Sustainability in the textile industry – easier said than done?

The textile industry is not known to be the most sustainable from an environmental perspective: It takes almost 2,700 liters of water to produce a T-shirt. Used as drinking water, this amount could supply one person for almost two and a half years. So it's time for a change – not only in the leisurewear sector, but also in the workwear sector. The Swedish company Fristads shows how it can be done.

Fristads AB has taken an approach that looks at the environmental impact of a garment holistically – from cotton harvest to finished trousers, you might say. Their goal is to cut their total emissions by half by 2030. To do this, they first need reliable data: "You can't improve what you don't know," says Lena Bay Højland, product director at Fristads. "So we had to find a way to collect accurate data to use as a basis to reduce our environmental impact."

Since 2018, the company has been measuring the environmental impact of three scopes:

• Scope 1: Combustion of fuels in plants and vehicles, and coolant leakage from plants
• Scope 2: Consumption of electricity, district heating and district cooling
• Scope 3: Emissions from the purchase of goods and services such as logistics – this scope is directly linked to the product

Scope 3 has the biggest impact when it comes to the products sustainability. To bring the emissions down, an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) was implemented for the company's own products – the first of its kind in the clothing sector. It lists exactly how many resources are consumed for a product according to the third scope. According to Lena Bay Højland, the data is pretty accurate and is monitored by third parties: "This means that these are not figures that we make up, but they are also checked for accuracy from the outside."

Nevertheless, it is also part of the truth that such measurements and declarations are easier said than done. After all, in Scope 1 and 2 the savings are fairly easy to implement as they cover areas in Fristads own operations, for example through electric cars or the use of solar power. these areas, Fristads has already achieved their set targets. In Scope 3, on the other hand, many factors come into play so that the emissions do not easily drops towards the envisaged target. If the company succeeds in reaching its target in this area as well, it would be a very big step in terms of the environmental impact of the production of textiles – and possibly have a signal effect for competitors.

However, a production with less impact on the environment alone is not enough. The product itself must also fulfil certain criteria in order to be considered (more) sustainable. It’s a must for the product to be durable so that it can be used for as long as possible. And then there is the big picture: the product range. Fristads has changed a lot in recent years: "Ten years ago, our range had to cover everything. For example, there was a real competition to see how many pockets a pair of trousers could have. A pair of trousers had to be able to do practically everything." Today it's different. The products are highly functional yet not overdesigned. It is no longer about offering as many products and colours as possible, but selling more of a specific product that is as sustainable and durable as possible.

And once your own vision has been implemented, the next step is to convince your customers to also use more sustainable options. Only then will the effect be truly sustainable. Fristads offers a special service for its customers: With the "Green Calculator", they can check for themselves how their environmental footprint is reduced if they choose workwear with an environmental product declaration. According to Lena Bay Højland, these insights are particularly important for some customers, who sometimes even ask for them. Her dream: "I would like every company to have to provide such figures. Then it would be easier for consumers to compare two garments and choose the option with a lower impact on the climate."

Fristads is making great strides in the right direction. It is a process that takes time.