âUpcyclingâ as alternative sustainable tool for garment solid waste management in ...... management through upcycling and waste hierarchy will also described.
Faculty Of Civil Engineering Department Of Environmental Engineering
UPCYCLING THE GARMENT SOLID WASTE IN BANGLADESH UPCYCLING KONTSEPTSIOONI RAKENDAMINE BANGLADESHI RÕIVATÖÖSTUSE TAHKETE JÄÄTMETE KÄITLUSES
MASTER THESIS EKE70LT
Student
Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya
Student code
a144958
Supervisor
Kristjan Piirimäe
Tallinn, 2017
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
Hereby I declare, that I have written this thesis independently. No academic degree has been applied for based on this material. All works, major viewpoints and data of the other authors used in this thesis have been referenced.
“.......” .................... 201….. Author: .............................. /signature /
Thesis is in accordance with terms and requirements “.......” .................... 201…. Supervisor: …......................... /signature/
Accepted for defence “.......”....................201… . Chairman of theses defence commission: ............................................................................. /name and signature/
Tаllinn University of Tеchnоlоgy Dеpаrtmеnt оf Еnvirоnmеntаl Еnginееring TАSK FОR FINАL THЕSIS Studеnt’s cоdе:
a144958
Studеnt spеciаlizing in Еnvirоnmеntаl Еnginееring:
Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya
Supеrvisоr fоr thе thеsis:
Kristjan Piirimäe
Code for the final paper:
EKE70LT
Tоpic оf thе Thеsis: Upcycling The Garment Solid Waste In Bangladesh Upcycling Kontseptsiooni Rakendamine Bangladeshi Rõivatööstuse Tahkete Jäätmete Käitluses Dаtе оf еxpiry:
June 2017
Initiаl dаtа: Textile and garment waste Upcycling related research and publications. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh knitwear manufacturers and exporters association (BKMEA) database (History, growth and statistics of garment industry in Bangladesh). Bangladesh garment and textile waste exporters association statements (Garment waste status in Bangladesh) Environmental impacts of fast fashion industry related articles. Cоntеnt оf thе thеsis: Analysis of garment solid waste management and finding out the competence of “Upcycling” as alternative sustainable tool for garment solid waste management in Bangladesh from the perception of online survey respondents. Dаtе оf publishing:
September 2016
Supеrvisоr:
Kristjan Piirimäe
Tаsk hаs bееn аccеptеd by:
………………………….
Mohammad Hemel Bhuiya ………………………….
Abstract In Bangladesh textile and garment businesses are growing at a high rate, as global demand for clothing rises fast. This clothing industry affords the socio-economic growth rapidly in Bangladesh. Massive production of textile and clothing generate a huge amount of solid waste and causing a lack of raw materials. Many environmental degradations and losing financial gain are also in prime concern in Bangladesh due to unsustainable garment industries solid waste management. Upcycling the garment solid waste in Bangladesh is a possible sustainable solution to this problem. Upcycling is a creative and sustainable way where waste is reused to make a new product. The topic of “Upcycling the garment solid waste in Bangladesh” has not discussed and studied on a modest scale up to now. This study intends to provide an extensive analysis of the garment solid waste management system in Bangladesh and finding the penetrating power of upcycling as a sustainable alternative waste management tool. Update theoretical data has been described through introductory chapter followed by the chapters textile waste and garment industry in Bangladesh. This theoretical part of the study that covers the impacts of fast fashion, different types of garments solid waste sources and solid waste management systems including upcycling. An online survey carried out among the random garment industries from Bangladesh about their current solid waste management system, the perspective of upcycling and barriers to start upcycling. The author analyses the data retrieved from the survey result submitted by different garment factories from Bangladesh. Although there have some barriers to apply upcycling, still respondents positive attitude towards upcycling indicates its potentiality as a sustainable waste management tool in the Bangladeshi clothing sector.
Key words o Upcycling o Sustainability o Fast fashion o Bangladesh o Garment o Textile o Solid waste o Waste management o Environment o Raw material o Leftover o Reuse o Recycling o Downcycling o Landfill
Contents Chapter
Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 1.1
Background ............................................................................................................. 1
1.2
Impacts of fashion industry on environment and society ....................................... 4
1.3
Problem discussion- in terms of Bangladesh ........................................................ 11
1.4
Purpose of the study .............................................................................................. 14
1.5
Research question ................................................................................................. 14
1.6
Limitations ............................................................................................................ 14
Textile waste ............................................................................................................15 2.1
Types of textile and garments waste ..................................................................... 15 Post-consumer waste ..................................................................................... 15 Pre-consumer waste ....................................................................................... 16 Production waste............................................................................................ 16
2.2
Garment solid waste sources ................................................................................. 17
2.3
Waste management ............................................................................................... 20 Landfill .......................................................................................................... 21 Energy recovery............................................................................................. 22 Recycling ....................................................................................................... 22 Downcycling .................................................................................................. 23 Reuse ............................................................................................................. 24 Prevention ...................................................................................................... 25 Upcycling....................................................................................................... 25
2.4
Waste hierarchy including upcycling.................................................................... 27
2.5
Upcycling design examples .................................................................................. 29
Reet Aus ........................................................................................................ 29 Beximco ......................................................................................................... 30
Garment industry in Bangladesh .............................................................................32 3.1
History, growth and challenges............................................................................. 32
3.2
Facts and statistics................................................................................................. 34
3.3
Garments solid waste management in Bangladesh ............................................... 36
Methodology ............................................................................................................38 4.1
Research design .................................................................................................... 38
4.2
Sample and sampling design ................................................................................. 39
4.3
Research process and data collection .................................................................... 43
4.4
Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 45
Survey data analysis and presentations ...................................................................46 5.1
Demographic data ................................................................................................. 46
5.2
Perception data ...................................................................................................... 51
Findings and discussion ...........................................................................................58 6.1
Findings and discussion ........................................................................................ 58
Conclusion ...............................................................................................................61 References ......................................................................................................................63 Appendix .................................................................................................................70
Introduction This opening section will make an introduction to the background of the subject, the environmental impact and identify the problem of the thesis. A problem discussion followed by the purpose will result in the presentation of the research questions forming the study. Limitations of the study will end the introductory part. The garment industry is an important sector in Bangladesh. On the other hand, this massive manufacturing activity of clothing and its supportive industries produce a lot of solid waste. Due to the lack of proper waste management, this wastes pose a serious threat on the environment and losing the economical potentiality. This study will find out the impacts of fashion industry on the environment, current scenario of solid waste management in the apparel industry and assess the upcycling of garments solid waste which is relatively more environmental and economic sustainable way.
1.1 Background We are living on a planet containing the number of inhabitants in more than 7 billion [1]. If each and everyone owns at least one shirt, one pant and one jacket that would be more than 21 billion pieces of clothes. The amount of clothing in supply chain changed meaningfully from 2000 to 2006, the number of garments annually bought per person increased over one-third, and the life cycle of clothing decreased by half [2]. A technical report from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) shows that estimated total amount of 5,744 million items are owned by approximately 50 million adult population of UK in 2011 [3]. Clothes are one of the most important basic need in the daily life of a human. Fashion is also an effective way for people to convey their personality. As a material form of expression, fashion apparel is important to our personal and social relationships, linked to how we live and see ourselves within society [4]. So, the manufacturing, usage, disposal and further demand for clothes is a continuous process. And this demand of the fashion trend is also changing rapidly according to the seasons and wants of the society at the times. Worldwide, customers spend over 1 trillion USD on clothing yearly, and the apparel sector
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delivers jobs for over 26 million people [2]. Fashion Industry development focused on increasing the volume of material flow through mass production and on accelerating the rate of retail turnover through greater integration in the global supply chain, during the last 25 years [5]. Meanwhile, computer technology, social media and globalization transformed the entire process, enabling retailers to design, manufacture and ship products much faster and more efficiently. And this affecting the global fashion trade, named as “fast fashion”1. “Fast fashion” characterizes the speed of today’s clothing production and consumption: clothing is designed to be cheap, easy, and rapid to produce, and is created to be distributed, sold, and consumed in ever-increasing quantities [6]. This cheap, trendy, popular clothing chains which rapidly change their inventory and styles. Today’s fashion trend is more competitive and constant need to “update” products means that there is a certain move by many retailers to extend the number of “seasons”, that is, the frequency with which the entire merchandise within a store changed. With the rise of little accumulations of stock, retailers are urging customers to visit their stores all the more every now and again with the thought of 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow'. According to the Bhardwaj & Fairhurst (2010) “Since the 1980s, a typical life cycle for fashion apparel had four stages: introduction and adoption by fashion leaders; growth and increase in public acceptance; mass conformity (maturation); and finally, the decline and obsolescence of fashion. Also, the fashion calendar during this time was primarily based on the fabric exhibitions, fashion shows and trade fairs, that consisted of the basic pattern of Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter ranges which typically resulted in developing a seasonal range in one full year” [7]. During the era of fast fashion, in order to increase the variety of fashion apparel in the market, the concept of adding more phase to the existing season. So the additional 3 to 5 mid-season forced huge pressure on suppliers to deliver smaller batches with reduced lead time [8]. These progressions to the quantity of mid-
1
Fast fashion= describe cheap and affordable clothes which are the result of catwalk designs moving into stores in the fastest possible way in order to respond to the latest trends.
2
seasons emerged incompletely from the changes in shoppers' ways of life and somewhat from the need to fulfill buyers' interest for design attire for particular events.
The textile and clothing sector have different social and environmental impacts during material cultivation, manufacturing processes, logistic phases and during use and disposal stages (Table 1).
Table 1: Social and environmental impacts along the clothing supply chain [11]
Material >>>
Fabric and garment production >>>
>Pesticide used in cotton growing.
>Use of chemicals
>Water use
>Water and energy use
>High street working conditions and pay >Treatment of suppliers
>Genetic modification.
>Waste
>Energy use
>Working conditions
>Packaging
>Fair conditions and prices for growers. >Animal welfare.
Retail >>>
Usage >>>
Disposal
>Detergent
>Landfill
>Energy use – washing, drying and ironing
>Use of oil in synthetics.
In textile and clothing production cycles are speeding up, and hence manufacturing and consumption volumes are ever-increasing while simultaneously the life span of products are shortening. The explosion of consumption in the Western world adds to the environmental load of industrial processes and increases waste streams [9]. At the same time clothing supplier industries has moved with increasing speed and volume into low-cost Asian and Far East countries. Where the prices are lower, as all the clothing brands are getting low
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wages production facility to feed their stores every now and then with new designs. These circumstances contribute to the environmental pollution, poor working environment, unexpected accident in the workplace, decreasing natural resources and increasing waste in those supplier countries. The clothes should either be biodegradable by becoming nutrients for the earth, or be able to go back into the recovery cycle. i.e. either reuse or upcycle with zero waste. Clothing needs to be designed for a cradle to cradle life cycle.
1.2 Impacts of fashion industry on environment and society The fashion trend is more demandable for its resourcefulness, its color, its style and its gift as a cultural and social reflector. Although fashion plays very significant role by engaging everyone, but the fashion industry also contributes significantly to and is affected by the environmental degradation and social challenges we are now facing [10]. Like any other industries there’s a downside, characterized at its worst by factories exploiting workers, generating throwaway fashion, wasting resources and encouraging unsustainable consumption [11]. The textile supply chain is of a highly complex nature requiring extensive international, national, and local supply chain networks that must respond to the frequent changes in product lines and styles [12]. Textile production not only has harmful environmental impacts during the production phase but also during the consumption period, where the means of caring for and disposing of clothes has a considerable negative environmental effect” [13]. The textile and fashion consumption in the world has been consistently increasing over the years. According to the World Apparel Fiber Consumption Survey 2005-2008 by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and International Cotton Advisory Committee, “Encompassing an annual average growth of the world gross domestic product (GDP) of 4.2% during 2000 - 2007, per capita world fiber consumption increased by almost 35%, from 8.3 KG in 2000 to 11.1 KG in 2007 [14]. The world’s resources are decreasing this way to feed the raw materials in fashion and textile industry. Resource extraction, water and land use implicate serious environmental problems: destruction of fertile land, water shortages, toxic pollution etc. [15]. Most of the environmental problems can be associated with material consumption and disposal, since material inputs become waste outputs [16].
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In Figure 1, the global fiber consumption curve from 2000 to 2012 specify a growing tendency. Though in 2008 there was a little fall but recuperated in 2010, since the global fiber consumption is rising high.
Figure 1: Annual global fiber consumption 2000- 2012 [34]
Above figure shows that cotton and synthetic fibers are the main fibers used in fashion and textiles by market volume. It is also showing that demand for cotton fibers has been approximately constant, while demand for synthetic fibers has nearly doubled for the year 2012 on average. Water is a lifeline across the supply chain of textile and fashion production, and thus pollutes a significant amount of water. Average water use per kilogram of textile for only cotton cultivation and another stage for all fibers to identify the most water consuming stage (Table 2).
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Table 2: Priority water supply chain stages [10]
Supply chain stage
Impact and dependency
Average water use(Per 1 KG of textile)
Growing cotton fibre
Water use and pollution
20,000 litres [irrigated conventional cotton corp]
Treating/dyeing/finishing Water use and pollution fibres and fabrics [all fibres] Consumer laundering [all fibres]
Water use and pollution
100–150 litres 1650 litres
During cultivation cotton also need to treat with insecticides, as cotton get insect infection easily. “Though only 2.4% of the world’s arable land is planted in cotton, it accounts for 24% of the world’s insecticide market, making it the most pesticide intensive crop grown. Conventional cotton farming is harmful for the air, water, soil, and people living in the area of cotton growing. In the production of a single cotton T-shirt, one-third pound of agricultural chemicals is used [15].” N2O-gases are linked to cotton growing and have an almost 300-time larger effect than CO2 [17]. Wastewater from textile production is often difficult to treat because the chemical composition varies. 10-20% of dye typically remains contributing to waste water at the end of wet process while also contains bleach, detergent and other processing chemicals [10]. As an example, in 2009, textile production ranked third among major industries in China in terms of total wastewater discharge, emitting over 2.5 billion tons, primarily from the dyeing and finishing steps of manufacture [18]. The manufacture of cotton textiles also has negative impacts through the use and flushing and improper disposal of dye. A huge discrepancy is existing already between water supply and demand.
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Overuse of resources has adverse environmental and social impacts globally. Moreover, the extraction and processing of materials involve higher environmental concern [15]. The apparel sector is often easily using the environmental resources for the goods and service and the result is that our natural resources are being used at an unsustainable rate and being spoiled. The fashion textile industry is now considered one of the most polluting and resource-intensive industries in the world [13]. According to textile exchange 2010 global market report on sustainable textiles, 1 trillion kilowatt hours are used every year by the global textile industry. Figure 2 shows the energy consumption of a T-shirt in the four major phases in the life cycle. Total energy consumption is approximately 109 MJ per T-shirt.
70
65
60
MJ (Mega Joule)
50
40
30
20
24 16 7
10
0
Material -10
Production
Transportation
Use
Disposal
-3
Life cycle Phases of a T-Shirt
Figure 2: Primary energy profile for a T-shirt [2]
The International Energy Agency estimates that based on current trends, energy needs might be over 40% higher in 2030 than today [19]. In the report “Fashion Future” [11] mentioned that “high oil prices will have an effect across the clothing supply chain and will 7
have a knock-on effect on the cost of polyester, pesticides and transport. Similarly, the availability and cost of water will impact cotton cultivation, manufacturing textiles and garments including the post-consumer maintenance”. On average for 2013/2014, cotton made up 35-40% of textile production, while approximately 50% was from synthetics, with the rest accounted for by other fibers [10]. Polyester is the dominant synthetic fiber used by volume and the production of polyester is problematic either [2]. Firstly, it is produced from crude oil, a non-renewable resource, making the long-term production of this fiber uncertain [20]. Secondly, the manufacturing process involves high energy inputs which, unless sourced from renewable energy, generate large amounts of particulates, CO2, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulphur oxides and carbon monoxide subsequently released as atmospheric emissions [21]. Energy requirement for the spun of one tonne polyester fiber requires between 104,479 and 126,706 MJ, while for cotton fiber requires 11,711MJ to 25,591MJ [20]. Around 8,000 different synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw materials into textiles, countless of which may be released into freshwater systems [22]. Only one-third of the textile waste is composed of natural fiber, the rest is synthetic which do not decompose [13]. Textile and fashion industry is a long chain including raw materials production, complement production, clothing production and so on [23]. In this trade involves goods to be transported and international fuel-based transport is important because at least one-third of global cotton fiber is exported from its country of origin [24]. The transport and shipping of the raw materials and final products are requiring time and energy.
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A study has shown that, the transport of the cotton grown in US fields, fabricated and sewn in Bangladesh and finally to retailer warehouse in Germany (Figure 3), accounted for 290 grams of CO2 emissions for one T-shirt. While distribution of the garment within Germany is more high and total contribution is 870 grams of CO2 for each T-shirt [24].
Figure 3: The journey of a T-shirt: from the cotton field in the U.S. via the factory in Bangladesh to the consumer in Germany [58]
Retailers are waiting to refill their inventory with completely new products before what was already in their stock was sold. Commonly transportation for the long destination is truck, ship and airplane or any combination of them that, release other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere by burning huge amount of fossil fuel. About 60% of the energy used in the life cycle of a cotton T-shirt is related to postpurchase washing and drying at high temperatures [2]. These energy sources are also depending on fossil fuels and the resultant is toxic pollutants. These pollutants are
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contributing air pollution and increasing the amount of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere. Burning 1.7kg of fossil fuel leads to releases to air of almost 4kg of CO2 [2]. In figure 3, it shows that the CO2 emission in different phase for a white 100% cotton T-shirt, size 40-42. The production and consumer use phase each account for almost one-
0.25
0.24
1.53
0.87
0.29
3
1.27
IN KG (KILOGRAM)
30.3
third of total emissions of a T-shirt.
LIFE CYCLE PHASES
Figure 4: CO2 emissions of a T-shirt, white, 100% cotton, size 40-42 [24]
In the era of fast fashion, the rate of purchase and disposal has increased and the trail of a T-shirt from shop to the landfill has become shorter [25]. Globally above 90 million clothing items end up in landfill spots every year and directly contributing to the environmental problems including the emission of greenhouse gases [13]. Only the UK population buying around two million tons of clothing per year and discards nearly one million tons of unwanted clothing every year where 50% ends up in landfills [26]. In less developed countries like Mexico and Poland, 98% of textile waste is sent to landfills [27]. End of unwanted clothes into landfill not only do landfill sites occupied space which could be used for other purposes, but the degradable natural clothing materials release methane gas
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when dropped in these environments and can contribute to increase GHG2 [3]. According to IPCC3 methane gas is 25 times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide Around 10 billion KG of cotton was used for apparel making in 2013 and estimated cradle-to-gate impact of used cotton within the global apparel industry is 107.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent [28]. A crucial social issue from fast fashion is unethical production. To maintain the low price for the product manufacturer, need to source cheap raw material and cheap workforce within a short lead time, and long working hours. ‘Sweatshop4’, it mostly refers to factory production in which employees are exploited by means of low wages, excessive working hours, under-age employees or other unfair practices, frequently but not exclusively in developing economies where labor laws and worker’s rights can be less rigorous.
1.3 Problem discussion- in terms of Bangladesh The textile and clothing industry has played a major role in Bangladesh’s economy for a long time. This industry became the backbone of the economy of Bangladesh. Clothing production is labor intensive, involving relatively low start-up costs and easily transferable technology. Labor requirements can be met with low and semi-skilled workers, especially women. Consequently, countries with competitive labor costs, especially in South and East Asia, have been able to capture significant shares of the world market [29]. Those are the main reasons for boosting this garments industry in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the third largest clothing producer and exporter following China and the European Union. It is predicted that the garment industries of Bangladesh will continue its growth and will adopt the market place triple by 2020 [30].
2
GHG = Greenhouse gas
3
IPCC = Intergovernmental panel on climate change
4
Sweatshops = factories with poor working conditions, low wages to employees and long
working hours
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In Table 3: A report from World trade organization shows that Bangladesh has the highest total dependence on textiles and clothing as a total share of merchandise exports (83.5%), followed by Pakistan (67.2%) and Sri Lanka (47%). Table 3: Countries with a high dependence on textile and clothing exports as a % of total merchandise exports, 2006 [57]
Economy Bangladesh Pakistan Sri Lanka Mauritius Tunisia Guatemala Vietnam
Textile share intotal merchandise export 6.9 44.1 2.2 3.6 2.9 3.0 2.0
Share oftextile and Clothing share in total clothing in merchandise export merchandise export 76.6 23.1 44.8 35.5 27.6 25.8 14.9
83.5 67.2 47 39.1 30.5 28.8 16.9
The industry, however, is responsible for significant environmental impacts caused by their production processes. An important point regarding the environmental impacts of the garment and fashion concerns the issue of solid waste, produced mainly in the stages of garment manufacturing. Commercially, garments the production of garments influences solid waste generation: the higher the production, the greater the amount of waste. Though apparel industries are playing a vital role in the economy of Bangladesh, but also creating direct impacts on the environment and social life due to unplanned solid waste management. The massive production accelerates the environmental footprint of clothes through the whole life cycle. Improper operations of manufacturing units are producing more solid waste in the apparel industry of Bangladesh, and it’s one of the most important grounds of environmental pollution and degradation in many cities and inside the industrial area as well. As it has been mentioned that, “only the knit apparel industry needs at least 3.155 km of disposal ground or pipeline. Cleanliness capacity is available to about 40% of the industry only” [31]. Solid waste generation from fabric and apparel manufacturing is higher than any other phases (Figure 5).
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40%
Apparel, 36.0%
Fabric, 34.4%
35%
Waste %
30% 25% 20%
Resin, 15.2%
15%
Fibre, 12.2%
10%
Dye, 2.3%
5% 0%
Resin
Fabric
Dye
Fibre
Apparel
Solid waste generation stages
Figure 5: Maximum solid waste generation stages [31]
Waste weresolid simply away polluting land and waters around the factory Figure 1:materials Maximum fabric wastethrown [31] zones. Uncollected wastes are dumped in open spaces and streets which clog the solid and rest waste managing system creating serious environmental degradation and health risks [31]. In the case of Bangladesh, most of the basic raw materials (such as cotton, yarn, synthetic fabrics etc.) for feeding garment industry is need to import. Hence the scarcity of raw materials, generating waste during production and throwing it, the country is ultimately losing the money and materials. Moreover, this wastes losing its economic potentiality due to the proper monitoring and management. The impact of this problem is more expensive products, less supply and the need for innovative alternatives. Collecting the leftover garments from over production or shipment failure goes to local market for reselling and solid waste from garments manufacturing goes to recycling centers where the materials are split up and degraded. But in the thesis, author focus in another alternative for this garment solid waste management, namely upcycling. This concept starts with reuse of waste materials without degradation. As upcycling is based on already manufactured waste of products, so upcycled product is more environmental friendly. Solid waste from garments has its market potentiality which is possible to gain through sustainable creative way upcycling, rather than recycling.
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1.4 Purpose of the study The study makes an attempt to assess the existing solid waste management system of the apparel industry and the environmental aspects associated with the current practice of final disposal of solid wastes regarding Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is thus to assess the penetrating power of the relatively new concept of upcycling of apparel industries waste to be able to define the potential of solely selling upcycled clothing with least environmental impact. As an offset to accomplish achieving this purpose, the following research questions will be the basis of this study:
1.5 Research question Research question no 1: Is upcycling the garment industries solid waste environmentally sustainable? In which extent upcycling concept and practice in apparel industry has an environmental improvement potential? Research question no 2: How do manufacturer and customer attitudes towards upcycling affect the waste management culture and economy in Bangladesh?
1.6 Limitations Small sample size and the limited number of respondents’ that did not allow the author to get details information and statistics. The conclusive evidence would have matched properly if there were significant sample size and number of respondents. Conducting an online survey also had its limitations, as it’s very hard to get the respondents reply in time. Most of them declined to respond the survey questionnaires, so the author had to work with the limited data.
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Textile waste
In this section, the author gives a summary of the textile waste, to understand the waste route in textile and clothing sector deeply. This chapter provides the overview about where the textile waste is being produced and its type. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the textile garments industry waste management system. Proposed waste management through upcycling and waste hierarchy will also described. The chapter will close with case studies of garment solid waste management through upcycling.
2.1 Types of textile and garments waste Waste is a material that is estimated unusable for its original purpose by the owner. Considering the fashion chain from raw material extraction to disposal, there are several phases generates an enormous amount of solid waste. Textile waste can include fashion and textile industry waste, creates during fiber, textile manufacturing and clothing production. Generally consumer waste, creates during consumer use and disposal. Textile waste suitable for fashion design can be divided into three groups based on their source: post-consumer, pre-consumer and production waste [13]. They are different from each other in properties and have a different method for proper management.
Post-consumer waste Post-consumer waste is mainly coming from consumer end use. Post-consumer textile waste consists of any garment or household textile (such as sheets or towels) that the consumer no longer needs and decides to discard, either because they are worn out, damaged, outgrown, or have gone out of fashion. This category has typically been of reasonable to good quality garment that can be recovered and subsequently recycled by another user as second-hand clothing. The biggest market for those second-hand clothes is third world countries. “Clothing that is unlikely to be worn again is potentially functional as it may be shredded into the fiber to be used in products similar in nature. The remaining ones go to the landfill. In the post-consumer waste category also includes commercial and industrial textile applications waste from properties such as carpets and curtains, hospital refuse in addition 15
to industrial applications such as filtration, conveyor belting, etc. Industrial textile waste is usually “dirty waste.” Collection and chemical contamination issues render this category as the least likely to be recovered. A substantial proportion of these end-of-life goods are consigned to landfill” [32].
Pre-consumer waste In the age of fast fashion, availability of cheaper raw materials and low wages labor cost, manufacturers always have the intention of overproduction for extra shipment and in the results, it comes huge leftovers garments after final delivery. Sometimes it comes from fail shipment due to bad quality or unable to meet the shipment date. That also includes leftovers from retailers and company product development, defective returned goods, and outsourced garment shipments that are not redeemed from customs for various reasons. Pirate product seized by customs which would normally be destroyed also forms a part of pre-consumer waste [13]. Pre-consumer waste from manufacturer end is demandable in the local market as well as in black market of branded clothes. And pre-consumer waste from sales left over, there are various options: some stores can sell them to outlets, thrift, or discount stores/ website, donate them to charities or foundations, or upcycling to design new fashion. Reet Aus (2011) also figured out a dark side about the retailers left over. Some clothing retailers had asked their employees to cut holes in unsold garments and discard them. Employees were forbidden to keep these garments or to give them to the poor because this could damage the company’s reputation.
Production waste Production waste is one type of pre-consumer waste that does not reach the intended use or user. That consist of by-product solid waste from textile and garments industries. It mainly comes from the manufacturer not from the consumer. Such waste created because of mistake in design communication, craftsmanship problem, fabric knitting or weaving faults, wrong color or shade, machine problems, wrong pattern, wrong consumption, overproduction and so on. Generated by processing fibers, (be they natural or synthetic fibers) and the production of finished yarns and textiles, technical textiles, nonwovens,
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garments and footwear, including off-cuts, selvages, shearings, rejected materials and Bgrade garments. These wastes are usually “clean waste” [32].
2.2 Garment solid waste sources Garments solid waste is generally production waste which is also considered as preconsumer waste as well. Mainly the cutting section and the sewing section are the two units that produce more fabric solid waste. Besides that, the garment industry has several units that produce solid waste of fabric which is wholly or partly come as a byproduct of garments development and manufacturing supply chain. Storehouse: Storehouse is the beginning point of garments manufacturing industry. Here all the raw materials are stored before start the development and production of any style. Inventory also maintain from the store during production and after shipment the final goods. Storehouse also responsible for inspecting the raw materials for quality and quantity which are sourced from different supplier. Mainly defective fabrics, fabric rolls end, excess fabric from sample development stage and various accessories are wastage from the store room. This wastage are comparatively fresh and new than other wastage. Cutting wastage: From the cutting table, a significant amount of waste is coming in garments industry. Wastes in the cutting room can come from several sources including marker utilization, cutting waste and roll remnants [33]. Different sizes of the cut pieces of fabrics are main wastage from cutting.
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According to the field survey in an industrial city named Narayanganj from Bangladesh, it was found that 59% waste is generated from garments cutting area. Dyeing is the following section after cutting which generates 21% of the waste in garments production chain, Figure 6. 70% 60%
59%
Percentage
50% 40% 30% 21% 20% 13% 10% 3%
4%
0% Cutting
Dyeing Knitting Sewing Gaements production stages
Others
Figure 6: Waste percentage from garments production stages [56]
Cut panel inspection and bundling room: After cutting the fabric layer according to marker size, cut panels need to inspect and numbering before input in embroidery, printing and sewing. Here different defective cut panels are separated through inspection. As 100 percent inspection does not occur, so some rejected cut panel may input in the further production process and this will be ultimately a waste from the production area. Printing/Embroidery: Sometimes cut panels need to send in printing and embroidery section before sewing. Here cut panels are rejected due to misprint, shading, color spot, misplace, needle cut, wrong thread using, shrink after embroidery and so on. Here also, the different sizes cut panels are main waste.
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Stitching: Stitching is a critical zone during garments manufacturing stages. Machine operators can find out the defective cut panels from the cutting area which came by mistake in sewing floor. If they are again unable to trace the defective cut panel, then it will be a waste garment. Various sewing faults which can be major or critical can result in a garment into waste. some critical sewing faults are broken stitch, skip stitch, using wrong thread, needle cut, uneven seam line, oil mark etc. Here main wastage are cut panels and full body which is leftover or rejected due to different issue. Dyeing and washing: Some garments need to be dyed and washed after sewing. Due to shade variation, machine problem, workmanship problem some garments are getting a major or critical fault, and that is considered as waste garments. Full body garment is the main wastage here. Finishing: Finishing and packing is the final step in a garments manufacturing industry. Here the waste comes from ironing, iron spot, measurement variation, scissor cut during trim the loose thread of garments etc. Here also, full body garment is the main waste. Table 4, showing the summary of phases and types of garment solid waste.
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Table 4: Phases and types of garment solid wastes (Source: author’s compilation) Stages
Waste type
Store
Defective fabric, end rolls leftover, fabric leftover from sample development, different accessories.
Cutting
Different sizes of cut pieces during lay the fabric and after cutting.
Bundling
Different sizes of cut panels with major and critical defect.
Printing/ embroidery
Different sizes of cut panels, thread, oily fabric.
Stitching Thread and sweepings, rejected cut panel, rejected body, oily fabric. Dyeing and washing
Rejected body.
Finishing Rejected body, fabric scraps.
2.3 Waste management Waste management practices can differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial producers. Management of nonhazardous waste residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator subject to local, national or international authorities [33]. As a very limited and more green technology for textile recycling exist, more of the waste flows through downcycled into wipes, rags or is 20
used as insulation in different industries. The remainder of the waste is either landfilled or incinerated [34]. Manufacturer and consumer awareness also determine what happens to a garment waste at the end. The EU Directive 2008/98/EC introduced in 2008, models a waste hierarchy pyramid (Figure 7), which is a structure of a priority order to best utilize the waste, shows the model of waste hierarchy pyramid [35]. The pinnacle of the pyramid reads "Avoidance" which should be the most preferred option followed by reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal.
More sustainable Prevention Reuse Recycling Energy recovery
Landfill
Figure 7: EU waste management hierarchy [35]
Landfill A minimum favored strategy for solid waste treatment. Through landfill, the waste gets the last destination in or on the land in a controlled or uncontrolled way according to different sanitary, environmental protection and other safety requirements. Due to the consequence of cheaper price and lower quality second-hand garments value has fallen and a huge amount of clothing waste end up in landfill [9]. It is estimated that currently about 70% of disposed clothing and textiles end ups in landfills [36]. It has been estimated that the
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average person in the UK sends 30kg of unwanted garments to landfills each year adding up to 2.35 tons of clothing which find its way to UK landfill sites every year [2].
Environment is polluted severely including production of greenhouse gases through the direct contribution of landfilling garments waste. In landfills this waste causes methane emissions to air and pollution to groundwater through toxic chemicals [36]. “The carbon dioxide emissions from natural fibers can be considered as part of the natural flow of biogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Landfilling of cotton however emits about 0.2kg of CH4 (5kg of CO2-eq.). A pure polyester fiber produces about 2.3kg of fossil CO2 per kg textile when incinerated but very little when landfilled” [37].
Energy recovery Incineration with energy recovery is the dominant garments waste treatment technology in many countries. Incineration could be done with or without energy recovery. The textiles could also be cut in pieces, compacted, pelletized and used as fuels in boilers or used in ethanol or biogas production. Collected textile waste from bins and sacks is sent to incineration together with other collected municipal waste. The recovered heat and power can potentially replace other sources of energy [37]. The environmental impact of incineration with energy recovery of textile waste is of minor importance compared to the production of new textiles. But, Incinerator chimneys emit organic substances such as dioxins, heavy metals, acidic gases and dust particles, which are all potentially harmful to both humans and the environment. Also, there is a problem disposing of residual ash which is likely to contain a concentration of toxic material [38].
Recycling Recycling is concerned with providing the manufacturer with re-processed raw material to use as an input to make new goods. EU Directive 2008/98/EC defines recycling as any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. Recycling material saves resources and usually uses less energy than the production of new material [13]. There are several technologies available or upcoming for recycling textile and garments solid waste. After 22
collection, the process of recycling starts with sorting, which is done by the color, type and size of fabric. There are two ways for recycling: mechanical and chemical.
Mechanical recycling: Mechanical recycling is the production of fibers and yarns from discarded fabric pieces. The waste is first cut into small pieces, then passed through a rotating drum and turned into fibers. The physical properties and quality of the fibers produced using this method is low due to the mixed color of the fibers and the different fiber lengths. Recycling of blended fabrics poses a significant challenge, because of the inhomogeneous nature of the materials. Therefore, the obtained fiber can only be used in upholstery filling, carpet underlay, sound and heat insulation materials, disposable diapers, napkins and tampons. One way to improve the quality of this product is to mix these fibers with virgin fibers and blend them into yarns. Since the properties of such yarns are dependent on textile quality, they are mostly used in producing woven filtration systems or geotextiles [39]. Chemical recycling: In principle, Chemical recycling methods can be applied to synthetic fibers (polyester, nylon or polypropylene) or blends of natural and synthetic fibers. During chemical recycling processes, the fibers are chemically separated and degraded to the molecular level. The synthetic feedstock is then repolymerized to new fibers [39]. Recycling allows the material to have extended life in addition to reducing resource consumption and avoiding disposal cost. Transportation and collection adds to the cost of final recycled products which makes it more expensive compared to the virgin materials. Recycling material saves resources and usually uses less energy than the production of new material.
Downcycling Another most common mechanical solid waste treatment method is to cut and shred the fabric into small pieces which can be used as filling in mattresses or upholstery, as insulation or as carpet underlay [34]. Usually, the quality of material is reduced when it is reprocessed, and thus this process called downcycling aims to utilize waste materials, reduce consumption of fresh raw materials, and less environmental impact.
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When recycled and downcycled raw materials replace virgin textiles, the environmental impact is considerably less resource intensive and polluting than the processes involved in manufacturing textiles from virgin fiber. But they still contain the same matter which consumes energy and emits pollutants when recovering raw materials by breaking the waste through the mechanical and chemical process.
Reuse It can be defined as any operation, where products or components are used again for the same purpose [40]. This prevents the product to end up being waste and would benefit the environment by making it available for the consumers who were unable to afford them in the first place. Reuse the garments waste handle with products in a similar way as redistribution and resale. Recovery from the waste stream includes re-use of a product in its original form. Reuse would also mean the utilization of the product as something new serving a different function. The largest volume of goods is sorted for second-hand clothing markets. Charity shops receive more donations than they actually can pass on. Therefore, while retail markets are full of cheap garments, the secondhand markets for reused clothes are also saturated [9]. “Consumers in the UK yearly use 35 kg garment per person, among this oneeighth is sent for re-use through charities and the rest is discarded. Reusing can also generate profit: in 2000 alone the second-hand sector was worth over one billion dollars in the United States” [2]. Over 70% of the world’s population uses second-hand clothes; this would equate to 4.2 billion people [41]. Although it is listed separately in waste hierarchy, product reuse can be related to a form of waste prevention as both them intend to reduce the amount of waste requiring collection [42]. Reusing of textiles reduce the amount of waste stream and thus lower the harmful content in the environment. Reusing garments significantly help reduce the negative environmental impact of fashion textiles. For example, the energy used to collect, sort, and resell second-hand garments is between 10–20 times less than that needed to make a new item [36].
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Prevention Waste prevention is a preferable option for the waste management. Furthermore, the best stride of the waste management framework, waste prevention gets more consideration as of late because of the immense deformities of conventional pollution control. However, it also brings in great side-effects when reducing pollutants, such as the secondary pollution problem, the extra investment for the treatment facility and so on [43]. Based on the EU waste directive [35], “prevention means measures taken before a substance, material or product has become waste, which can reduce: the quantity of waste, including through the reuse of products or the extensive of the life span of products; the adverse impacts of the generated waste on the environment and human health; the content of harmful substances in materials and products”. Waste prevention is always the best option to get the maximum result from input and least negative impact on the environment. Prevention of waste reduce production cost and thus help the industry to get more profit. It also reduces the amount of landfill and material consumption. Sometimes the tactics of prevention can become innovative that opens opportunity towards lean manufacturing5. Although waste prevention can't take care of the whole waste discharge issue, it offers a cost-efficient way to minimize the quantity of waste lastly can be the best practice for an organization or a nation.
Upcycling Upcycling refers to reuse of leftover which is treated as waste and the final product quality remains the same or is improved by the creativity. Recently the most sustainable development in fashion textile industry is called upcycling. As a part of the sustainable strategy for design and recreation, up-cycling gives freedom to a designer with the reassess opportunity of real value of waste. This concept developed through utilizing waste into new product without any recycle or downcycle process. It is the beginning of a process where already produced materials are not discarded, but re-used to provide new, high-quality
5
Lean manufacturing or lean production, often simply "lean", is a systematic method for the elimination of waste within a manufacturing system.
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products in a creative way. The upcycling method, or upward re-processing, is defined as bringing waste back into the consumption chain through design by placing it higher up in the chain than it previously was – this includes environmental as well as commercial and aesthetical value – while also accounting for the product’s future [44]. Recycling is great but in contrast with upcycling, recycling need the energy and resources to collect, sort out and reprocess the waste for recovering the raw materials. Compared to recycling waste recovery system, upcycling brings about the greatest change with the least amount energy and water use. Moreover, till now upcycling is an even greener way of recycling, and better environmental performance. By making use of already existing materials the consumption of new raw materials for new products is reduced which can result in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and CO2 emissions. As per zero waste International Alliance, zero waste is a philosophy that encourages the reuse of materials where any trash sent to landfills is minimal. It is seen as an ultimate goal, and it means an end to recycling. Upcycling is an incremental step towards achieving zero waste [45]. According to Reet Aus [13] “Another advantage of upcycling is its intra-sector approach: problems are solved within the textile industry, not at the level of waste management.”
Figure 8: Textile waste strategies – upcycling, recycling, reuse [13]
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The effect on the environment from textile material generation is most certainly negative. Utilizing pre-existing material and making a new garment is much more environmentally sustainable than recycling, downcycling, disposing or using new materials. Upcycling realizes the best change with a minimal portion of water and energy use. By means of upcycling, the source material moves from the most minimal to the maximum value chain by the recreation and redesign. Upcycling all about to upgrading the leftover or waste material and making it more desirable than it was at the beginning. By allowing the largest possible amount of textile waste to be given new value, up-cycling solves the problems associated with fashion textile waste [13].
Environmental and economic benefits of garment solid waste upcycling at a glance: Save the land need for landfilling. Garment solid waste present particular problems in landfill as synthetic fabrics will not decompose, which pollute soil and water, while woolen garments decompose and produce methane, which contributes to global warming. Reduce fresh raw material consumption. Save money which is need for import raw materials, and thus saves energy or water as well for producing raw materials. Reusing the production leftover or waste as direct input material for new product, helps to save energy as it do not need further reprocessing. Upcycling can be done within the same factory facility and it helps to save money and time for transport. Upcycling obliges imagination to imagine the capability of existing materials to make something new and lovely.
2.4 Waste hierarchy including upcycling Upcycling sublime the waste and is an environmental friendly way of re-using material without any physical or chemical process. Compared to the above-mentioned waste recovery strategies, upcycling brings about the greatest change with the least amount of energy use Upcycling can upgrade the waste simply creative, logical and more marketable. Generally, the more creative the change of an upcycled good, the more marketable it is. 27
Without discarding a waste, upcycle begin with the re-use of waste. Thus, upcycling is a dynamic change of waste combining economic and as well as reducing waste. Recycled textiles can be upcycled into higher value or more technically demanding applications, or downcycled into less demanding, lower value applications [46].Via upcycling, the source material moves from the lowest to the highest level of the production cycle [13]. Making new clothing out of pre-existing material is usually more environmentally sustainable than recycling, disposing of, or using new materials [13]. Upcycling as a concept was first used in the context of waste management. By Reiner Pilz this term first used. In 1994 he gave an interview where he criticised the EU Demolition waste streams directive and asked the strategy of recycling. According to his word, “Recycling, I call it downcycling. They smash bricks, they smash everything. What we need is upcycling, where old products are given more value not less” [13]. In the book “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”, William McDonough and Michael Braungart incorporated this concept [44]. So, considering upcycling as more sustainable than recycling, the revised hierarchy of waste management is as follows:
Prevention Reuse Upcycling
Landfill
Energy recovery
Recycle/do wncycle
Figure 9: Waste management ladder including upcycling (Source: author’s compilation)
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2.5 Upcycling design examples To many of us upcycling seems a new concept and have not done yet. Even most of us are not aware of the term upcycling. But the true fact is upcycling is now a rapidly growing industry around the world. Specifically, in Europe and America, there are many reputed sustainable designers and companies who are running the business by designing, promoting and selling upcycled clothes and goods. They are using leftover and waste from garment manufacturing while creating beautiful unique products.
Reet Aus Reet Aus Phd is a pioneer fashion designer from Estonia and her creations have followed the principles of upcycling. She started working as fashion designer in 1997. Since 2002 all her collections are based on upcycling concept. The international sustainable design brand she runs and the website www.reetaus.com, is not like a regular usual e-commerce clothes selling site. Selling in Europe as well as in the U.S, the Reet Aus brand is a forerunner in turning industrial leftovers into sustainable fashion.
Figure 10: Reet Aus designed garment from production waste [13]
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Through her Phd dissertation: Trash to Trend- using upcycling in fashion design, she opened novel potentials of upcycling in fashion design and mass production. Trash to Trend (www.trashtotrend.com) is a platform for the upcycling designers, which is led by her research activities. Designers who would like to control their production chain, who want to produce locally, and who wish to employ sustainable fashion design techniques in their work are the main target group of the Trash to Trend model [13]. It provide the solution for the manufacturer who are interested in sustainable waste management of their waste and the clients who would like to see the chain activities of the product supplier. Based on upcycling concept, a certifiable method developed named, “UPMADE®”, to turn leftovers into valuable goods, eliminating waste and preceding recycling practices in mass production. In the beginning of the mass production process, Reet Aus collections use the UPMADE® method. This certification process conducted in-depth review of the company's manufacturing operations and the problem of waste from production and qualities. This successful method improved effectiveness of sustainable waste management and reduced environmental impacts. Each item produced uses on average 70 percent less water and 88 percent less energy compared to a regular product [47].
Beximco In Bangladesh, an example of industrial upcycling production is gaining motion. Beximco (Bangladesh Export-Import Company) is one of the biggest garment manufacturers in South-East Asia and one of the world’s largest vertically integrated factories with in house analytical and creative abilities. They have production capacity over 200 million garments annually [47]. Mountains of leftover textiles that usually get dumped into a landfill are now partly upcycled into additional fashion collections.
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Figure 21: Upcycled production line in Beximco [47] Beximco has partnered with Aus Design to analyze, reduce and eventually eliminate the waste created in Beximco while producing the first mass production Upcycling program. Beximco was the first manufacturer to receive UPMADE® Certification for their woven and jersey production lines. Upcycling systems helps to recover the fabric waste from production and specially-trained sewing teams from Beximco create upcycled products ready for wear.
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Garment industry in Bangladesh
This section presents the overall situation of garment industry in Bangladesh. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the textile garment industry since the beginning of the journey, gradual growth and spreading, facts and statistics. Problem discussion in terms of Bangladesh from this industry will also be described and the chapter will close with current practices of garments solid waste management.
3.1 History, growth and challenges The history of setting up garment industry in Bangladesh is quite recent compared to other industries. The garment industry of Bangladesh started its journey four decades ago. “After liberation during late 70's the garment industries started to grow up based on the domestic market. In 1978 M/S Reaz Garments Ltd first and formally exported 10,000 pcs of men’s shirts to France. It was only worth 13 million francs. The largest and latest technology used in garment manufacturing in 1977 by Desh Garments Ltd through a joint venture signed up with South Korean Daewoo company” [48]. After 1982 the government began to provide various incentives to the garments industry. Among them duty-free import of machinery, bonded warehouse facilities and cash incentives were significant. As a consequence, a number of garment industries rapidly increased following the export-oriented garment trend. The export amount increased rapidly from 1.3 million USD to 116.2 million USD during 1981 to 1984 [48]. This industry was brought under the MFA6 quota in 1986 and this quota system favored Bangladeshi producers by protecting them from international competition [49]. Thus, Bangladesh stepped into a new promised land of prosperity with average growth rate of 20.55% in last 19 years.
6
The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) governed the world trade in textiles and garments from 1974 through 2004, imposing quotas on the amount developing countries could export to developed countries.
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Growth of garment factories in Bangladesh 6000
No of factories
5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 201 201 201 201 0-01 1-02 2-03 3-04 4-05 5-06 6-07 7-08 8-09 9-10 0-11 1-12 2-13 3-14
No. of factories
2377 2982 3252 3571 3988 4220 4490 4743 4925 5063 5085 5091 5103 5027
Figure 12: Growth of garment factory in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014 [49]
Growth of garment production in Bangladesh QUANTITY IN MILLION DOZEN PCS
900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Knit
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
52.54 63.39 69.18 91.6 120.1 165 199.5 241.6 290.9 292.7 441 444.2 478.2 512.2
Woven 71.48 77.05 88.83 90.48 92.26 108.8 133.1 147.4 169.6 172.8 247.3 281.6 306.3 340.7 Total
124 140.4 158 182.1 212.4 273.8 332.6 389 460.5 465.5 688.3 725.9 784.5 852.9
Figure 13: Growth of garment production in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014 [49]
BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) is the main organization formed by the garment manufacturers in 1982 [48]. BGMEA provide the 33
necessary assistance to the members factory and exporters in a various way. Although export quantity of Bangladeshi garment products have increased, the country is facing different challenges in its regular evolution. There are several factors that are working behind facing challenges in garment industries. The global recession is one of the important issues to mention for which many foreign buyers placing less orders from Bangladesh. Safety issue is another major challenge of the Bangladeshi garment industries. Several fire incident and building collapse including thousands of workers death and injuries. These are the most red signals and burning topic for the clothing retailer and consumers around the world. Besides these, increase of production costs due to raw material and energy, increasing labour costs, unstable political situation and unfriendly trade policies also putting this industry in the challenge nowadays.
3.2 Facts and statistics The first consignment of apparel export from Bangladesh was made with knitwear items in the late 1970s. But it was the woven sector which flourished significantly by the middle of 80s and holds the rank of the largest export earning sector for the last three decades. “Combining these both knitwear and woven, the apparel industry contributes now more than 81 percent to the national export (Figure 14), 14.06 percent contribution to the national GDP [49].
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Exported items
Jute and jute goods
2.73%
Leather and leather product
2.47%
Agricultural product
2.04%
Frozen food
2.11%
Other
3.82%
Engineering product
1.21%
Footwear
1.82%
Home textile
2.63%
Woven Grments
41.23%
Knitwear
39.93% 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Export %
Figure 14: Item wise export percentage of Bangladesh FY 2013-2014 [49]
This sector plays an imperative role in the reduction of poverty to a minimum level by creating 4.02 million direct employments and 75% of the labor force is women” [49]. Thus, it contributing directly in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.
Figure 15: Growth of employment through garments industry in Bangladesh since 2000- 2014 [49] 35
3.3 Garments solid waste management in Bangladesh No inventory has been made to assess the extent of fabric and solid waste in Bangladesh from apparel industry and no regulations specifically deals with waste in the country. Most of the industries do not have any idea how much waste they are producing. Government has taken initiative to prepare a fabric solid waste management policy and preparation management policy and preparation work for this policy has started Bangladesh inside and outside of the apparel industry, is a signatory to Basel Convention prohibiting Trans-boundary movement of solid waste [50]. Garments leftover in Bangladesh locally called “Jhoot” by the traders of it. According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) sources, there are some 4,500 active RMG units producing over 351,000 tons of by-products. It is assuming that a typical factory produces around 250 kg of waste fabric per day. There is no formal data available about garment manufacturing by-products are given by authorities in Bangladesh. The price of waste cloth depends on quality and size, starting from 0.10 cents and going up to 4.00 Euro per kilogram. According to the Bangladesh Garment and Textile Waste Exporters Association (BGTEA), the market size of RMG by-products is over 200 million Euro if the waste management is working correctly [51]. So-called informal recycling of waste materials left by clothing industry has developed as a decent wage creating hotspot for some individuals as of late. Each and every waste raw materials starting from cut-pieces of clothes, zippers, buttons, thread, elastic fasteners, used plastic packets, broken cloth hangers, empty bobbins to rejected pants, shirts and t-shirts are sold from the garment factories. Costs likewise change alongside the business sector cost of fabric and different items. After collection, the process of recycling starts with sorting, which is done by the color, types and sizes of fabric. Cotton garments and white garments cost more as these are broadly used to reproduce cotton and yarn. The broken fabric parts and exceedingly shredded mixed clothes are recycled into low-grade waste cotton. This raw cotton is contributing in bedding industry of Bangladesh by providing raw materials for mattress, pillows, cushions. Seat stuffing and padding in cars, public buses and rickshaws are usually done with these recycled clothes and processed cotton.
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While the trade of garment waste is thriving with the pace of the garment industry, problems related to this informal sector are many. The jhoot business in Bangladesh basically has three step process. The first, person usually a powerful local person collects the cloth forcibly or via negotiations from factory owner, then it is sold to the reuse or recycling business and then the final product is sold to different consumers and exported. Conflicts among nearby musclemen over control of the exchange happen every now and then, some of the time prompting significantly killings. Since the division is still casual and keeps running with little speculation without a solid establishment, provocation by a political leader, police and local goons for toll is a regular occurrence. Factory owners alleged that influential local political leaders foment labor unrest as a pretext to contact factory owners and then try to wrest control of the business under the pretense of subduing the workers. The country is being deprived of the benefits from the ready-made garments waste and by-products. As a result the lion’s share of jhoot gets exported to India and China. The negative thought about the jhoot exchange is gradually blurring endlessly. It would even be entirely feasible to develop a new trade and secure a huge amount of foreign currency.
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Methodology
The selection of method formation the empirical and theoretical information collection will be presented and motivated in this chapter. The aim is to clarify the methods that have been chosen to do a reliable research of the topic of this thesis. A presentation of intercession and application of the methods will also be introduced. The chapter ends with a description of the research data analysis process.
4.1 Research design The research aims to assess the adaptation and integration of upcycling in the garments manufacturing industry in Bangladesh. The research design is investigative survey research that is used to answer the question about current waste management system, how much satisfied with current practice, perspective of upcycling and the barrier to implementing upcycling. This study consists the following steps:
Research design Sample design Survey Data collection Data analysis
Figure 16: Main steps of study (Source: author's compilation) To discourse the research questions in a quantified way the information assembly should adopt numerical data. Through online survey using a five-point Likert scale measuring both current system experience and perceptions of upcycling. Each of the five 38
scale responses would have a numerical value which would be used to measure the attitude under investigation. Likert-type or frequency scales use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions [52]. These ordinal scales measure levels of agreement or disagreement. Since Likert scale does not allow only yes or no answer, but rather allow for degrees of opinion and even neutral option. Therefore, quantitative data is gained, which means that the data can be examined with relative ease. This study is based on the questions concerning the grow of manufacturer perception rather than the explanation of their behavior. Another purpose of such communication is to get a clear concept of the actions what they are doing in reality and focus on the wholeness rather than the parts of the theoretical framework. Having direct information is essential to get the current situation. The manner allows for taking practical findings where the further discussion leads to the conclusion. The components of the research project are as follows: i. Identifying the garment production type. ii. Investigating the current garment solid waste management in Bangladesh. iii. Understand their satisfaction toward sustainability with their current practice. iv. Examining the perception of upcycling as a sustainable alternative in Bangladesh. v. Trying to figure out the conditions, challenges and support to start upcycling in Bangladesh.
4.2 Sample and sampling design The research has been conducted within garment manufacturing companies in Bangladesh, those who are listed as a general member in BGMEA7. The category of the garment industries including four major types knit, woven, sweater and non woven.
7
BGMEA= Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
39
According to the data from Ministry of labor and employment in Bangladesh, there are 4765 verified RMG8 factories (Table 5).
Table 5: Number of garment factory by district area [53] District name
Chandpur
1
Chittagong
674
Comilla Dhaka (Capital) Feni
Chosen factory no
65
7 1961
180
3
Gazipur
1297
Magura
2
Manikganj
4
Munshiganj
2
Mymensingh
43
Narayanganj
734
Narsingdi
17
Nawabganj
1
Noakhali
2
Pabna
4
Rangpur
1
Tangail
12
Total
8
No. of factory
4765
100
70
415
Ready-made garments.
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Although there is no consensus about the exact waste management statistics and the absence of waste management strategy in those factories, this particular research has conducted within the random garment factory from the four top industrial zones in Bangladesh. These four major garment production industries are located in capital Dhaka including with the neighbor district Gazipur, Narayanganj and port city Chittagong (Figure 17).
Figure 17: Chosen factory area (Star marked) in the Bangladesh map [58]
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The extensive amount of garment industries solid waste are generated in this four industrial area daily. In this study total 415 random garment factories are selected based on their location, contact information availability. Some pioneer and the leader in the field of fashion and garments manufacturing are included. Among them A Plus Ind. Ltd, Abanti colour tex Ltd, ACS textiles (Bangladesh) Ltd, AJ fashions Ltd, Ananta apparels Ltd, A-Plus sweater factory, Basic apparels Ltd, Beximco Apparels Ltd, Concorde garments Ltd, Cotton clothing (BD) Ltd, Dekko designs Ltd, Divine fashion (Pvt.) Ltd, Echotex Ltd, Envoy fashions Ltd, Epyllion knitex Ltd, Fakir apparels Ltd, Starlight Sweaters, Square fashions Ltd, UTAH fashions Ltd, Viyellatex Limited etc. are mentionable. Some of the factories have their own waste management system, but all of them are considering solid waste from ETP9 sludge, kitchen and dining waste. Their sustainable activities are more relevant to social compliance, safety and health issues absence of proper policy regarding sustainable pre-consumer manufacturing waste management from garment factories. The author of this paper has found the only factory from Bangladesh is Bangladesh Export-Import Company (Beximco) is related with industrial upcycling. It is one of the biggest clothing manufacturer in south-east Asia. Beximco is the first manufacturer from Bangladesh, which is effectively integrated upcycling production and circular economic principles into their business. The upcycled clothing brand from Estonia Reet Aus (www.reetaus.com) brand is running their production unit in Beximco and turning industrial leftovers into sustainable fashion. From this research, both party those who can manufacture upcycled cloth and those who are upcycled cloth retailer might get the benefit. Retailers can be more aware of the manufacturer awareness, possibilities and experience regarding upcycle in Bangladesh. Also, this research will benefit the future researchers, educators and students for academic research purposes.
9
Effluent treatment plant.
42
4.3 Research process and data collection The research process is the way of conducting research and collecting data for particular research. There are two procedures conducting research and they are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative method: Qualitative data collection and data analysis methods are widely adaptable and can be applied across research subject and problem type. Qualitative method is more relevant when the study deals with an issue that has not yet been carefully researched [54]. Qualitative data collection methods can help researchers understand not only consumer experience but also their views about products and services. Quantitative method: Quantitative method are supportive of high-quality study design, assessment of research decision making around study outcome, and evaluation of dissemination channels for study findings. In this study, quantitative method have been used, because, it is the systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via descriptive statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. For this particular research, the author selected the quantitative research process. More interestingly, communication procedure was very easy due to social media opportunities. Also, the research conducted from Estonia to Bangladesh. As a result, quantitative research was very convenient for the author to collect the data. Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypothesis, and evaluate outcomes. There are two types’ data that can be collected: primary data and secondary data. Primary data: Data used in research originally obtained through the direct efforts of the researchers through surveys, interview, and direct observation. Primary data is costlier to obtain than the secondary data. However, for this particular research primary data was collected by the quantitative survey which consists of 9 main questions. All the major questions are closed questions to be easier for the respondent to answer, but also be able to
43
analyze on a more standardized manner the result. In the question no 2, 3 and 4 respondents could give multiple answer according to their factory type and waste management practice. The questionnaire is comprised of 3 questions group. All of the questions were obligatory, but the personal data such as name, company name and email were allowed to be optional. As sometimes people do not like to share their personal information due to privacy or confidential matter for the company. Table 6: Questionnaire structure (Source: survey questionnaire) 1
General questions about the respondent position, factory product type Question: and their clients type.
2
Current waste management system and how sustainable their current Question: practice.
3
1 to 3
4 to 5
Perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh, circumstances, challenges and Question: support to start upcycling.
6 to 9
The questionnaire was distributed using various channels. Survey was sent directly to the garment factories contact email in Bangladesh which is collected from the BGMEA website (http://www.bgmea.com.bd/member/memberlist). Through social media sites author wrote to known friends who are working in textile and garment sector in Bangladesh. To collect more responses later on author started to contact with factory personnel via phone call. Secondary data: Secondary data refers to data that was collected by someone other than the user. Common sources of secondary data that collected by government departments, organizational records, and data that was originally collected for other research purposes. For the secondary data, the author used various recent articles, research that has been conducted previously related to this topic, different websites, as well some books. Secondary 44
data was collected to give the theatrical overview of the study. As upcycling is a comparatively new concept and do not have enough study regarding Bangladesh, so it was bit difficult to collect and review information from few resources. That’s why author gained concept from various sources and website as well.
4.4 Data analysis Data was analyzed in this study using descriptive statistics. For the easy interpretation mean or mode score were used to determine the attitude, opinion towards their current waste management system and the future perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh. Collected data was presented in table, bar diagram and pie chart.
45
Survey data analysis and presentations
In this chapter, a short description of the respondents’ views of the most significant areas will be presented together with an analysis of the survey results, derived from the online survey questionnaire.
5.1 Demographic data According to the aim of the thesis research question, the author conducted a survey to find the answer of the particular research questions. The survey was sent to 415 companies from the four main industrial zones in Bangladesh, those operate mainly export oriented garment production. The survey was open for a month and a total of 64 responses was collected. Among 64 responses, 1 response author collected for survey testing and 3 other responses have not counted due to respondents misunderstanding about the concept and their current waste management practice. So, among 64 responses 60 responses were collected and 4 replies were not counted for data analysis. In the first question, instead of asking personal information, author started with the personnel position in the company. Here author kept it blank without mentioning a list of specific position, as there are various positions at the management level within a garment industry due to long production chain. After analyzing the survey data, author found 11 different positions from the respondents. Among them, maximum respondents were 13 Production manager followed by the positions 11 General managers, 10 Managing directors and so on. The following figure represents the number of respondents’ position in the selected companies:
46
13
14 12
11
10
Number
10 8 6 4 3
6 4
4 2
2
5 1
1
0
Respondent's position
Figure 18: Number of respondents’ position (Source: author's compilation) From the result, it is very clear that most of the respondents holding a vital position and they are usually concern about important information of the company. As a result, the author believes also all the personnel knowledge regarding their current solid waste management, concept and perspective of upcycling are acceptable. In the question number 2, the author asked about the factory type based on their product. The author listed 4 major factory type based on product and also gave an option for any unusual product based factory. Respondents were allowed to select more than one option. However, number of respondents were higher in the field of knit garment factory and the total number was 29. Then the woven garment factory was 21 followed by 8 sweater factories. There were 7 factories who have both knit and woven production facility and also found 2 non-woven factories. Nobody selected others as an option for their garment factory product type. The result from the major factory types based on product is very significant from the perspective of this study. Because the waste generation percentage is different from one to another and waste management also varies based on the product. Knit fabric solid waste producing rate is comparatively high and mostly contacted by the environment in the soil
47
ground [31]. As a result, the result from this question is very important for the rest of the study. Figure 19 represents the respondents’ factory type based on the product:
No. of factory
29
14 8
7
2 Knit and Woven
Knit
Woven
Sweater
Non woven
Product type
Figure 19: No. of garment factory based on product (Source: author's compilation) In the survey question number 3, the author wanted to know about the respondents’ customer type. In this stage, author intended to figure out for whom the respondents are making clothes for; whether they can be a branded corporate customer from developed country or a privately owned small customer. In this question author mentioned this both corporate and private customer option including the other option for any uncommon case. However, corporate customer number were higher and 46 factories have corporate customers. Private customers were only in 6 factories and 8 factories have both corporate and private customers.
48
Both 13%
Private 10%
Corporate 77%
Figure 20: Respondents factories customer type (Source: author's compilation)
The result from the question, main customer type of the factories also helpful in this field of study. Because those industries have a corporate customer they tend to follow more compliance and environmental rules. As factories need to pass the few criteria before getting the order from the corporate client like H&M, Zara, Walmart, Tesco etc. In the survey question number four, the author asked about current waste management system of the respondents to get an overview of current waste management system in Bangladesh. In this question, the author mentioned 6 general waste management system in terms of Bangladesh, which is obtained from secondary data and previous work experience of the author in Bangladesh textile and garment sector. Here author also mentioned other option for any unusual method from any respondent. Figure 21, represents the summary of the result.
49
Fully involved
Partially involved 2
waste management options
Sending away for landfill.
8
In house burning for energy (heat and electricity).
0 0
Upcycling to new piece of cloths.
0
In house recycling/downcycling for recover materials. Selling to other company. Selling to local waste trader.
1 4 0 14 11 26 12
No. of respondent's
Figure 21: Current solid waste management system of respondents (Source: author's compilation)
According to the result, 26 factories selling their waste to local waste traders when 12 other company also involved with this partially due to their mix waste management system. 14 factories selling their waste to the other company and 11 factories are partially involved with it. Only 4 factories found who are involve with in-house recycling or downcycling for recovering materials. No factory found who have in-house burning facility to recover energy. Only one factory found who are involved with upcycling partially along with other regular waste management system. Here only 2 factories are sending away their waste for landfilling as part of their regular waste management practice but it also found that 7 other factories also partially involve with this practice. So, total 46 factories found with the single waste management system and other 14 factories have a mix of any two or more waste management system practice.
50
5.2 Perception data In this stage of the survey, the author wanted to measure the level of agreement or disagreement of the respondents related to their current waste management system, perception of upcycling, supportive conditions of upcycling, challenges and incentives to starting upcycling in Bangladesh. Here author used Likert rating as the questionnaire tool and applied 5-point scale version. In the question number 5, the author wanted to know the respondent's level of agreement with the statements regarding their current waste management system. The author here mentioned 6 statements which represent some of the major environmental and economical sustainable statement. The first statement is “low rate of waste disposal,” where majority 21 respondents disagreed with it and 20 respondents agreed, 10 respondents were neutral. The next statement is “low material consumption in the clothing industry” meant does their current waste management system help to reduce the consumption of fresh raw material in the clothing industry? 18 respondents agreed with this statement and 14 respondents disagreed while 14 were also neutral. The third statement, “water and energy saving” meant does their current waste management system help to save water and energy throughout the process? Maximum 23 respondents disagreed with this statement, 16 respondents were neutral and 11 respondents agreed with it. 8 respondent disagreed completely and 2 respondents agreed completely with this statement. Following the fourth statement is “Less pollution and environmental impact”. With this statement, most 20 respondents disagreed, 18 respondents agreed and 13 respondents were neutral. The fifth statement is “Efficient time and money use” which means the effectiveness of money and time saving all over the process of their current waste management. The Higher number, total 27 of respondents disagreed, 14 respondents agreed and 9 respondents were neither agree nor disagree. The final and sixth statement is “High product value.” It means is their waste getting the maximum price or the end product from waste getting proper value? Total 19 respondents do not agree with this statement, 16 respondents agreed and 8 respondents were neutral. 4 respondents completely disagreed and 5 respondents completely agreed. Following table 7, represents the level of
51
agreement or disagreement with the statements of the respondent’s current solid waste management system.
Table 7: Respondents perception of current waste management system (Source: author's compilation) Strongly disagree.
Disagree.
1. Low rate of waste disposal.
6
10%
21
35%
10
17%
20
33%
3
5%
2. Low material consumption in clothing industry.
5
8%
14
23%
14
23%
18
30%
9
15%
3. Water and energy saving.
8
13%
23
38%
16
27%
11
18%
2
3%
4. Less pollution and environmental impacts.
6
10%
20
33%
13
22%
18
30%
3
5%
5. Efficient time and money use.
4
7%
27
45%
9
15%
14
23%
5
8%
6. High product value.
12
20%
19
32%
8
13%
16
27%
4
7%
Statements
Neither agree nor disagree.
Agree.
Strongly agree
In question number 6, respondents were asked agree or disagree with the perspective of upcycling as a sustainable alternative in Bangladesh. the author mentioned here total 10 statements which represent some basic environmental, social and economic sustainable necessities. First statement about reduces the consumption of fresh raw material in clothing industry through upcycling. 29 respondents agreed with it, 15 respondents completely agreed and 12 respondents were neutral. In second statement author intended to know how do they see their leftover which is treated as waste, can be valuable input material for upcycling production. And here maximum number of respondents agreed with this statement. In third and fourth statement author wanted to know the agreement/disagreement level of respondents that through upcycling it is possible to save water, energy, time and money. As upcycling is possible to do with the leftover from factory current production and within the
52
same factory. Data chart (Table 8) shows the higher level of agreement of the respondents for both statements.
In the fifth and sixth statement, author asked the level of agreement/disagreement about the reduction of air, water pollution and another environmental impact throughout upcycling practice. 26 respondents agreed, 22 respondents completely agreed with the statement reduction of air and water pollution. While maximum 28 respondents agreed and 12 respondents completely agreed with the statement of lowering the other environmental impacts. The seventh statement is a socially sustainable parameter refers the worker and local people health quality. It’s an important social compliance issue in Bangladesh after the working place safety and wages issue. For this statement, maximum 27 respondents found neutral, 16 respondents agreed and 11 agreed strongly. In the eighth and ninth statement respondents were asked to agree/ disagree with the possibility to gain higher value added product from waste and to open a new possibility of business through upcycling. With the both statements, respectively 28 and 28 respondents agreed, also 16 and 22 respondents completely agreed. And the final statements asked the agreement/disagreement about the attraction of new investor for boost up the upcycling concept as the sustainable alternative of current waste management system in Bangladesh. 23 respondents agreed and 19 respondents completely agreed while only 4 respondents disagreed. Meanwhile, 14 respondents were neutral with this final statement. Table 8, represents the survey result summary and level of agreement/disagreement with the perspective of upcycling as sustainable alternative in Bangladesh.
53
Table 8: Respondents’ perceptions on the perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh (Source: author's compilation) Statements 1. Will reduce the consumption of raw material. 2. Production leftover/waste can be valuable input material. 3. Possible to save water or energy. 4. Possible to save time or money. 5. Will reduce air and water pollution. 6. Will lower the other environmental impacts. 7. Will improve the workers or local public health quality. 8. Possible to gain in value chain of the product from waste. 9. A new possibility to do business. 10. Will attract a good number of investor.
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither agree nor disagree
2
3%
2
3%
12
20%
29
48%
15
25%
0
0%
2
3%
6
10%
26
43%
26
43%
1
2%
2
3%
4
7%
30
50%
23
38%
0
0%
6
10%
12
20%
25
42%
17
28%
2
3%
5
8%
5
8%
26
43%
22
37%
0
0%
7
12%
13
22%
28
47%
12
20%
0
0%
6
10%
27
45%
16
27%
11
18%
0
0%
5
8%
11
18%
28
47%
16
27%
0
0%
1
2%
9
15%
28
47%
22
37%
0
0%
4
7%
14
23%
23
38%
19
32%
Agree
Strongly agree
In the question number 7, author projected to know the supportive conditions of upcycling by mentioning 5 basic statements. These statements represent the requirements about the penetration of upcycling as a new concept. The first statement is about the client interests for the upcycled goods. Most 30 respondents agreed and 22 respondents completely agreed with this statement. Next statement is about the favorable market condition for doing upcycled clothing business. Here also 24 respondents agreed and 14 respondents completely agreed while 18 respondents were neutral. Low competition is the third statement maximum 26 respondents were neutral, 16 respondents agreed. Meanwhile, 11 respondents disagreed. With the fourth statement, most of the respondents strongly agreed which said about the interest of manufacturer towards upcycling. 33 respondents strongly agreed and other 21 respondents agreed as well. Final and fifth statement is about supportive legislation for 54
upcycling. With this statement, 18 respondents agreed while 23 respondents completely agreed. Table 9, represents the respondents perception about the supportive conditions of upcycling. Table 9: Respondents perception about the supportive conditions of upcycling (Source: author's compilation) Strongly disagree
Disagree
1. Clients are interested.
0
0%
1
2%
7
12%
30
50%
22
37%
2. Market conditions are favorable.
1
2%
3
5%
18
30%
24
40%
14
23%
3. Low Competition.
2
3%
11
18%
26
43%
16
27%
5
8%
1
2%
3
5%
2
3%
21
35%
33
55%
2
3%
11
18%
6
10%
18
30%
23
38%
Statements
4. Manufacturer are Interested. 5. Legislation supports upcycling.
Neither agree nor disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
In question number 8, the author wanted to discover the barriers to applying upcycling as sustainable solid waste management tool in Bangladesh through the level of agreement or disagreement. In this stage, the author mentioned 6 major barriers which can interrupt the implementation and growth of upcycling. The first point is the lack of know-how in upcycling and in respond 31 respondents agreed while 25 of them strongly agreed. In second statement author mentioned the financial issue to start upcycling and maximum 22 respondents agreed, 20 respondents strongly agreed. Meanwhile, 18 respondents were neutral. Next statement is bit interesting where the author wanted to realize if the respondents are motivated enough to start such new concept like upcycling. In reply, most 18 respondents neither agreed nor disagreed, 12 agreed, 12 strongly agreed and 15 respondents disagreed. In the fourth statement, the author mentioned the barrier about the lack of possibilities to start upcycling. Here possibilities represent the available manpower expert in upcycling, enough supplies for carrying the bulk production and partners for continuing the business further. With this statement, maximum 32 respondents agreed completely and 21 respondents agreed only. The fifth barrier is about regulations or laws which does not support upcycling to start. Here 20 respondents agreed and 15 completely agreed when 18 were neutral. Only 5 respondents disagreed with this statement. The final statement is regarding 55
the barrier due to customer requirements. Customer point of view towards the using of upcycled cloth is a major barrier. With this statement, most 28 respondents strongly agreed, 25 agreed and only 5 respondents disagreed. Table 10, is showing the summary of the agreement or disagreement level of respondents with the possible barriers to applying upcycling. Table 10: Respondents perception about the barriers to apply upcycling (Source: author's compilation) Strongly disagree
Disagree
1. Lack of knowledge.
0
0%
2
3%
2
3%
31
52%
25
42%
2. Financial issue.
0
0%
0
0%
18
30%
22
37%
20
33%
3. Lack of motivation.
3
5%
15
25%
18
30%
12
20%
12
20%
4. Lack of possibilities (employment, suppliers, partners).
0
0%
1
2%
6
10%
21
35%
32
53%
5. Regulations.
2
3%
5
8%
18
30%
20
33%
15
25%
6. Customer requirements.
0
0%
5
8%
2
3%
25
42%
28
47%
Statements
Neither agree nor disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
In the final and question no 9, the author wanted to discover potentiality of the best supports that is needed by the respondents’ company to apply upcycling. In the online survey author listed 8 important supportive points from his concept, that is necessary to apply this new concept. Table 11, represents the respondents’ perception summary level about the supportive points to apply upcycling.
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Table 11: Respondents perception about the supports to apply upcycling (Source: author's compilation) Statements
Not important at all
Not important
Moderately important
Important
Very important
1. Cooperation Possibilities.
1
2%
7
12%
10
17%
27
45%
15
25%
2. Positive case studies.
0
0%
9
15%
14
23%
19
32%
18
30%
3. Data and information.
0
0%
1
2%
8
13%
17
28%
34
57%
4. Consultation and training.
0
0%
1
2%
3
5%
18
30%
38
63%
5. Financial support.
1
2%
2
3%
9
15%
20
33%
28
47%
6. Infrastructure.
0
0%
5
8%
24
40%
16
27%
15
25%
7. Eco labels.
1
2%
1
2%
14
23%
24
40%
20
33%
8. Consumer awareness.
0
0%
2
3%
5
8%
21
35%
32
53%
The first supportive point is cooperation possibilities. That means arrange local and international partnership for upcycled product development, marketing and distribution. Maximum 27 respondents found it as important, 15 agreed as very important, 10 agreed moderately important when 7 respondents replied as not important. The second statement is positive case studies of upcycling from which the beginner can study. 19 respondents replied as important, 18 considered as very important, 14 neutral and 9 respondents thought not important it is. The third statement is about data and information. Most 34 respondents considered as a very important point. With the fourth statement, consultation and training are measured as the most important point under the question 9. Maximum 38 respondents replied it as a very important supportive point. The fifth point is financial support and 28 respondents found it very important, 20 found it as an important point. The sixth supportive statement is infrastructure which refers the technical and mechanical setup, space, factory building, transportation facility, power supply etc. for the applying upcycling. Maximum 24 respondents agreed as moderately important with this point, 16 replied as important and 15 replied as very important point. The seventh point is eco-labels for the respondents upcycled products and 24 respondents replied it as important, 20 replied as a very important point. The final supportive point is consumer awareness to apply upcycling. 32 respondents found consumer awareness is very important and 21 respondents found it as important support for them to apply upcycling. 57
Findings and discussion
This chapter contains results and discussion based on the survey data analysis from demographic and perception data in the earlier chapter. The author of this paper will discuss the analysis together with the recommendations of this research area to draw own conclusions with the aim of accomplishing a result to this thesis.
6.1 Findings and discussion After conducting the online survey through questionnaire, it indicates the lack of garment solid waste management system in Bangladesh. Most of the garment factories are export-oriented and they have corporate customers. Very few of these factories have any sustainable solid waste management system. It appears the number of knit garments factory is higher and solid waste quantity from knit garments factory is relatively higher. Study information shows that valuable leftover from production, extra accessories and other waste from cutting and sewing are selling to the local waste traders or other informal waste trading industries. Hence, they lose the genuine price for these waste materials by selling to the local waste dealers. Despite regulations sending away the garments solid waste for landfilling is still unsatisfactory. Landfilling these wastes can be toxic for the environment due to the mixture of various physiochemical pollutants from dyed fabrics and other synthetic materials. Only few factories are practicing in-house recycling or downcycling, but they are not able to meet the sustainability principles in all aspects. Because recycling or downcycling still use water, energy and lower the value. Survey results indicate that respondents’ current solid waste management system consume more time and save less money (Table 7) during the whole waste management process. Factories need to send away their leftover or waste to other places for trade and landfill. That requires transport cost and time instead of getting the financial benefit of those waste. It is very important that the purposes of sustainability must be explained and simplified for all Bangladeshi garment manufacturers. Pollution and other environmental issues are arising, so it is essential that manufacturers are more aware of sustainable waste management system with the view to change, re- evaluate and develop in a sustainable way. Vendors need
58
to involve raising awareness about the ethical and environmental difficulties of the solid waste from their garments manufacturing and foster a willingness to occupy in fully sustainable sourcing. Regarding the perspective of upcycling in Bangladesh, survey results indicate a positive attitude of respondents towards upcycling garment industry solid waste. This is indeed a great sign for future. 50% of the respondents agreed that it is possible to save the water and energy through upcycling, as it will reduce the consumption of new raw materials. Following majority respondents found the upcycling for time and money saving tool, as upcycling is possible to do within their factory premises and with the same setup. With a percentage of 47%, it was noted that upcycling would be helpful for the lowering of environmental impacts while reducing the air and water pollution. Automatically in consequence, the workers and the local public health quality will improve. Respondents agreed that upcycled product could add higher value from waste and a new possibility to start a new business line globally. Already upcycled product is getting popular among the consumers who consider the environment. Attracting a good number of investors in this new project is also only a matter of time as per respondents perception. It is clear that there must be an absolute future of upcycling in Bangladesh. Upcycling can be a sustainable option for the garments solid waste management system. In an outcome, Bangladesh will be the recipient by the maximum usage of waste materials with least environmental effects while getting the most monetary benefit. On analyzing, data gathered from the online survey about the supportive conditions for upcycling in Bangladesh, 55% respondents think that the interest of manufacturers is playing a vital role for starting upcycling. This reply appears logical. Usually owner or managing committee are allowed to make a decision and can take the initiative to merge any new concept in their factory. Then respondents agreed to the role of clients interest. Vendors need to steps forward with the upcycled product trade. Vendors can maintain a reasonable price for their upcycled product as they are getting it from their leftovers. Another supportive condition is the fairness of the price where the customer is willing to pay for waste. Consumers attitude towards upcycled products is dependents on price. Upcycled products are facing a future with great potential where the market condition is favorable and still less competitive to get the vendors and consumers who are looking for a sustainable solution. 59
From the survey, the author also noted that a lot of respondents found the lack of possibilities, such as finding proper skillful employment, potential suppliers and valuable partners.These could be the primary barrier to applying upcycling. Customer requirements are found as next main barrier where manufacturers need to full fill their needs. Workmanship, in time delivery and maintaining quality are the main requirements for vendors. In this regard vendors duty is to put more information about the source, environmental impacts and material composition to reach consumer requirements. Since the surveyed factories had no experience with upcycling, they found the lack of knowledge is another main barrier for applying upcycling. Financial issue is also a listed major barrier from survey reply. Maximum garments factory owner from Bangladesh is running their business from bank loan. To launch an unusual project which is entirely new to them requires time and money for the necessary infrastructure, employment, findings vendor and partners for business. The government of Bangladesh should implement policies that support the upcycling and offering incentives those who are willing to start upcycling for their solid waste management system. Existing vendors need to come out with the new program for the development of upcycling in their sourcing factory and willing to buy the upcycled assortment products from the scraps. Moreover, factories from Bangladesh need attention in some point as per survey data. Consultation and training they considered as most significant support for them to start upcycling. Since upcycling is still something new, the component of starting lies within the proper training and consultation for the beginner. The less data and information it gets the more difficult it will be to start. The findings also indicate the necessities of consumer awareness. Despite the fact that most sustainable conscious consumers when it comes to fashion, they still have not found their way to upcycled products. Eco-label for the manufacturer is necessarily important as there is an increase in interest for eco-friendly products. Nowadays customers are well informed, and they want to know from where their product is coming. So eco-label helps to change the client's attitude towards the re-use of waste. Customer finding their way to manufacturer offering upcycled products will expect the whole variety of environmental friendly nature.
60
Conclusion
This chapter will present the conclusion drawn from this research. The research question stated in the introductory chapter will here be answered based on the results from online survey supported by earlier discussions from textile waste and garment industry in Bangladesh section.
In the final stage of the thesis, to get an answer to the main question founding this study for this particular topic, the author will discuss the results based on the experience that has been gain by this research. However, among 2 research question the first question is: Research question no 1: Is upcycling the garment industries solid waste environmentally sustainable? In which extent upcycling concept and practice in apparel industry has an environmental improvement potential? The study clearly shows that fast fashion has a direct impact on the environment. Fast fashion brands keep producing a lot cheaper clothes and letting the pile of manufacturing waste from where they are producing. This has taken a significant impact on the environment to developing countries. Only very few fashion brands are considering sustainability and sustainable sourcing. Most of the retailers always hungry uses up much more resources and produce waste. Meanwhile, valuable inputs become waste output. So, the online survey conducted to see the perspective of upcycling as sustainable alternative waste management system in Bangladesh. With most of the listed sustainability statements in the survey, respondents found upcycling more sustainable than their current waste management system. This can not be the definitive decision but may have a snapshot of what is relatively expectable. With some environmental aspects respondents agreed strongly such as production leftover or waste can be valuable input material, possible to save water and energy, will reduce air and water pollution. Regarding the situation of Bangladesh, these three aspects can label upcycling environmentally sustainable. Instead of sending away or just landfilled, upcycling brings back waste material into the product life cycle in a creative way. It saves an enormous amount of water and energy which uses for fresh raw material sourcing. Therefore, there will be less air and water pollution and less environmental 61
impacts. Considering this extent, upcycling concept and practice in apparel industry have an environmental improvement potential.
Research question no 2: How do manufacturer and customer attitude towards upcycling affect the waste management culture and economy in Bangladesh? Due to the increase the in environmental awareness and knowledge among consumers today, there is a high chance for the business of upcycled products while developing the sustainable waste management system. The survey results specify that maximum respondents disagreed with the environmental act and economic aspects of their current waste management system and demonstrated a positive attitude towards the upcycling concept. So, the manufacturers together with the customers can create a sustainable waste management culture while both of them are economically beneficiary. The more companies that choose to work with upcycle waste management concept the more aware the customers get to agree buying upcycled product. However, their attitude depends on the environmental consciousness and economic feasibility. From the survey, it also found that respondents agreed in some economical aspect of upcycling, such as possibility to gain in the value chain of the product from waste, a new possibility to do business and will attract a good number of investors. Consumer positive attitude towards upcycled products can change the whole view of waste materials. The capability of exclusively offering upcycled material items lies in the psyche of the consumers and the commitment of the manufacturers. Upcycled products can provide lucrative price as upcycled products are innovative, unique and the story behind the product is ethical. When the manufacturers choose to upcycle garments waste, it will not only bring the effectiveness on reducing waste but also new job opportunities, additional business, marketing benefits, getting green certificate and attracting more investors. This uniqueness also brings an opportunity to increase own brand value.
The garment sector has a great contribution to the Bangladesh economy and solid waste from this industry also have adequate potentiality. It is the perfect time to adopt the upcycling as sustainable waste management system for making Bangladesh the leader of garment business in the world. Consequently, we can expect a long run profitable business without wasting our valuable resources and polluting the environment.
62
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Appendix Online survey questionnaire link: https://goo.gl/forms/GrdOH5zJq3v44irJ3
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