Chemicals are used to deliver specific functions to the manufacturing process and the final garment. Many of these chemicals are not easily reused, recycled or degradable, yet they are hazardous and routinely discharged to the environment, which can cause pollution.

Chemical pollution has been linked to multiple health problems and a recent study published in 2017 by The Lancet’s Commission on pollution and health, found that pollution is the world’s greatest environmental threat to health.

The fashion and textile industry is facing increased pressure and scrutiny from customers, advocacy groups and regulatory agencies to address the use of hazardous chemicals in the production process. Eliminating waste and toxins from the supply chain requires action from a wide range of parties, yet few are aware of the complex chemistry involved. Finding the right language and level of conversation is important in order for internal and external stakeholders to grasp the needs and opportunities available to them and take action.

The report evaluates the thousand or so individual chemicals on major industry restricted substance lists; i) acutely toxic or hazardous, ii) carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction (CMR), iii) persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) and iv) endocrine disruptors (ED). These chemicals are organized into 46 classes of chemicals and further mapped onto six broader groups of chemicals of concern: amines, dyes, halogenated chemicals, metals, monomers and solvents. 

Examples are subsequently provided on how easy it is to find alternatives i.e. classes of chemicals for which safer alternatives are available, and classes of chemicals that either do not have available alternatives or have emerging alternatives that need more development.

The report also defines five safer chemistry Innovation Areas within the fashion & textile sector: New Materials, New Safer Chemistries, Waterless Processing, Fiber Recycling and Information Systems that Support Supply Chain and Chemicals Management. 

For each innovation area, the report identifies and groups active companies working on safer chemistry, materials and technologies. The information is presented in this manner to highlight the extent of current activity and to help facilitate conversations between multiple stakeholders including brands, mills, ingredient suppliers, investors, innovators and start-up companies.

The Fashion for Good report aims to accelerate sustainable and circular innovation by sharing information about safer chemistry opportunities, so that sector insiders (brands, retailers, chemicals and equipment suppliers, mills) and outsiders (investors, advocacy groups and governments) can have meaningful conversations that result in mutually beneficial partnerships and action to ensure personal and planetary health. 

The information presented is intended to demystify the challenges and to find the right language to facilitate conversations about innovation, to bridge the gap between sustainability from a broader perspective and the detailed technical challenges related to chemistry in the fashion & textile industry. 

By defining the innovation need in relation to function and performance, the report reorients chemical management away from the dominant approach that favours managing the risks associated with a specific chemical of concern and finding substitutes, to evaluating best options to fulfil a specific function.

The report encourages stakeholders throughout the supply chain to get involved with the highlighted initiatives to scale safer chemistry through collaboration.