âSurely we are smarter than mowing down 1,000-year-old trees to make T-shirtsâ â the complex rise of viscose | Sustainable fashionYou might think that wearing a top made from wood pulp would give instant eco-credentials â it is renewable, biodegradable, and, having once been a tree, it has soaked up some carbon along the way. Whatâs more, itâs not plastic. This is why many brands are opting for viscose, Lycocell, acetate and modal â soft, silky, semi-synthetic fabrics made from tree-pulp â as an apparently more sustainable option. Except that the chances are that your wood-pulp top may not be so green. âDeforestation continues to be a problem,â says Nicole Rycroft, who founded Canopy, a Vancouver-based NGO, 10 years ago to help protect ancient and endangered forests. The NGOâs initiative CanopyStyle focuses on fashion. âItâs 2024 â surely we are smarter than mowing down 1,000-year-old trees to make T-shirts.â In total, about 300m trees are logged globally each year to make viscose, sustainably or otherwise. These fabrics go by the rather geeky term, âman-made cellulosic fibresâ, or MMCFs. Demand for viscose, the third most used fabric in fashion (after polyester and cotton), is expected to double over the next eight years, says Rycroft: âMany brands are looking for a substitute for polyester or virgin cotton, but itâs trading one environmental disaster for another.â âSignificant amountsâ of viscose come from endangered forests in Brazil, Canada and Indonesia, says Rycroft. âWeâve also noted old-growth forests in Australia â koala habitats â disappearing into the viscose supply-chain. And itâs coming from plantations in Indonesia on peatlands that are incredibly high-carbon.â Indeed, one-sixth of the worldâs biggest viscose producers are described as âhigh riskâ in CanopyStyleâs latest Hot Button Report, which assesses producersâ risk of deforestation, their adoption of lower-carbon alternatives to virgin wood-pulp, and their chemical management. It is intended as a one-stop shop for CanopyStyleâs 550 fashion brand members â among them H&M, Stella McCartney and Marks & Spencer â so that they can make informed, ethical purchasing decisions. But even with such resources, some producers described in the report as âhigh riskâ still slip through the net, with their fibres making their way on to the high street. But it is not straightforward to connect the dots back to specific fashion brands. Even though some fashion labels now share their supplier lists online, âitâs hard to find the information â even as a fashion professional,â says Jocelyn Whipple, co-founder of the sustainability consultancy The Right Project. There is âcomplexity around [supplier] ownership systems, with shell companies, links to mills and supply chains that may not be immediately apparent,â adds Rycroft. In March, for instance, Greenpeace released its Deforestation Anonymous report, noting a new wave of Indonesian deforestation by an anonymously owned âshadow companyâ. Others point the finger at the fashion labels themselves. âThe villains are the brands that donât disclose any information about their supply chain,â says Dr Kate Hobson-Lloyd, fashion ratings manager at the sustainability ratings app Good on You. âThatâs not limited to fast-fashion brands â plenty of high-end brands have poor disclosure.â Whatâs more, Fashion Revolutionâs most recent Transparency Index reveals that only 12% of 250 of the worldâs largest fashion brands have published a time-bound, measurable commitment to zero deforestation (among them Burberry, Gucci, John Lewis and Zara), down 3% from the year before. This lack of transparency, traceability and accountability has happened because âvoluntary measures only get you so far, and it hasnât been mandated by regulations yetâ, says Shruti Singh, head of Fashion Revolution India. Many brands âwill just wait for legislation before mapping their supply chains.â âCommitments are never enough,â states a recent report on deforestation by Global Canopy, an environmental not-for-profit (unrelated to Canopy). âThey are not worth the paper they are written on unless they are acted on.â It found that 63% of companies that had set deforestation commitments hadnât shown âadequate evidence of implementing themâ. While the EUâs new Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which will come into force on 30 December, ensures that wood and other commodities driving forest degradation will no longer be sold in the EU, Global Canopy claims that âonly 1% of companies are likely on track to be compliant with [it].â Other activists question whether EUDR will go far enough: one anonymous source says that âtextiles havenât been explicitly mentioned.â âMany brands are not prioritising this because they think customers donât know or care about the issue,â says Julia Kozlik of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), a Swiss NGO that certifies sustainable forestry used by Fendi, APC and Gant. It found that 48% of 5,329 British, Italian, French and Spanish consumers werenât aware that forest fibres are used in clothing, while 76% said they would be concerned if the sourcing of these fibres had a negative environmental effect. Seventy-eight percent said that brands needed to increase their responsible sourcing of forest fibres. Rycroft remains optimistic, however. âIn the last seven years, more than half of global viscose producers have shifted away from high-risk forest-sourcing towards FSC-certified forest fibre and low-carbon next-gen alternatives. Historically weâve seen dramatic shifts â for example, with the recycled paper industry, which brought on 70m tonnes of capacity within a decade. Thatâs the pace of transition we need to see in fashion.â How to make sure your viscose is sustainableLook out for Circulose Formerly known as Renewcell, Circulose is a 100% recycled MMCF made from textile waste â no tree-felling required. Available at H&M, Ganni, Leviâs and Arket. Keep your eye out, too, for Spinnova and Infinited Fiber which are racing to scale up their recycled-textile viscose. Check out Ecovero A next-gen viscose made with wood from controlled or certified wood sources, Ecovero is produced using at least 50% fewer carbon emissions and half the water of conventional viscose, plus a minimum of 20% recycled material. Try Ganni, By Malene Birger and Monsoon. Bookmark CanopyStyleâs fashion partner directory Has your favourite brand committed to sourcing viscose without plundering ancient and endangered forests? All of CanopyStyleâs 550 fashion members are held to this standard, as well as to increasing their use of MMCFs made with recycled fibres. Choose FSC certification With Forestry Stewardship Council-certified viscose, you can be confident its production has avoided deforestation, supported biodiversity and protected Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Sezane, Dancing Leopard, Step One, and Ba&sh all use FSC-certified viscose. Go 100% viscose Try to buy viscose in its pure state â it means that it will biodegrade at its end of life, and is easier to recycle if it hasnât been blended with plastic. Source link Posted: 2024-07-01 15:29:27 |
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