, Russia and Poland. One of the reasons for this plant’s popularity is that it is much more sustainable to grow than cotton, which requires far more water and pesticides.

Some of the fabric produced from nettle plants has been likened to a fine silk with a breathable structure.

3.     Kapok

Another silk-like fabric is produced from kapok fibres, which is also breathable, water-resistant, lightweight and hypoallergenic. The process required to transform kapok into fabric is a long one, carried out in Cambodia using Bombax Ceiba’s fruits. The trees grow up to 164 feet high and can produce around 4,000 fruits each season. Very little water is used in the transformation process from fruit to kapok-cotton blend material. As this particular fibre takes so long to make into fabric, it’s used mainly to create lightweight thermal clothing.

4.     Coffee Grounds

The process of transforming coffee grounds into fabric involves collecting these grounds, drying them and then processing them into yarn and fabric. This type of material is known for its UV protection. It dries quickly, so activewear and footwear brands like to use it.

For more fabric innovations, take a look at our latest guide.

Follow our Sustainability Lead

At maake, our primary focus is on sustainability. We do our utmost to eliminate waste, and we try to be ‘eco-friendly’ in every possible way: 

· We Focus on Sustainability & Innovation: We consider our environmental impact when we print on fabric. We use as little water and energy as possible and reduce waste. We use 100% renewable energy sources. The energy we use to print is less than it takes to use a home fan heater. And the inks we use for printing are all environmentally friendly and toxin-free.

· Zero Waste: We offer customers free upcycling bags and give excess fabric to local charities, schools, and educational institutions.

· We Save Energy: There are energy-saving cut-off switches on all our printing and manuufacturing machines, so they consume less energy when not in use.

· We ‘Buy Local’: We purchase everything we need for our business locally. Customers can also pick these up from our North London mill, reducing our carbon footprint further.

· We Have a Safe, Clean Working Environment: Our team enjoys safe, healthy working conditions. And all earn the London Living Wage.

· We Shop Small: As a small company in the fabric industry, we understand how important it is to back small businesses. Check out our Guide to Environmentally Friendly Fabric Printing.

· We maakeLess Fabric Waste: We encourage clients and colleagues to give fabric a second life instead of waste it, and become more environmentally aware. Our maakeLess Fabric Waste initiative gives like-minded people in our industry a chance to act against waste. If you’d like to become a volunteer, contact us here.