Crop cultivationElectricityYarnmanufacturingTextile productUseIncineration Landfill RecyclingMaterial production
and useDisposal & recoveryEnergy export to
the gridEmissions from
landfillAlternative use of
incineration
capacityProcessingMarginal materialRatio of virgin
material
subsitution
Co‐productsHeat/steamDegradation rateAvoided material
productionPost‐consumer wasteCollectionElectricityMarginal materialCo‐productsHeat/steamCrude oil extractionFabric manufacturingMaking‐upFibre manufacturingFigure 42 The textile system and key parametersTable 84 Contribution to the climate change potential and energy demand of the different life cycle stages for a cotton T-shirt (EDIPTEX, 2007)
Life cycle stage
Climate change
potential
Energy demand
Raw materials 8% 10%
Production 10% 12%
Transport 2% 2%
Use 82% 78%
Disposal ‐2% ‐2%
T‐shirt 100% cotton
3.7.2 Comparison between the various end-of-life options
In the few studies investigating the environmental impacts associated with textiles disposal, the only indicators
looked at are energy consumption and potential impacts on global warming.
Regarding energy consumption, the first requirement to ensure savings via recycling is that the energy
consumption resulting from collecting and sorting the clothes offsets the energy used to manufacture them from
virgin materials. A study of Salvation Army textile reuse and recycling operations established that ‘the reuse
(collection, sorting, baling and distribution) of 1 tonne of polyester garments only uses 1.8% of the energy
required for the manufacture of these goods from virgin materials and that the reuse of 1 tonne of cotton
clothing only uses 2.6% of the energy required to manufacture them from virgin materials’(ERM, 2002 (a)).
Although this study more specifically addresses clothing reuse rather than recycling, it suggests that some