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Standards Development
This document provides general terms and definitions used in the textile value chain related to environmental aspects including design, production, retail, use and reuse, recycling processes and disposal.
This document is applicable to all stakeholders in the textile value chain regardless of size and location. Stakeholders will benefit from a common terminology for addressing issues related to environmental aspects of textile products and processes.
This document will not specify sustainability (social, environmental or economic) in general. Definitions are as far as possible adapted from existing standards but when the intention or definition is unclear additional context or definitions are updated or added.
The global textile industry is facing challenges in adapting towards circular business models to ensure resource availability and sustainable practices. Currently, actors all along the textile life cycle contribute negatively to climate change and other environmental impacts. We see increased demands to increase circularity of textile materials and products. There is a need to extend the use and increase reuse and recycling of produced material and thus minimize the need of virgin material. Standardization can help connect actors, policy makers and industrial segments with the latest research results, enabling a transition towards more environmentally benign processes.
To date, the terminology regarding environmental aspects used in the textile industry has not been standardized, causing confusion, ineffectiveness and worst case prohibiting/hindering sustainable practices in the textile sector. The global nature of the textile industry highlights the need for global as well as national standards, enabling a common understanding and facilitate trade. A common vocabulary may serve to reduce the risk of greenwashing, bringing value for actors aiming to be transparent as well as facilitating the development of trust among consumers.
By concluding a common terminology, the aim is to enable transparency and easier transferral of information between actors and industrial segments. Terminology in use today has been inherited from the chemical, mechanical, agricultural and fashion industries, resulting in inconsistent terminology. Consistency is an important building block, essential for taking steps towards a more sustainable textile industry.
The terms in this document have been collected from research projects and international standards, supplemented by terms agreed on in discussions in a Swedish working group with representatives from the production, service, sustainability research, education, retail, waste management and digital sectors.
The terminology will enable future work on the environmental aspects of textiles, that may have a great impact on the industry and the world.
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