Environmental Issues in Fashion and Product Manufacturing

This essay discusses the environmental issues associated with fashion and product manufacturing, including pollution and water contamination. It also explores the need for sustainability and alternative practices to protect the environment.

How are environmental
issues linked to the fashion and
product manufacturing?

Table of Contents
ESSAY.............................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

ESSAY
The essay is based on the environmental issues that are associated with the fashion and
product manufacturing. Today the community has become more conscious about protection and
preserving the the environment and protect it from polluting. Environment protection consist of
the practices that are undertaken to protect the natural environment by various organisation and
government(Wu, and Li, 2019). The need for preserving arise when it is observed that due to
wastage and chemical that are emitted form the factories are deteriorating the natural
environment. The present essay covers the concept of sustainability and how fashion
manufacturing factories pollutes the water and leaves the carbon footprint when the waste and
chemicals is released in the environment causing various damages to the environment.
Fashion industry is considered as the most important part that contributes in the growth of
the economies. It has been observed that the scope of the fashion industry is increasing rapidly
and will continue to increase in the coming years. The supply chain of this industry is complex
and include designing, raw materials , spinning, dyeing etc. With the evolution various new
styles has been presented in the market but there is one consequences of fast fashion is the
increase in the number of waste that is released and dumped in the water. It leaves pollution
footprint and causes various negative impact on the environment(Enlund, and Nilsson, 2021).
With the rapid increase in the fashion industry , more emphasis is laid on the issues that are
caused due to the waste and chemicals that is released from the factors where the clothes are
manufactured. Environment sustainability is related to the responsibility to conserved the natural
resources and protect the ecosystem and also support the well being of the person. Various
environmental regulations and act has been enacted by the Government which specifies various
provisions related to the protection of the environment. The standards of the sustainable
environment is based on the economic, social and environmental conditions prevailing in the
country.
The worlds water resources are deeply affected by the changes in the climate , population
growth and pollution that is caused from the chemical and wastage that is released form the
factories(Thorisdottir, and Johannsdottir, 2019). It has been observed from the studies that 90%
of the fashion based industry directly contributes to the water pollution which resulted in
contaminated water that is supplied for the consumption. The product manufacturing factories
dump the waste directly into the water which results in damaging and harming the water

resources and the marine animals as well. The clothing materials that is used by the
manufacturing units for example the Synthetic materials such as polyester , nylon that represents
60% of the total clothing material. Polyester is one of most highly used materials in the fashion
industry and is chosen by many manufacturing unit because of its availability , durability and
affordability by the manufacturing units(Sanad, 2021). When these materials are used by the
manufacturing units that is made out the synthetic materials lose their fibres that end up polluting
and damaging the environment. From the research studies it can be said that the fashion industry
is the second largest polluter in the world after the oil industry. As the scope of the industry will
increase the negative impact on the environment will be also increased. The waste that is
dumped by the companies into the water are toxic as it contains the substance such as lead,
mercury that can be harmful for the marine animals and also affect the life of millions of people
that are living near river banks. Various manufacturing units uses the chemicals and fertilizers
for the cotton production which deeply affects the water and pollute it to a large extent. But it is
also necessary to stop these practices that is deteriorating the environment and focus on finding
alternatives that can help in protecting the ecosystem and less pollution in the company. The
companies can choose the organic or natural fibres that do not contain chemicals will cause less
pollution and wastage to the environment(Koszewska, 2018). The fashion industry is the major
water consumer as heavy quantity of water is used in dyeing and finishing process of the clothes
and requires tonnes of water.
With the increase in the manufacturing units there will be increase in the pollution in the
environment and also polluting the water resources. Every manufacturing unit uses chemicals in
their clothes production as it is considered as an important element in the clothing. Chemical are
used during fibre production , bleaching of the clothes. On the other hand the heavy chemicals
that is used while farming of the cotton causes water pollution and also soil degradation. It has
been observed that the UK clothing industry releases about 3.12 million tonnes of Carbon
dioxide. Materials such as polyester and cotton uses causes the highest greenhouse gas in the
production process damaging the environment.
It is responsibility of the company to not only focus on achieving the objectives of the
organisation that is generating profit but also focus on negative impacts that is having from the
manufacturing of such products that is offered by the products in the market. The organization
should be aware about the implication of these practices on the environment. The water pollution

that is caused due to the waste that is dumped results in damaging the aquatic life an also the
health of the people as the water gets contaminated. On the other hand the chemicals that is used
in the bleaching and dyeing and also in the manufacturing process is deeply damaging the
ecosystem that can have long term impact on the community and also causes pollution in the
environment. The organisation that is operating its business in fashion industry should take
various steps in order to reduce its effects on the environment(Pal, and Gander, 2018). Rather
then using chemicals they should switch to using the organic substance that is less toxic and no
chemicals are used while farming which will help in contributing in the preserving the
environment.
It can be concluded from the discussion that it s very necessary to identify the areas in the
manufacturing process that is causing negative impact on the environment. Various organisation
are making efforts in reducing the environment impact for preserving the environment. In order
to protect and preserve the natural resources, environmental laws have been made and
provisions are mentioned which highlights various ways to protect the environment as various
practices that is applied in the production process of the company can have long-term impact on
the environment resulting in to destruction of the ecosystem. The companies can produce the
fashion products which do not cause damage to the environment such as products using raw
materials and without the use of pesticides etc.
The organization that is operating in the fashion industry can use various substance and
non chemical substance which can help in reducing the pollution that is caused and also reducing
the environmental impact on the animals and community. It is also observed that many
organisation and government is making various contributions in protecting environment by
imposing restriction on the company and focusing on sustainable environment that can be helpful
in preserving the natural resources(Goworek, et.al, 2020). With help of making these
contribution and support from the government , it can help in achieving the objectives of
preserving the environment, reduce the pollution that is caused due to the waste and chemicals
and helps in protecting the aquatic life die to the water pollution that is caused due to the
materials that is discharged in the water.

REFERENCES
Enlund, E. and Nilsson, J., 2021. Sustainable Decision-Making in the Fashion Industry: How to
influence the fashion industry to adopt more sustainable packaging solutions.
Goworek, et.al, 2020. Managing sustainability in the fashion business: Challenges in product
development for clothing longevity in the UK. Journal of Business Research, 117,
pp.629-641.
Koszewska, M., 2018. Circular economy—Challenges for the textile and clothing
industry. Autex Research Journal. 18(4). pp.337-347.
Pal, R. and Gander, J., 2018. Modelling environmental value: An examination of sustainable
business models within the fashion industry. Journal of Cleaner Production. 184.
pp.251-263.
Sanad, R.A., 2021. A Study of Ethical and Environmental Issues in the Textile, Clothing and
Fashion Industries. World. 7. p.13.
Thorisdottir, T.S. and Johannsdottir, L., 2019. Sustainability within fashion business models: A
systematic literature review. Sustainability. 11(8). p.2233.
Wu, J.X. and Li, L., 2019. Sustainability initiatives in the fashion industry. In Fashion industry-
An itinerary between feelings and technology. IntechOpen.