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Wool textiles are popular, with well-known applications including clothing, home furnishings (blankets, rugs, upholstery, and outdoor furniture), craft, and other general applications within other products. Prized for its versatility as a fibre, Australian wool accounts for 30% of worlds wool production with the majority of wool produced in Australia exported, particularly to China, Italy, Republic of Korea and France. Although wool value has declined in recent years, the gross value of wool is approximately $2.1b per annum.
Shorn wool (greasy wool) contains an appreciable amount of grease, dirt, vegetable matter. Given the size of the industry in Australia, the quantity of these impurities in fleece varies with climatic and pastoral conditions, seasonal fluctuations and the breed and condition of the sheep. It is the clean wool fibre drawn from the greasy wool that is ultimately used to produce wool textiles. Understandably, though, the production of wool textiles inevitably impacts the environment. The environmental loads associated with wool textile production throughout its entire life cycled are as follows:
Fortunately, innovation in textile design means that environmentally preferable alternatives are available. These textiles avoid or limit the use of the substances and chemicals mentioned above, and are manufactured with careful consideration of air and water emissions resulting from production. Like their contemporaries, environmentally preferable wool textiles remain quality products which perform equally as well and if not better than alternative products.
For specific information view our Environmental Standard for Textiles: www.geca.org.au/standardsregister.htm
Synthetic textiles were first engineered during the 1950s as alternatives to natural-fibre textiles like wool, cotton, and flax and include textiles such as polyester, nylon, polyamide, acrylic and microfiber. These products are epitomized among other characteristics by the speed at which they dry, their likeness to wool and cotton-blends; their resistance to insects, oils, chemicals, UV sunlight, wrinkles, mildew and shrinking/stretching; their ability to absorb dyes and retain colour fastness; and the ease with which they are washed. Applications for synthetic textiles includes clothing, home furnishings (blankets, rugs, upholstery, outdoor furniture), craft use, industrial (asbestos replacement, stucco reinforcement), and general applications like ropes and cords, electronics, and hoses among others.
Unfortunately, the functional qualities of synthetic textiles are offset by the environmental impacts associated with their production and disposal. Synthetic textiles inherently consist of and are treated using complex chemical and mineral formulations such as spinning solvents, antimony (a toxic metal), acrylonitrile (itself an extremely toxic man-made chemical), heavy-metal salts, dyes, and formaldehyde; a host of other carcinogenic dyes, preservatives and flame-retardants; and cleaned using a range of non-biodegradable softeners and detergents. In addition, wastewater and air emissions resulting during production processes frequently contain oxygen-depleting substances and heavy metals that can dramatically affect the health and vitality of receiving waters and potentially human health.
Luckily, innovation in synthetic textile design means that environmentally preferable alternatives are available. These textiles avoid or limit the use of the substances and chemicals mentioned above, and are manufactured with careful consideration of air and water emissions resulting from production. Like their contemporaries, environmentally preferable synthetic textiles remain quality products which perform equally as well and if not better than alternative products.
Cotton and flax textiles are widespread and numerous, with well-known applications including clothing, home furnishings (blankets, rugs, upholstery, outdoor furniture), craft, and other general applications within other products. Prized for its versatility as a fibre, cotton and flax crops cover some 220,000 hectares Australia-wide (and some 30 million hectares worldwide) and an Australian export value of approximately $1.5b per annum.
Unfortunately the growth and harvesting of cotton and the production and disposal of cotton textiles has numerous impacts on the environment and human health. The environmental loads associated with the life-cycle of cotton textiles are as follows:
Fortunately, innovation in textile design means that environmentally preferable alternatives are available. These textiles avoid or limit the use of the substances and chemicals mentioned above, and are manufactured with careful consideration of air and water emissions resulting from production. Like their contemporaries, environmentally preferable cotton textiles remain quality products which perform equally as well and if not better than alternative products.
