DEFRA Clothing Action Plan

As part of Defra’s Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) programme, a voluntary clothing industry initiative was co-ordinated by Defra with the aim to improve the environmental and ethical performance of clothing. The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap aims to improve the environmental and social performance of clothing, building on existing initiatives and by co-ordinating action by key clothing supply chain stakeholders. Although organisations in the clothing supply chain have already taken significant steps to reduce adverse environmental and social impacts, further industry-wide co-operation and agreed commitments will enable that process to accelerate. That is the rationale behind the collaborative nature of the roadmap. The DEFRA initiative is now a WRAP (Waste Resources Action Plan) initiative. Centre for Sustainable Fashion participate on the WRAP steering group and the sub groups on design and recycling. Dilys Williams advised this report's lead author

Wasting food, wasting resources: Potential environmental savings through food waste reductions

Food is needed to maintain our physical integrity and therefore meets a most basic human need. The food sector got in the focus of environmental policy, because of its environmental implications and its inefficiency in terms of the amount of food lost along the value chain. The European Commission (EC) flagged the food waste issue a few years ago and adopted since then a series of policies that partially address the problem. Among these, the Resource Efficiency Roadmap set the aspirational goal of reducing the resource inputs in the food chain by 20% and halving the disposal of edible food waste by 2020. Focusing on consumer food waste, we tested what a reduction following the Roadmap's food waste target would imply for four environmental categories in EU28 (European Union 28 Member States): greenhouse gas emissions, land use, blue water consumption, and material use. Compared to the 2011 levels, reaching the target would lead to 2% to 7% reductions of the total footprint depending on the environmental category. This equals a 10% to 11% decrease in inputs in the food value chain (i.e., around half of the resource use reductions targeted). The vast majority of potential gains are related to households, rather than the food-related services. Most likely, the 2020 target will not be met, since there is insufficient action both at Member State and European levels. The Sustainable Development Goals provide a new milestone for reducing edible food waste, but Europe needs to rise up to the challenge of decreasing its per capita food waste generation by 50% by 2030

Closed-loop supply chain potential of agricultural plastic waste : Economic and environmental assessment of bale wrap waste recycling in Finland

It is estimated that 12000 tons of plastic waste is annually generated from the agricultural sector in Finland, and more than half of it comprises bale wrap films. Up to 70% of plastic film waste from the agricultural sector in Finland goes into landfills, and only around 10% is recycled. Recycling plastic material is desirable in order to close the loop in achieving a circular economy. This paper aims to assess the environmental and economic implications of bale wrap collection and recycling within the Finnish context. Two different collection scenarios, S1 (once a year collection) and S2 (twice a year collection), covering 179 farms, were assessed. The research applied vehicle routing problem and environmental life cycle costing to quantify the cost and environmental impact per ton of granulate recycled material produced. It took a consequential approach, where the system boundary was expanded, and product substitution was considered. Overall, S1 offers 27% more economic savings with 36% less global warming potential (GWP) than S2. The collection phase, which has not commonly been included in existing recycling studies, shows significance in both scenarios. Although it only contributed about 0.7-1.2% to GWP, collection accounted for 32-36% of the total economic cost. Critical parameters were primarily associated with the market substitution factor and material loss during the recycling process. This study demonstrates that recycling bale wrap can provide environmental and economic savings. Furthermore, it shows the importance of decision-makers in prioritizing goals to balance environmental and economic objectives.©2021 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Toward circularity : life cycle-based approach in waste management

Our current “throwaway” lifestyle places great strain on the environment; resources that enter the economy remain for only a short period and are quickly disposed of. This dissertation aims to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of shifting toward more circular economy (CE) practices that advocate value retention for as long as possible within the economy. The research was carried out by conceptualizing CE and solving real cases focusing on the product end-of-life (EoL) stage. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was the main tool used to assess environmental impacts of different circular scenarios. The tool was paired with life cycle costing (LCC) to evaluate economic performances. Three cases in Finland were assessed: shifting toward source-separated biowaste collection, establishing an agricultural plastics waste recycling system, and waste-to-energy optimization. It was found that CE covers multiple aspects within the value chain; thus, its adoption model can occur at any stage of the value chain, thereby enabling various stakeholders to be more circular through different actions. The cases suggested that being more circular at the EoL stage may improve value retention through secondary material production, waste treatment by-products, and energy recovery. Shifting toward circularity was shown to be economically and environmentally viable. The dissertation illustrated the importance of stakeholders’ collaboration because a circular approach could affect all actors within the supply chain, including manufacturing, the energy sector, and society. The study showed that it is important to quantify environmental impacts of products or services, and to date, LCA remains the most suitable tool for quantifying results and evaluating options. In addition, a combination with LCC will provide more comprehensive results to anticipate any trade-off between environmental and economic aspects. CE must start somewhere, so let it start with organizations evaluating their environmental performance to identify better alternatives, define targets, and foster circularity in the long run.Nykyinen kertakäyttöelämäntapa aiheuttaa painetta ympäristölle. Monia raaka-aineita, joita käytetään taloudessa, hyödynnetään vain lyhyen aikaa ja hävitetään nopeasti. Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena on arvioida taloudellisia ja ympäristövaikutuksia yritysten siirtymisessä kohti kiertotalouden (CE) käytäntöjä, joiden avulla pyritään arvon säilyttämiseen mahdollisimman pitkään. Tutkimus toteutettiin tarkastelemalla kiertotalouden käsitteitä ja esittämällä ratkaisumalleja tapaustutkimuksiin, joissa keskityttiin tuotteen elinkaaren loppuvaiheeseen (EoL). Elinkaariarviointi (LCA) oli näissä tärkein työkalu erilaisten kiertoskenaarioiden ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnissa. Tämä työkalu yhdistettiin elinkaarikustannuslaskentaan (LCC) taloudellisen suorituskyvyn arvioimiseksi. Kolme tapaustutkimusta toteutettiin Suomessa: (1) siirtyminen biojätteen lajittelukeräykseen, (2) maatalouden muovijätteen kierrätysjärjestelmän suunnittelu ja (3) jätteen energian optimointi. Tulokset osoittivat, että kiertotalouden avulla voidaan kattaa useita arvoketjun näkökohtia; käyttöönotto voidaan toteuttaa millä tahansa arvoketjun tasolla, ja eri sidosryhmät voivat lisätä kiertoa eri toimien kautta. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että kierron lisääminen EoL-vaiheessa voisi parantaa arvon säilyttämistä uusiomateriaalituotannon, jätteenkäsittelyn sivutuotteiden ja energian talteenoton avulla. Tyyppitapausten perusteella yritysten siirtyminen kiertotalouskäytäntöihin osoittautui sekä taloudellisesti ja ympäristön kannalta kannattavaksi. Työn tulokset ovat havainnollistaneet sidosryhmien yhteistyön tärkeyttä. Kierron rakentaminen voi vaikuttaa kaikkiin toimitusketjun toimijoihin, mukaan lukien valmistus, energiantuotanto ja yhteiskunta laajemmin. Tutkimus osoitti, että tuotteiden tai palveluiden ympäristövaikutusten kvantitatiivinen mittaaminen on tärkeää, ja LCA on edelleen sopivin väline tulosten kvantifiointiin ja erilaisten vaihtoehtojen keskinäiseen arviointiin. Elinkaarilaskelmaan yhdistettynä elinkaarikustannuslaskentaan saadaan aikaan kattavampia tuloksia, joilla voidaan vertailla ympäristö- ja talousnäkökohtien mahdollisia ristiriitoja. Kiertotaloustyö on aloitettava jostain, ja se voi alkaa siitä, että organisaatiot mittaavat ympäristötehokkuuttaan rakentaakseen parempia vaihtoehtoja, määritelläkseen tavoitteitaan ja edistääkseen kiertojen kehittymistä pitkällä aikavälillä.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The Environmental Impact and Formation of Meals from the Pilot Year of a Las Vegas Convention Food Rescue Program

Annually, millions of tonnes of leftover edible foods are sent to landfill. Not only does this harm the environment by increasing the release of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, but it poses a question of ethics given that nearly 16 million households are food insecure in the US, and hundreds of millions of people around the globe. The purpose of this study was to document the amount of food diverted from landfill in the pilot year of a convention food rescue program and to determine the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided by the diversion of such food. In the pilot year of the convention food rescue program 24,703 kg of food were diverted. It is estimated that 108 metric tonnes of GHG emmisions were avoided as a result, while 45,383 meals for food insecure individuals were produced. These findings have significant implications for public and environmental health, as GHG emissions have a destructive effect on the earth’s atmosphere and rescued food can be redistributed to food insecure individuals

Product development and supply: help or hindrance to clothing longevity?

Designing longer lasting clothing helps to reduce unsustainable levels of product disposal and subsequent waste. This has led to a call for retailers to enhance clothing longevity, supported by new business models to reduce any impact on competitiveness. While some research suggests that a significant proportion of consumers would buy longer lasting clothes, this view is not necessarily accepted by industry strategists. This paper, which reports on research undertaken for WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), explores conflicting priorities between commercial and sustainable practice, and problematic trade-offs in the supply chain between commercial, technical and design aspects of reducing the environmental impact of clothing. The study adopted a mixed methodology, incorporating qualitative interviews and a survey, and encompasses views of retailers, manufacturers and suppliers from different segments of the UK fashion market. The findings confirm that retailers and brands drive the new product development process and set standards for their supply chains, but globalization, product churn and testing regimes challenge the critical path schedule. Although current tests confirm product quality (WRAP, 2013), there is a perception within industry that designing for longevity increases testing, inflating the risk of failure and extending lead-times, resulting in a mismatch between cost, time and longevity priorities that limits adoption of design for longevity. Meanwhile, clothing longevity is not perceived to add value for many consumers and therefore is not prioritised. While it is technically possible to enhance clothing longevity, the findings demonstrate empirically that this deviates from current commercial drivers of global clothing supply chains. By combining different perspectives on supply chains, new product development and sustainability, inherent conflicts are revealed