A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides precise insights into the environmental impact of your product or raw material. These insights can also be used to compare different materials. In this article, we use LCA-results to compare the environmental impact of virgin and recycled textiles (cotton and polyester). Which materials are the more sustainable choice?
Notes: the data in this article comes from a project we are currently conducting for a client in the textile sector. This article focuses solely on the environmental impact of producing 1 kg of material—the impact of further production steps has been excluded from this example. However, an LCA could also be used to compare those additional impacts.
Due to significant geographical differences in characterization factors involved in calculating the impact category water use, we have chosen not to report on this category in this article.
Context: what are we talking about?
The textile sector has an enormous environmental impact. The amount of textiles produced worldwide each year is vast, and these volumes continue to grow. However, awareness and demand for sustainability in this sector are also increasing. This shift is driven both by stricter sustainability regulations and by growing expectations from consumers and supply chain partners.
Producers and suppliers want—and need—to take steps towards greater sustainability. One way to reduce the environmental impact of products is by choosing materials with a lower environmental footprint.
In this article, we compare the environmental impact of virgin materials with recycled materials.
Virgin materials are new materials, produced from newly extracted raw materials, entering a life cycle of production and processing for the first time. An example is virgin polyester, where polyester molecules are created from newly extracted crude oil.
Recycled materials are produced from materials or other products that have already undergone one or more life cycles. An example is a cotton t-shirt made from cotton yarn that has been pulled apart from previously produced t-shirts, spun into new yarn, and used to create a new t-shirt.
Which material has a lower environmental impact: virgin or recycled cotton?
The environmental impact of recycled cotton is significantly lower than that of virgin cotton.
In an LCA, the environmental impact is measured across a broad range of impact categories. The most well-known is climate change, which indicates the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by a product. However, other impact categories are just as important, such as land use, acidification, or ozone depletion. Together, these categories provide insight into the full environmental impact.
When comparing recycled cotton to virgin cotton, we see that the environmental impact of recycled cotton is lower across all impact categories.
The biggest differences in environmental impact are seen in the following impact categories:
- Eutrophication, marine assesses the excessive influx of nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) into marine and coastal waters, leading to algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and disruption of marine ecosystems. Here, we see a 97% difference between recycled and virgin cotton.
- Land use considers the effects of land use and land-use changes on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and soil quality, including deforestation, soil erosion, and habitat loss. In this category, we see a 92% difference between recycled and virgin cotton.
- Eutrophication, freshwater examines the enrichment of freshwater bodies with nutrients, caused by nitrogen and phosphorus emissions. This can lead to algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and disruption of aquatic ecosystems. The difference between recycled and virgin cotton in this category is 86%.
The smallest difference in environmental impact is in the category resource use, fossils. Here, the difference between recycled and virgin cotton is 32%. Even in this category, virgin cotton still has approximately three times the impact of recycled cotton.
Which material has a lower environmental impact: virgin or recycled polyester?
When comparing recycled and virgin polyester, we see that the differences in environmental impact between these materials are smaller than those observed in cotton. While recycled polyester still has a lower environmental impact than virgin material, the differences are not as pronounced as with cotton.
The biggest differences in environmental impact are seen in the following impact categories:
- Ozone depletion refers to the breakdown of the stratospheric ozone layer due to emissions of ozone-depleting substances, such as CFCs and halons. This results in increased UV radiation, with harmful effects on human health, ecosystems, and the climate. The environmental impact difference between recycled and virgin material is 100%.
- Resource use, fossils concerns the consumption of fossil resources (such as crude oil, natural gas, and coal), leading to the depletion of non-renewable resources and contributing to environmental issues such as climate change and ecosystem degradation. The difference between recycled and virgin polyester is 58%.
- Resource use, minerals and metals refers to the impact of extracting and using mineral and metal resources, including the depletion of non-renewable materials and environmental damage caused by mining activities. Here, we see a 54% difference between recycled and virgin polyester.
A notable result is found in the category land use. In this category, recycled polyester has a higher environmental impact than virgin material, with a difference of 3%.
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Which material should you choose?
As shown in this article, the environmental impact in almost all impact categories—whether for cotton or polyester—is significantly lower for recycled materials compared to virgin alternatives.
Are you a textile product manufacturer? An LCA can help you make informed decisions about the materials you work with.
Of course, sustainability is just one of several considerations, alongside design or financial factors. However, having a clear understanding of your environmental impact allows you to factor this into your decision-making process and reduce the footprint of your products.
Curious about what an LCA could mean for your organisation? Contact us to learn more!
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