Em recent article, the Vogue Business was positive regarding the strengthening of environmental legislation to reinforce a sustainable fashion. The statement is not for nothing, some laws are, in fact, looking at textiles and their environmental impacts. This is the case of a approved law in New York City to ban capsule detergent, a proposal in California that requires washing machines to filter microfibers and other approved in the French parliament to prevent fast fashion circulate advertisements in the country. In Brazil, while the PL 2524/2022 remains in the Senate, the basics are missing: data.
The textile industry is one of the most consolidated industries in the country – with the largest complete textile chain in the West, according to ABIT, a global reference in jeans wear, beachwear and with a projection of becoming the largest exporter of cotton in the world in 2024. 160 thousand tons of textile waste generated annually, much of which, in the case of jeans and synthetic fabrics, contains heavy metals that can contaminate soil or water bodies. This is the case of the Capibaribe River, in Toritama, the Brazilian capital of jeans.
Huge numbers that are still far from fully reflecting reality. “It’s really quite complicated trying to find information, not just textiles, but all types of waste”, says Agatha Carvalho, environmental engineer, “for example, the SNIS (public platform) says one thing, while Abrelpe (private company) says another and, sometimes, this relationship is quite discrepant”.
The National Solid Waste Policy (Law No. 12,305/10) does not address the case of textiles, nor reports such as Panorama of Solid Waste in Brazil 2023, by Abrama, which claims to be an “album of portraits of the universe of solid waste spread across Brazil”. “The data I found for my dissertation on textile waste were more from NGOs, such as Recycle Sampa e Fashion Revolution”, adds Agatha, “it is important that we have legislation to be able to have subsidies to track these textiles, which does not happen in Brazil”.
Two big problems: jeans and plastic
The impacts of jeans on surface waters are diverse. Maria Eliza Hassemer, PhD in environmental engineering and professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), points out three main ones: disposal of chemical products, industrial waste and water consumption. “The washing process in jeans production involves large amounts of water, often containing detergents and other chemicals. Inadequate disposal of these chemicals can contaminate surface waters, causing pollution and affecting the quality of the receiving water body”, he states.
O USP Newspaper highlights 2020 data from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), that the production of a pair of jeans consumes 3,789 liters of water, not counting dyeing with polluting chemicals.
In Brazil, two types of jeans are manufactured: premium, 100% cotton and mixed, composed of cotton with polyester, and sometimes with polyurethane, also known as lycra. Both are dyed with synthetic dyes, which contain pollutants and, of course, the one most produced in the country is the cheapest, but with problems with decomposition, due to the mixture of fibers. “This mixture hinders any possibility of recycling and transforming the jeans fabric into fiber again and reincorporating it”, highlights Júlia Baruque Ramos, professor at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities at USP and researcher in the area of textile recycling.
When decomposing, both fibers take more than 400 years to decompose. Now, imagine the capital of jeans, Toritama, which generates 800 kg of waste per month, of which only 30% of production represents 100% cotton jeans, putting into the world 60 million pieces per year. 70% of them take 400 years to decompose – and we are talking about 16% of national production.
According to Maria Eliza, the impacts of pollution on water bodies can be reversible, “but this depends on effective mitigation and corrective measures”. Reversibility may vary depending on the severity of the pollution. “In general, corrective measures can take medium to long term to show significant results,” he says.
The fashion industry omits its connection with fossil fuelsbut the oil companies do not deny it, given that they continue to want push plastic to the world. Today, 60% of clothing produced worldwide is derived from fossils, and microplastics from clothing represent a third of the amount that enters the oceans daily.
Currently, countries are making an effort to, at an international level, sign a treaty on plastic pollution. According to the Greenpeacethe treaty must reduce plastic production by at least 75% by 2040, to guarantee the target of a 1.5 ºC increase from pre-industrial levels agreed in 2015 in the Paris Agreement. As always, there is resistance and criticism, with pressure on countries to accelerate their work to ratify the treaty – the next meeting is expected to take place in Ottawa, Canada, in April.
In Brazil, the main movement to contain plastic pollution is the PL 2524/2022the Plastic-Free Ocean Bill, which proposes the adoption of the circular plastic economy and is supported by 78 civil society organizations. The PL is now in the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) and must go to the Senate Environment Committee (CMA).
Luísa Cortat, director of courses in environmental law at the Academy of European Law, recalls that, despite associating plastic pollution with dumped waste, the entire life cycle of plastic generates pollution. “We are talking about the extraction of the material – 99% of the time it is oil – the production, monomers, polymers, all associated chemicals, distribution, consumption and disposal”, he explains.
Plastic present in chemicals and clothing fibers are associated with endocrine disruption and other diseases, according to reports such as PlasticChem. There are 16,000 plastic chemicals, 4,200 of which are considered highly dangerous to human health and the environment. Previously, a another study discovered that fabrics used to manufacture gym clothes, such as tops and leggings, have formulas with chemical additives harmful to human health that are absorbed by the skin.
Laws for sustainable fashion
Luísa does not dismiss the importance of voluntary actions by companies to be more sustainable, but states that no type of regulation alone is capable of solving a problem of this nature. “The solutions we find are through legislation, because the law combines different formats and serves to organize society”, he explains.
In addition to regulating chemicals, and banning some plastic groups such as BPA, BPF and BPS – endocrine disruptors – Luísa also cites the importance of reducing plastic production, because without both points, “the Plastics Treaty will not move forward”. “We have a series of possible solutions throughout the plastic’s life cycle, but we cannot deal with the situation if we don’t have to deal with a minor situation”, he highlights.
Agatha points out that the inclusion of textile waste in the National Solid Waste Policy is essential, as following the national law, state waste begins to move so that municipal waste also moves. “As I work with landfill waste, I focus a lot on this: so we can understand what happens at the beginning, we have to focus on the end too, understanding where it goes”, he emphasizes.
O Fashion Revolution has always reinforced its support for the strengthening of environmental laws that combat textile pollution, as is the case with #modasemveneno initiative ea Ethical Fashion Legislative Agenda. Opening space to break the current structure and adhere to more sustainable practices are also at the core of actions such as the Decolonial Fashion School – which is open for registration – and Fashion Revolution Week, which in 2024 will take place April 15 to 24.
