TECHNOLOGY
QR TECHNOLOGY :
THE BRIDGE TO A SUSTAINABLE
FASHION INDUSTRY
Supply Chain Digital discusses how the fashion industry supply chains can create a more circular economy and be more sustainable with QR code technology
WRITTEN BY : GEORGIA WILSON
As one of the top polluting industries , Sara Swensen , Global Senior Manager Sustainability at Avery Dennison explains “ there ' s debate whether it ' s the third , fourth or fifth most polluting industry , but it ' s generally well known that about 4 % of global carbon emissions and about 20 % of water pollution comes from the fashion supply chain . So obviously it ’ s massive . On the US side , we dispose of about 70 pounds , which is about 30 to 32 kilogrammes of clothes , every year . So it ' s a growing impact that has dramatically started impacting the world .”
Could Technology be the Answer to Sustainability Challenges ? Year after year , over 100 billion new garments are made , with US $ 450bn worth of textiles thrown away around the world . The emergence of a ‘ fast fashion ’ society has resulted in the average person not only buying 60 % more clothes than in 2000 but also discarding more . On average , a family in the western world throws away 30kg of clothing a year , with only 15 % being recycled or donated .
“ Over the past 20 years , environmental issues have ramped up and ‘ fast fashion ’ is partly to blame ,” says Swenson . “ Fast fashion has changed the mindset of how quickly styles and consumers want to update their clothing lines . But over the past 20 years , consumers purchased about 60 % more clothes than we did in 2000 and we ' re not circulating those materials back in . They ' re really going in a linear fashion : take , make and waste out .
“ We ' ve really switched from having high quality garments to lower quality , more plastic based garments , and out of those that are manufactured every year , about 30 % are just overstocked , they ' re never even sold . So there ' s all these waste stitches along the supply chain that need to be figured out , and then the recirculation of those raw materials back into the supply chain . None of that ' s happening with fast fashion , because everything is done so quickly and consumers want new products so much faster than ever before .”
Adopting a circular economy approach , instead of a linear one can help the fashion industry to become more sustainable . “ A Circular economy is really about designing out that waste and pollution that I was talking about within the supply chain , and then keeping those products and materials in use for as long as possible , and then
76 August 2021