Sustainability might increase the cost of apparel and textiles until some suitable alternate plastic packing is found to preserve the finished textile products from dust and water. The spoiled apparel besides causing loss to the manufacturer also increases environmental damage.
Experts point out that manufacturing a single shirt consumes 700 gallons of water. While producing a pair of jeans consumes 2000 gallons of water. This is besides the other inputs used in the manufacture of apparel. That includes dyes and microfibers into water streams and the carbon footprint of fossil-fuel manufacturing and shipments. Thus every garment produced comes with a massive eco-cost.
If the consignment of garments is damaged by rain during transportation or on the ship and makes them unsalable the whole exercise would go in vain. We have damaged the environment during production but the garments were useless for the consumers. To replace the spoiled clothes the manufacturer would have to replace them after fresh manufacturing.
The economic toll on the lives of the laborers and suppliers involved is another aspect to look at. The wasted apparel would be dumped in landfill to generate carbon effluents and pollutants. As a result, the environmental damage due to damaged clothes far outweighs the one posed by plastic packets.
A study of alternative packaging materials at manufacturing units showed that 30 percent of the garments were so damaged that they were not sellable anymore. So, the only practical way to deal with plastic is that it is phased out as we find eco-friendly packaging alternatives.
Plastic packaging a dilemma for apparel manufacturers
