Life Cycle Analysis of the Fashion Industry Essay Example For Students

Life Cycle Analysis of the Fashion Industry Essay Life Cycle Analysis of the Fashion Industry BY caracal Industrial Ecology Practices in the Fashion Industry Introduction The industrial revolution in the sass brought a paradigm shift to the way humans interacted with the environment. The increased capability of producing and manufacturing on a large scale, the rise of multiple industries, growing demand and proliferation of hedonistic consumption patterns, has created a culture of surplus, want and waste. (Fallacy-Companion, 2012) From an environmental point of view, this resource hungry trend is unsustainable and has detrimental ecological impacts, such as pollution and climate change. These problems have highlighted the consequence of our insatiable demand for resources and the need to rethink current practices and thoughts in order to maintain current living standards and ensure future growth. The ideas of environmental management, industrial ecology and ecological footprint have been proposed to allow for a meticulous look to the products that we manufacture and use, with emphasis on measuring the ecological impacts in hopes of reducing them. A multitude of tools have since been created to measure efficiency in hopes to highlight areas for improvement, of which the ISO standard and Life cycle assessment are part of. Undoubtedly, many companies have adopted life cycle analysis (LLC) in order to assess and reduce their products impact on the environment. The fashion industry, at its core, is based on the notion of continual consumption of the new and the discard of the old, especially with new seasonal lines coming out every 3 months. The industry celebrates creativity with the continuous turnover of trends, leading to the premature product replacement and fashion obsolescence. This constant change has major negative environmental and social impacts, particularly on those at the bottom of the supply chain. Ellwood et al, 2006; Whether and Leastwise, 2008) Moreover, delicates production, often all over the world, is commonly practiced in line with the competitive advantages of different locales (such as low-cost labor, less stringent standards/regulations, strength in technology etc). Studies of Ellwood et al (2006), Madsen et al (2007) and Fletcher (2008) have highlighted issues of apparel waste as the majority of textile waste are not recycled or reuse but usually ends up in landfills. In this report, Nikkei Inc. And Levi Strauss Co. Are chosen as case studies of the fashion industry for their efforts o apply LLC to their products. Life Cycle Assessment and IS014040 The International Organization for Standardization (SO) is an organization that aims to promote worldwide standards for proprietary, industrial and commercial purposes. SO, 2013) The ISO 14000 series is a family of standards that related to environmental management, which aims to help organizations measure and minimize operations that will negatively affect the environment and comply with environmental regulations and audits required in the country of operation. For example, the ISO 14001 is integral to the European Unions CEO-Management and Audit Scheme (AMASS). AMASS, 2011) Before the development of the ISO 14000 series, most organizations had to rely on internal environmental management systems that made comparisons between companies difficult. The ISO 14040 standard focuses on Life Cycle Assessment. LLC is a technique to assess environment impacts associated with all the stages of a products life from its raw material extraction to its processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair, recycle and disposal. It is believed to encompass a larger scope of environmental concerns as the compiled inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases includes the attention impacts associated with the identified inputs and releases, which can then be interpreted to help make informed decisions and build corporate environmental strategies. EPA, 2013) The method is most often used for the pinpointing potential for process improvements by assessing environmental impacts associated with all stages of a products life. (Securing Mueller, 2008) ISO 14040 standards shows how the LLC is to be carried out in four distinct phases as seen in Figure 1 before. Before any LLC can be carried out, an explicit goal and scope of the study, inclusive of technical details, has to be defined. This can then serve as a reference to guide the subsequent work. The functional unit, system boundaries, assumptions and limitations as well as the impact categories are identified and set in this first phase. The life cycle inventory analysis will then carry on from phase one by creating an inventory of all flows (input and output) between the stages of a product system, inclusive of all activities in the relevant supply chain and gives a clear picture of the system boundaries. Only when this is complete can the life cycle impact assessment be carried out. This is the most complex stage of the process as it aims to evaluate he significance of potential environmental impacts and calculate the input and output from the inventory. At the end of the assessment, the information gathered is evaluated and the assessment is objectively assessed before the identification of significant issues and problems, its evaluation and limitations are put forth. Figure 1 : The 4 phases of LLC (http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/ File:PhasesOfLifeCycleAnalysis. Eng) Current Context and Trends Environmental Management has progressed significantly over the years with regulations becoming more stringent and accountability expectations higher. Figure taken from Penmans (1999) report shows a simple evolution of environmental policies and their primary characteristics from the sass to present, whereby attitudes towards the environment have changes from merely managing the problem in the early days to one that is more actively involved in trying to prevent problems. Figure 2: Evolution of environmental management (Seaman, 1999) Within the industry and companies, Lamming ; Hampton (1996) stresses the need for companies to engage in environmental management as public pressure is and will continue to be a major factor. In their study, 75% of customers state that they would consider a Meanys environmental reputation when purchasing and 80% of those would be willing to pay a premium for an environmentally friendlier product. Although there are limitations to their study, in that the sentiment may only be shared by the European community of consumers, there is a trend whereby consumers are becoming more green conscious. Hawked et al (1999) in the book Natural Capitalism also calls for companies to embrace a new industrialism that will create profits and jobs while saving the environment, through the creation of a closed-loop supply chain that will generate more value and profit. By aggressive recycling, there is the potential of reducing up to 90% of energy and materials consumption. Although individual organizations are recognizing the need and their responsibility to address environmental and sustainability issues, there remains a lack of systematic and coordinated effort across the board. At a larger and general scale, there has been an increase of government level interest and engagement to transition sustainability at the firm and facility level, to one that is more holistic and encompasses production sustainability throughout the value chain. Golden et al, 2011) President Obama issued Executive Order 13514 in 2009 that requires the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, obtain 50% diversion rates of solid waste, pursue opportunities with vendors to reduce greenhouse gas (GOGH) emissions, ensure procurement preferences for energy-efficient products, and reduce consumption of paper with low recycled content. Likewise the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission are driving the use of sustainable product design and supply chains by the i ssuance of directives and interpretive guidance. Golden et al, 2011) Since the fiasco of sweatshop labor in the sass, leading to public outcry and clash on the fashion industry, there has been unison of calls for greater accountability. (Whether and Leastwise, 2008; Clownish et al, 2012) Especially in an industry where the consumers are the largest stakeholders; public opinion is crucial and highly influential. This helps the environmental cause when more consumers become green conscious and demand for a smaller ecological footprint. There is a need to cater to these consumers and for companies to set themselves apart from their competitors. Kumar Amalgamate, 2006) Environmental consciousness has been worked into the corporate social responsibility (CAR) of many companies and increasingly, in the fashion industry, CEO-fashion is trying to capture a larger share of the mainstream market with fashionable and environmental apparel. Regions, 2006) There is also the emergence of industr y consortia such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the Sustainability Consortium (TTS) and the Outdoor Industry Association (IA), all of which are multi-stakeholder organizations that are suited for establishing standardized metrics for regulation. A Changing Industry: Motion Picture Special Effect EssayFigure 10, taken from Nikkei. Com (2013) shows the corporate overview of the company in 2013. Part of the business strategy of the company for 2013 is to pursue growth that is sustainable, profitable, capital efficient and brand enhancing, whereby environmental responsibility is inbuilt into the companys goals, vision and culture. (Nikkei, 2013) It is important to note that Nikkei was a main target for unfair labor practices in the sass which greatly affected its public image. Since then, much have been done to manage such risks of which being a pioneer of sustainable practices is seen as integral to its environmental risk. There are no official accounts off published LLC according to the ISO 14040 standards, done on a Nikkei product. However, this is common as most companies may not necessarily want to publicity reveal its LLC. Nikkei however, in its sustainability reports, follows similar steps in qualifying its environmental impacts. In this case study, I will attempt to frame their goals and targets in the context of a traditional LLC. Figure 10: Corporate overview of Nikkei Inc (Nikkei, 2013) Shift towards Sustainable Business and Innovation (Phase 1 2) To support Nines strategic evolution and transition to sustainable business models, the Sustainable Business and Innovation (SUB;l) was set up with its mission to enable Nikkei to thrive in a sustainable economy. A matrix structure was step up to integrate retail, logistics and information technology well so as to foster new platforms and forms of collaboration. Nines value chain has also been re-envisioned to be a closed loop cycle. Figure 11 shows the distilled seven fundamental stages of the new value chain- plan, design, make, move, sell, use and reuse. (Nikkei, 2013) As dated before. Nikkei remains vague on the factors that are considered in their corporation and production processes that contribute to their environmental impact. In their release of public information, Nikkei uses a tool called the Material Assessment Tool (MAT) and analyses the life cycle of raw materials used in production. Henderson et al, 2009) The MAT allows Nikkei to view the impacts from the materials used across four categories: Chemistry, Energy/CA equivalence, Water/Land use and Waste with a total LLC score given. (See Figure 12) (Nikkei Considered Design, 2010) Products that are more sustainable would score higher on the MAT score. Figure 13 shows a snapshot of the different materials that go into the pr shoe. Figure 1 1: Overview of the Nikkei value chain ( Nikkei, 2013) Figure 12: Material Assessment Tool used by Nikkei (Nikkei, 2013) adduction of a Figure 13: Materials in a typical shoe (http://www. Lodestars. Net/bookings/copy-of- Semifinal-Presentation) Charting Progress and Changes in Environmental Impacts (Phase 3, 4 and beyond) Since the drive towards being more accountable started in the late sass, Nikkei has been tracking its progress based on its metrics in their corporate reports. Figure 14 ND 15 shows where the company is at with regard to meeting their 2011 targets set in 2009, where most objectives are largely on track. Figure 16 how implementing energy management strategies in retail stores in North America has allowed Nikkei to save 3. Million Kiss of electricity while giving a 20% return on investment, the partnership of how being environmentally conscious can help with operational savings. Nikkei has started a code of conduct for its suppliers to meet, to reduce their environmental impact, according to their MAT schem e. Suppliers are ranked and encouraged to improve on their operations, while their research and development am have been constantly looking into the development of lighter shoes and apparel in their new product design that utilizes less raw materials and more recycled materials. Nikkei also tried to reduce its waste by redesigning its packaging to use less material in its shoebox experiment (Figure 17). Although the results were not very successful, Nikkei continues to revamp and work on developing a sturdy prototype while reducing waste. Nikkei have also started several consumer-targeted initiative such as reuse-a-shoe campaign whereby old shoes are collected and dissembled to e reused in the manufacturing process, increasing recycling and lessening the dependency on raw materials. (Nikkei, 2013) Nikkei promises to commit to their environmental goals and work towards have a truly closed loop supply chain. However, Figure 18 shows that there is still much unaccounted areas in Nines internal assessment and much of their initiatives are focused on the American market. With a company who has great global presence, there is still much to be done, environmentally, in other markets. Figure 14: Progress in sustainable business models (http://www. Nikkei. Com/ creator/content/PDF/documents/en-useful-report. UDF) Figure 1 5: Progress in climate change targets (http://www. Nikkei. Com/creator/ content/PDF/documents/en-useful-report. UDF) Figure 16: Results of energy management systems on retail stores (Nikkei, 2013) Figure 17: Nikkei shoebox experiment (Nikkei, 2013) Figure 18: Nikkei Climate and Energy reporting landscape and roadman (http:// www. Incompressibility. Com/report/uploads/files/ NIKKEI_Len_ClimateEnergyLandscapeRoadmap. PDF) Evaluation of Levies and Nikkei Nikkei and Levies both belong to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) whose aim is to create an apparel and footwear index f or the industry, to 1 . Understand and quantify sustainability impacts of apparel and footwear products, 2. Reduce redundancy in measuring sustainability for the industry, 3. Drive business value through reducing risk and uncovering inefficiency and 4. Create a common meaner to communicate sustainability to stakeholders. (SAC, 2013) The SAC was formally launched in 2011 and its sustainable apparel index allows apparel retailers and brands to compare the performance of their upstream supply chain through a unified method and metrics. Their LLC is based on the AI_EGO CEO-index, Nines environmental design tool and SACs social and labor indicators for the manufacturing phase. There have been several criticisms of this tool as being too qualitative and the version that is being developed now is current designed to be more quantitative, life-cycle oriented. (Golden et al, 2011) The original intent of choosing these two companies was to highlight how environmental tools can be useful in such a wasteful industry such as fashion. In releasing that they both were part of the same industry consortium, whose aim was to provide a basis of comparison, I had assumed that there would be the possibility to have a clear comparison after evaluating both companies. However, further research did not yield any significant or comparable set of data or reports. In fact, the SAC website would redirect the user back to the sustainability pages of the individual companies. The fact that these two companies belong to the same industry consortium and yet cannot be compared, show the great limitation of LLC and current environmental management strategies. There are too many requirements and considerations in engaging in a holistic LLC and companies tend not to divulge too much information on their supply chains. As such, it is difficult to ensure that hey did not overlook particular flows in their operational process. On the other hand, it is heartening to see both companies engaging in similar trends to engage their customers to be part of the recycling and green process of returning Sears/ shoes back to the retailers so that they can be reused and/or recycled. Moreover, there seems to be a great sense of commitment by both companies towards corporate social responsibility and environmental accountability whereby active steps are being taken to reduce the environmental impact of the company, their facilities and their products.