Waste Management Problem In The Fashion And Footwear Industries

Project Abstract

The Internet has changed the way people purchase goods in the 21st century: many types of goods and services have become available online. Luxury fashion goods followed this trend after an initial delay, primarily due to the nature of these goods. The purpose of the paper is to investigate how the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic and social) can be integrated within the fashion e-commerce sector to make it more sustainable. As purchaser inclinations keep on moving, with increasingly more attention on sustainability, the material business is encountering a change. To achieve a closed-loop inventory network, industry players over the world are finding imaginative approaches to reuse and recycle, and some are even creating entirely new fibres and materials from eco-friendly, and often unexpected materials.

Problem Statement

The Fashion industry globally is one of the largest causes for producing waste. With E-commerce entering the picture, the access to fashion globally has increased. The decreasing prices due to a competitive landscape has caused in expanded consumption of fashion products. This has led to a threat to the environment and needs immediate attention. Global e-commerce supply chains also employ other environmental threats for delivery, packaging, production etc. Focusing on balancing on minimizing negative effects and expanding the global fashion supply chain is a challenge that we would want to9 address.

Hypothesis

By employing technological advancements in the fashion e-commerce sales channels, integrating AI and understanding consumer trends using data analytics, we hope to optimally shortening the value chain. By focusing on ethical sourcing and production, footwear fashion companies can obtain product differentiation as well as maintain a green global supply chain thereby reducing waste and upholding profits.

Scope and Methodology

Establishing, as well as Incorporating multi-channel sales and establishing a labyrinth of the sustainable supply chain that has multiple layers horizontally as well as vertically is the scope of our project. Customization, as well as short-delivery time globally, are also a few points we hope to touch while trying to lay out a network of closed-loop supply chain.

We hope to study a few sustainable shoe brands such as Rothy’s as well as Allbirds that are E-commerce success stories that are bridging the gap between production to delivery.

Implications

Establishing networks that can be leveraged by other specialized businesses would be an additional boost that the economy of developing countries like India and many others.

Results

Closing the loop involves minimizing the consumption of resources by facilitating their reentry into the value chain. In other words, it refers to repeatedly recycling and reusing materials until they become biodegradable waste. The current linear business model stresses the environment by generating waste throughout the value chain, whereas a closed-loop system seeks to minimize waste and to put unavoidable leftover material to use. Emerging innovations that support closed-loop systems include recycling technologies to produce new fibers comparable in quality to virgin fibers, optical fiber-sorting technologies to facilitate scalable recycling mapping and tracking systems to support pre-consumer waste upcycling and recycling, and consumer-focused fashion-as-a-service subscription programs. Industry 4.0 has the potential to disrupt the way the fashion industry runs today, by leveraging the constantly increasing capabilities of automation and other technologies will likely affect every step in the value chain, making it leaner and driving much higher productivity.

Introduction

Did you know?

• The global apparel market is valued at 3 trillion dollars, 3,000 billion, and accounts for 2 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Almost 75% of the world’s fashion market is concentrated in Europe, USA, China and Japan.
• The US is the largest importer of garments in the world; nearly 40% of apparel products sold in the US are imported from China.
• Second to oil, the clothing and textile industry is the largest polluter in the world.
• Nearly 20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry.
• NPR reports, from the Environmental Protection Agency, that 15.1 million tons of textile waste was generated in 2013, of which 12.8 million tons were discarded.
• Consumers throw away shoes and clothing, an average of 70 pounds per person, annually. Shoes can take up to 1,000 years to break down.
• The U. S. is the largest exporter of second hand clothing. It exports over a billion pounds of used clothing every year.

More than 15 million tons of used textile waste is generated each year in the United States, and the amount has doubled over the last 20 years. In 2014, over 16 million tons of textile waste was generated, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Of this amount, 2.62 million tons were recycled, 3.14 million tons were combusted for energy recovery, and 10.46 million tons were sent to the landfill. An average American throws away approximately 80 pounds of used clothing per person per year.

The emergence of the Internet changed interaction patterns of people with entities and with one another. Rapidly evolving digital technologies made it possible to buy and sell goods on the Internet. The variety of items available in the online marketplace expanded to territories that were not previously viewed as a good fit for sales through e-commerce. Luxury goods are an example of such items.

Trends such as circular economy, fair trade, lowsumerism, and sharing economy are some of the many emerging entrepreneurial approaches that address this issue, but there is still a gap between what theory argues and the levels of environmental and social sustainability realized when theory is put into practice.

Sustainable Fashion is an oxymoron, in the light of growing consumerism and the advancement of fast-fashion. It is about producing clothes in an environmentally and socio-economically sustainable manner, but also to consume in a more sustainable way. The conscious behavioral patterns and attitudes we as users have while consuming. Sustainable fashion is also about aiming for a circular economy, i.e. the possibility to close the loop by looping everything in the value chain, by using bio-based materials from sustainably managed resources or by recycling.

The integration of E-commerce and supply chain fully changed the exchange style and operation of the original supply chain such as logistics, information flow, and capital flow, which makes full use of resources, improves the efficiency, reduces the cost and improves service quality. However, as the worsening global environment issues, every country makes more and more stringent environmental regulations and strengthens the green barrier continuously. As a result, enterprises face more and more pressure from environmental protection from various points of view. It reflects long term interests and green image that it manages green supply chain at all aspects. Highlighting each part is to concern the environment; it is a new developing trend of supply chain management. E-commerce is widely used in supply chain management, which improves green product largely as well as the efficiency, but also optimizing the resource allocation and enhancing corporate influence, which ultimately get the optimum of economy and social welfare.

Extending operations into an e-commerce channel is not a simple add-on model for traditional retail stores. It is not simply including an additional mode of picking and packing items to send to customers. Supply chain operations are key for companies to maintain their competitive advantage. Depending on the type of product and the strategy of the company, the right supply chain strategy is very critical to the success of the operations. Large reputable fashion firms sell in large quantities, smaller firms with low volumes and an emphasis on quality, companies with low volumes and an emphasis on product complexity. The two most commonly identified supply chain strategies for extending operations to an ecommerce platform are: outsourcing the new channel to a third party, or including it under the current supply chain. There is no one-size fits all model for luxury fashion supply chains, but emphasizes that the selection should be made based on the details of the market and consumer needs. A supply chain that is agile, adaptable and aligned. An important part of the e-commerce supply chain operations is the returns process.

Long Tail Effect and Closed-Loop Supply Chains

The theory of the Long Tail is that consumer culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of mainstream products and markets at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niche products and markets. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all segments.

Online retailers can stock virtually everything in contrast to traditional retail dictate stores that only stock hits, because shelf space is expensive. When consumers are offered infinite choice, the true shape of demand is revealed. People gravitate towards niches because they satisfy narrow interests better, and in one aspect of our life or another we all have some narrow interest.

By definition, a “closed loop system” is a societal system where products and their components are designed, manufactured, used and handled so as to circulate within society for as long as possible, with maximum usability, minimum adverse environmental impacts, minimum waste generation, and with the most efficient use of water, energy and other resources throughout their life-cycles.

Circular Economy in the Textile Industry

Footwear Industry

In the last two decades, the footwear industry has set a noteworthy effort in improving material efficiency during the production phase and in eliminating the use of hazardous materials in shoe production. However, the environmental gains made in production are being overtaken by the considerable increase in the demand for footwear products. In addition, the useful life of shoes is generally short and logically diminishing because of rapid market changes and customer design patterns. This makes a substantial waste stream toward the end of the functional life of the shoes, which are frequently being discarded in landfills. Producer obligation and other inevitable ecological legislation, just as increasing environmentally conscious consumer, are expected to challenge the way the footwear industry deals with its end-of-life waste.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Americans throw away at least 300 million pairs of shoes each year. These shoes end up in landfills, where they can take 30 to 40 years to decompose. Since 1990,the worldwide footwear production expanded by a surprising 70 percent to in excess of 17 billion pairs of shoes for every year, achieving 20 billion pairs in 2018. Indeed, overall footwear production & consumption are exponentially growing, from 2.5 billion pairs in 1950 to a shocking 20 billion pairs of shoes in 2018. Moreover, the overall per capita consumption of footwear has additionally been essentially expanding, from one pair of shoes for each person in the world in 1950 to nearly 3 pairs of shoes in 2018.

Footwear consumption differs significantly between countries. China, because of its large population, has the highest footwear consumption in the world, but it’s the United States with the highest per capita shoe consumption, since each inhabitant purchases an average of 6.9 pairs of shoes every year. In Europe, and in the case of the 25 member states of the European Union (including the new member states), the yearly per capita shoe consumption was 4.5 pairs of shoes, while in the United Kingdom the average was slightly higher at 5.3 pairs. At the other extreme, in the less developed countries, the per capita shoe consumption is 0.6 pairs for India and 0.5 pairs of shoes for Vietnam.

Environmental Concerns in The Footwear Industry

There are various environmental concerns connected with the footwear industry. These happen both in the production of raw materials and inside footwear fabric itself and incorporate the use of hazardous materials and synthetic compounds in shoes, the air and water emissions, and the strong waste produced during the manufacturing process. Particularly, the use of chromium as a tanning specialist, which is exceedingly harmful and a speculated cancer-causing agent, has been a noteworthy environmental worry for the footwear industry in the course of the last few decades. The most significant ecological test that the footwear industry is at present confronting is an enormous amount of waste generated at the end-of-life phase, with most shoes being disposed of in landfills. Landfill sites can result in serious environmental contamination of groundwater and rivers, caused by landfill leachate (the fluid delivered from the deterioration of waste inside the landfill. Because of changes in regulation, certain kinds of biodegradable material, for example, leather, natural textiles, natural rubbers, etc., which are extensively used by the footwear industry, will soon be required to be reused or recycled instead of directly disposed of in landfill sites.

Current Reuse and Recycling Activities in the Footwear Sector

With the increasing awareness about the problem of the shoe waste at the end of the useful product life, the footwear industry has been lukewarm. In fact, only one major shoe manufacturer, Nike that sells nearly 800 million pair of shoes a year, has taken measures to manage its waste. Nike’s recycling programme ‘NikeGO Places is the only product take-back and recycling scheme currently established by a shoe manufacturer. According to Nike, since its inception in 1993, the programme has recycled more than 16 million pairs of worn-out and defective athletic shoes in total. Another form of reuse activity in the footwear sector is the collection and distribution of worn or unwanted shoes to developing countries. Reuse schemes are mainly supported by charity organizations, local authorities, and municipalities such as the Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCOL), Oxfam, and others.

Waste Management Framework for Shoes

An integrated waste management framework for footwear products has been developed. This proposed framework divides the waste management options for shoes into two major approaches: proactive and reactive. Proactive approaches include all measures that are taken with the aim of minimizing waste during both the production and the end-of-life phase, while reactive approaches include all the other waste management options which act in response to the waste problem when the useful life of the product has ended, and are hence referred to as end-of-life management.

Proactive Approaches

Out of the huge range of proactive waste management activities, there are two major improvement methods that could be applied in the footwear industry in order to minimize waste at the source, design and material improvements. Design improvements include activities at the beginning of a product’s life cycle, i.e. in the product design phase through the application of eco-design concepts. Eco-design improvements could reduce the amount of materials needed in shoes, thus reducing the amount of waste that needs to be handled at the end of the life cycle. On the other hand, environmental properties of shoes can also be improved by simply choosing different materials. Material improvements, under certain circumstances, can achieve significant reduction in waste. For example, eco friendly fabrics can be used in uppers and natural rubber in shoe soles, which can be more easily recycled at the end of the functional life of shoes. Moreover, recycled materials can be used to produce shoes such as Worn Again trainers made from 99 per cent recycled materials such as old tires, car seat leather, and used coffee bags or Rothy’s which makes footwear from recycled materials for women.

Reactive Approaches

Where waste material is produced, an optimal treatment option must be selected with the lowest possible risks to human health and the environment. Direct reuse of shoes with minimal processing is a possible option, but there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration such as the condition of the shoe at the end of its useful life, the collection and distribution system, and the purpose of its reuse. Recycling involves the reprocessing of end-of-life footwear products, parts, or materials, either into the same product system (closed loop) or into different ones (open loop). The end-of-life waste is therefore reintroduced back into the market through a series of recycling processes that can be divided into two major methods: destructive and nondestructive. Destructive methods, mainly through the shredding process, could be used to transform shoes into other useful materials. Shredded materials can be directly used in secondary applications such as surfacing of roads, playgrounds, and sound insulation. On the other hand, non-destructive recycling methods involve the dismantling of shoes to isolate materials for further recycling in order to obtain a high grade of quality of recycled materials that can be used in a wider range of applications. Non-destructive methods generally include sorting, inspection, disassembly, and then shredding of separated materials. However, disassembly of shoes is not an easy task owing to the large amount of adhesive typically used to join shoe parts together, along with stitching techniques.

Challenges

Forthcoming legislation and market pressures are expected to force the footwear industry towards measures to deal with its end-of-life waste. Hence, An end-of-life product recovery system for post-consumer shoes needs to be established to minimize the environmental impacts of end-of-life shoes while taking advantage of the economic value of end-of-life materials, components, and products. This highlights a number of challenges for developing such a product recovery chain for post-consumer shoes, which are discussed in the following sections.

1. Establishing sustainable reverse logistics in the footwear sector
2. New generation of recycling processes in the footwear industry
3. Establishing a value recovery chain for post-consumer shoes

Case Study: Allbirds and Rothy’s

Though apparel has made greater strides of late toward advancing supply chain sustainability, footwear has been a step behind. But AllBirds & Rothy’s are changing the landscape in an industry that has become a bit lazy and over reliant on synthetics.

Allbirds and Rothy’s have charted remarkably similar paths: Both companies started selling their shoes in 2016, and they say they’ve each pulled in more than $100 million in revenue and sold more than a million pairs of shoes. Both brands emphasize their sustainable materials and manufacturing practices. In charting a way forward in textiles and manufacturing, both Rothy’s and Allbirds offer something valuable to fashion that the industry itself has repeatedly declined to pursue. For traditional fashion brands, which usually use third-party textiles and factories, designers have to start guessing what shoppers might want as much as a year in advance. Rothy’s says that its three-dimensional knitting process dramatically shrinks both the amount of material waste from manufacturing and the timeline between when the company places an order and when those shoes can be put up for sale.

Allbirds

Allbirds has been selling sneakers made from environmentally friendly materials since 2016. The brand’s most recognizable style is its Runner. Allbirds’ exclusive woolen textiles are created by a mill outside of Milan, using superfine New Zealand merino wool of the sort typically reserved for luxury brands like Armani, Gucci and Tom Ford. The wool is sourced from the ZQ-certified New Zealand Merino Company, meaning it’s top of its class in terms of sustainable practices, land use and animal care. Allbirds’ wool requires 60 percent less energy to produce than the average synthetic shoe material, while the brand’s insoles use natural castor beans in place of polyurethane.

Though the vast majority of its sales come from the brand’s e-commerce business, Allbirds has one brick-and-mortar store in San Francisco, which opened last April. Brown said he hopes to grow Allbirds’ retail footprint, though the brand hasn’t announced any expansion plans to date.

Rothy’s

Rothy’s is a San Francisco based producer of high-end 3D printed seamless shoes. Their shoes are sold exclusively online.Rothy’s is a 3-year-old start-up that makes women’s flats from recycled plastic. The shoes are bright and feminine, which has made them common in the aesthetically pleasing environs of Instagram, where women post about their colorful collections. Instead of the leathers or textiles common in footwear manufacturing, Rothy’s knits its uppers (the part of the shoe that covers the foot) from soft, durable thread made from recycled plastic bottles.

What makes a Rothy’s ethical?

• Crafted from Recycled, Earth-Friendly Materials
• Vegan Construction
• Manufactured Without Toxins
• Delivered with Sustainable Packaging
• Recycling Processes

Recommendations

E-Commerce

Lay more attention to, and improve, the communication between the companies and its customers. Because more and more customers are now willing to pay a higher price for a more environmentally friendly product, but they need the right information and motivation to do so. Small matters of increasing product descriptions is a step in the right direction. By adding photos, videos or detailed descriptions to the sustainable products, how they contribute positively to the sustainability dimensions, companies can create emotional attachment with the customers.

Since packages overall is negatively contributing to the environmental dimension and the B2C e-commerce is increasing the number of individual packages the idea of reusing packages should be further investigated. By communicating thoroughly to the customers why reusing packages is an environmentally friendly alternative, which in this case is also free of charge, the customers might get a second opinion regarding the idea and gain knowledge in the matter.

The cost-savings that will be connected to the reusing of packaging materials could be donated to a social innovation. Social innovations are aiming to improve life conditions for individuals, or help to improve life quality in cities, which can help to decrease the gap between the developed and developing countries. This could create a link and collaboration between the customers and the companies, as protecting the environment, economize with resources and making societies strong, is everybody’s responsibility.

Within the area of packaging, the company should re-use their packages and then send them out to the consumers again to save material. The company is using recycled material for their packages. For the stuffing inside their deliveries, the company should use recycled paper due to its cost efficiency and that it reduces the use of plastic. This does not only favor the environment, as it is the better alternative economically speaking as well.

Data Analytics and Technology

Using advanced technologies to create a step change within the industry. Companies have always used technology to improve sustainability, but leaders will seek and seize opportunities to use advanced technology to intensify their efforts while achieving competitive advantage. Rapid advances are putting game-changing tools within firms' grasps like never before.

Companies must implement technology with integrity and for good in order to retain trust among employees, customers and their communities. Additionally, companies cannot sit back and expect technology to solve global problems. They must instead take a proactive approach, using advanced technologies to promote their sustainability strategies. If every company waits for others to demonstrate the potential benefits of new technologies, no progress will be achieved.

Footwear Waste Management

Develop standards and practices for designing footwear that can be easily reused or recycled. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition has created an index for measuring the full life-cycle impact of clothing and footwear products.

Invest in the development of new fibers that will lower the environmental effects of production and footwear making. In 2016, the Walmart Foundation awarded grants of nearly $3 million to five US universities to support research on improving the sustainability and efficiency of textile manufacturing.

Support the development of mechanical- and chemical-recycling technologies. The fibers produced by mechanical recycling, for example, are shorter and lower in quality than virgin fibers and therefore less useful to apparel makers. Chemical recycling could improve on this as the technology advances.

Fashion Industry

Putting fashion on a path to long-term financial, social, and environmental prosperity will require more than individual companies realizing incremental improvements. Now the industry’s leaders need to actively collaborate on and clearly commit to prioritizing a responsible long-term strategy, despite the pressure to generate positive quarterly results

Leading companies will adopt six “next practices” over the next five years to drive both sustainability and business success

Recycling

Textile and clothing recycling is a potentially beneficial activity from environmental, social and economic points of view, as opposed to landfilling or being used for energy. As cities increasingly divert other high-volume waste streams such as organics, the recycling of old clothes has been called the next frontier for cities looking to reduce solid waste.

The main benefit of textile recycling activities is the opportunity to reuse clothing. Through the reuse of clothes and textiles, we can avoid pollution and energy-intensive production of new clothing. Additionally, clothing that cannot be reused may be repurposed into products such as rags or recycled into fabric or other material for reprocessing.

Value Chain

Sourcing ethically - While vertical integration is primarily about boosting the bottom line, it is also about marketing a company’s sustainability credentials to the increasingly conscious consumer. Vertical integration allows you to secure sources of precious materials and expertise that give you a competitive advantage, and it is also a way of marketing to convey to the customer that your products are unique and of superior quality.

Provide suppliers with guidance and resources for meeting new labor and environmental standards and hold them accountable for performance shortfalls. Walmart, for example, has made a public commitment that by 2017, 70 percent or more of the products it sources directly from suppliers will come from factories with energy-management plans. The company offers its suppliers software tools to help them find opportunities for using energy and other resources more efficiently.

Conducting “life cycle analyses” of supply chain. This is a cumbersome, expensive, and time consuming process. Develop an internal tool that allows one to accelerate the analyses and develop quick estimates that guide our decision making throughout the supply chain.

Bring sustainability into the product and innovation process from the beginning. Part of the ability that small businesses is that they can move fast and try and innovate both in the products we make and how we make them.

Future Trends

As the fashion industry stands at the brink of a revolution, we assess the following trends to be taking over the industry in the future, leaning towards sustainability and closed-loop supply chain:

• The number of brands getting into the rental, resale, and refurbishment business will increase markedly. Established players will progressively regard alternative ownership as a force they need to embrace or at least test through new collaboration models with retailers or start-ups in the sector.
• Leasing clothes beyond currently specialised markets: preliminary feasibility analysis.
• A notable increase in the number of rental-native brands born exclusively for rental or subscription models.
• More consumers will see a growing proportion of their wardrobes made up of pre-owned or rented products, especially for high-value items and accessories.
• We expect to see continued investment in speed via more onshore and nearshore sourcing, virtual sampling, microfactories, and automation. Reduced lead times will be key drivers of competitive advantage.Small-scale players will likely lead the way, while larger brands will pilot in selected markets.
• We expect the rising take-up of on-demand capabilities will lead to a spike in personalization and a new generation of customized clothing startups, creating a new definition of “made to measure.” In the technology space, automation intellectual property will continue to develop, with patent approvals likely to be critical success factors in the years ahead.