Of “hippy” icon to the classic dress, the jeans They are a garment with long “footprint” not only in the fashionbut in addition to environmental impact, what is its manufacturing cost? Are they recyclable?, The law in Spain wants to strengthen the fence to the textile residue with more strict criteria for application since 2025.
Different studies reveal the Huge environmental cost of the manufacture of jeans both in the use of water and energy and pollution for example by tissue dyes and for the washes to fade, in addition to the complexity of their recycling.
An investigation published a few months ago by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), with the support of the Botín Foundation and the Water Observatory, Figure between 2,130 and 3,078 liters The water impact related to the raw material of jeans, cotton.
To the environmental costs of manufacturing this garment is added the complexity of your recycling Given the characteristics of the tissue and the components that many times metallic embedded to separate and disassemble, such as rivets or zippers.
Sustainable Redesign of jeans
The redesign of this garment with more sustainable criteria is “a first step to demonstrate that changing the fashion system towards a circular economy It is possible“Jules Lennon said, fashion responsible for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an advisor for circular economy projects.
One of his star initiatives in the textile field, Jeans redign, has promoted one “collaboration without precedents“, After involving more than one hundred first-line brands and manufacturers in more than 25 countries in the world, to put 1.5 million jeans redesigned between 2021-2023.
More sustainable criteria imply for example endure at least twenty washes in good condition and manufacture this type of pants with less water impact, according to those responsible.
For her part, the head of Biodiversity of Greenpeace Spain, Celia Ojeda, has warned of the Environmental impact of ultra -grape fashion to use and pull whose mass manufacturing produces low quality and very cheap garments.
The production of footwear and textiles generates between 8 and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions; The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of waste Total water sweet worldwide.
Every wardrobe houses several jeans
Every closet is the meeting point for several jeans, by colors, designs; Its enormous production worldwide increases its manufacturing footprint Well above that of any other garment, Ojeda explained.
The less blue they are, the more polluting its manufacture by the Number of washings to fade; The more washed also increases the risk of microfiber detachment that, if not prevented, can reach the rivers. According to the European Commission, the EU generates 12.6 million tons of textile waste a year. Clothing and footwear represent 5.2 million tons of waste alone, which is equivalent to 12 kilograms of waste per person per year.
How to strengthen the textile residue
The EU is committed to stopping textile waste with strategies that range from supporting new business models for rent clothesto the design of products easier to reuse and recycle (circular fashion).
Other initiatives are to convince consumers that Buy less quality clothes (slow fashion) and, in general, guide consumers to more sustainable options.
In Spain, the waste law establishes that in 2025 at least 55% of domestic ones, including textiles, are prepared for the reuse or recycling. This percentage must be 60% in 2030 and 65% in 2035. Since January 1, all municipalities have to collect the textile waste differentiated.
Cities will have to implement or increase their number of Textile containers given the new legal criteria; Also in stores should be collected and an expanded responsibility of the producer will be required to take care of the product until the end of their days.
The preparation of a conventional garment carries on average Between three and five months From design until it is put on sale; However, in fast fashion the deadlines are much shorter, only weeks, and with the ultra -grape, only days.
Commercial fashion giants on the Internet especially of Asian origin in recent times are accelerating the sale of very fast manufacturing garments; The problem of producing in countries with very lax environmental norms is that environmental controls relaxwarns the head of Greenpeace.
In addition the ultra -grape manufacture complicates the supervision of the processes because the products They go quickly to the market. The fibers, the dyes, the washes … “Everything is too fast and it is difficult to control it,” explained the expert.
And the victims are nature, health, airthe land, which end up suffering the consequences of an unsustainable fashion that gives rise to phrases as popular as “the rivers of Asia carry the color of fashion in Europe.”
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