The following graphic allows you to click on the different stages of an apparel value chain. By clicking on different stages you can find best practices for those specific stages and how they link to the C2C CertifiedTM [1] criteria most relevant at that stage.
The quality of a textile is mostly determined by the quality of its raw material. It is essential to have an understanding of not only the detailed composition of this material, but also its source. Best practices include:
Water and energy demands for extracting cottons, polyesters, and other fibres can vary widely based on the process used. Visibility down the production line, and planning for what’s next, can be highly effective for optimising processes:
The construction of yarns from single fibres involves many process variables, including fibre content, yarn count, and spinning methods. Due to its high level of automation, these processes can run 24 hours a day. As a result, small efficiencies in operations can add up significantly. Best practices include:
Textile constructions can often provide the same performance as mixing fibre types, which are avoided whenever possible from a C2C Certified perspective. The same cotton fibres that can be used to make heavy non-stretch fabric could alternatively be knit together to create a stretchy and breathable result and a nonwoven construction of it can produce padding. Best practices include:
Significant amounts of water and heat are used in the dyeing, finishing, rinsing and drying processes. Generally, darker colours and more intense treatments consume more resources than lighter shades and subtle finishes. Best practices include:
The process of Cut, Make & Trim (CMT) in apparel is notoriously labour intensive. As large employers, an optimised CMT operation focuses on having a positive social impact on its community. CMT can also produce significant amounts of material waste of finished textile materials. Clever design, patternmaking, and marker layouts can have significant impacts on cost and usage:
Although beyond the manufacturer’s scope, engaging the customer in the textile product creation story is essential to educating them about the best way to return apparel to the right metabolism at the end of its use cycle. Developing systems of recapturing textiles are essential to maintaining healthy biological or technical metabolisms. Best practices include:
Best practices can provide reductions in post-consumer waste associated with the fashion industry. These include:
[1] Cradle to Cradle Certified™ is a certification mark licensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
