Using LCA and Circularity Indicators to Measure the Sustainability of Textiles—Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Fibres

Abstract

Reducing environmental impacts by increasing circularity is highly relevant to the textiles sector. Here, we examine results from life cycle assessment (LCA) and circularity indicators applied to renewable and non-renewable fibres to evaluate the synergies between the two approaches for improving sustainability assessment of textiles. Using LCA, impacts were quantified for sweaters made from fossil feedstock-derived and bio-based PET. These same sweaters were scored using four circularity indicators. Both sweaters showed similar fossil energy footprints, but the bio-PET raw material acquisition stage greenhouse gas, water and land occupation impacts were 1.9 to 60 times higher, leading to higher full life cycle impacts. These contrasts were principally determined by what raw material acquisition processes were considered outside the system boundary of the alternative feedstocks. Using circularity indicators, fossil-feedstock PET scored lowest (worst) because the feedstock was from a non-renewable source. These examples highlight the limitations of LCA: the renewability or non-renewability of raw materials is not fully considered, and contrasts in processes included within system boundaries can preclude equitable comparisons. For LCA to be suitable for quantifying sustainability, it should be complemented by circularity indicators capable of demonstrating the contrast between renewable and non-renewable raw materials, particularly in the case of textiles.