Report:

Part: Task: Responsibility Done

Part 1: Functional unit Describe the product to beassessed and the unit ofanalysis

Jeremy Yes

Part 2: Goal and scope definition Set goals for improvement andexplain why these targets arechosen

Scopesetting: Define what isincluded in the LCA and whatis not

Shuyao Yes

Part 3: Draw a map of the productlife cycle

Draw a map of the product lifecycle- Cradle-to-CradleAnd put the old one from task 2in the same format

Yutong Xiao Yes

Part 4: Inventory justification -which materials are used and why

Inventory justification for theold jacket

Inventory justification for thenew jacket

Bernette &Jeremy

Mahrad (&Tina)

Yes

Yes

Part 5: show impact findings anddiscuss improvements, (andworsenings)

Discuss the profound impact ofthe sustainable jacket, anddiscuss improvements (andworsening)

Shuyao Yes

Great example of a report:http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:60169/bin9610d212-486d-4cf5-b08d-5ce9b524e530?view=true&xy=01

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Group 7:LCA Report

Functional units:

The baseline inferior coat that has been examined is a fast-fashion jacket from the H&M brand. Fast

fashion can be referred to as a clothing supply chain model intended to follow the latest fashion trends

(Byun & Sternquist, 2011; Moore & Fernie, 2004). Examples of retailers that produce fast fashion are

H&M and ZARA, retailers like these change their collection roughly every three to five weeks (Hu et al.

2014). The average lifetime of a fast fashion jacket is around three years (Charpail 2017). Therefore the

functional unit is set to be three years.

To extend the lifetime of the sustainable jacket we’re intending to produce we choose materials

with a longer lifespan. As a brand we also want to provide a free repair service. To stimulate our

customers to use the products to their full potential lifespan, customers can return their products after ten

years. By returning the used product, customers will receive a discount on a new product. This will

function as an incentive to use the jacket longer, whilst creating brand loyalty. The used jackets can be

reused or recycled, to limit their environmental damage. Therefore, the functional unit of the jacket is

defined as “10 years” and can be increased based upon whether the jacket can still be reused.

Scope of the LCA

We consider combining clothing with sustainable development. Generally speaking, the directions that

need to be considered are clothing design, clothing raw materials and clothing production. Based on the

transformation of existing designs, our design mainly focuses on clothing raw materials and clothing

production. In doing so, the focus of this LCA is from cradle to gate. To make our goals for improvement

smart, we propose that the durability of the jacket improves with at least 333% due to the superior quality

of the jacket (Vieira et al., 2016)., increasing it from a three year lifespan, to a ten year lifespan. When it

comes to the impact of the production process, we would like to improve water use by at least 20%, and

land use by 30%.

Improved design

Liberalized combination

Under normal circumstances, the main reason people frequently buy clothing is to update their image by

changing their clothes. Based on this, if we can design a garment which is modular, it can be worn in

more seasons. By doing so, the usage rate will improve as well by at least 50%, assuming that the jacket is

now worn in at least two seasons due to the modularity (Mclauchlan, 2015).

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Old clothes transformation

The transformation of old clothes is a kind of "thinking savings", which can increase the reuse rate of

clothes and the number of wearing times. Through the redesign of old clothes, it shows the sense of

frugality, and can create new fashions through your own creativity and handwork. So as to experience the

fun of hand-made clothing. To put it simply, it is to "defamiliarize" the daily discarded or outdated

clothing, and then combine it with personal design concepts and methods to give it new life, that is, to

redesign and remake existing clothing. As a result of these efforts, we focus on giving the customer a

discount after ten years, which incentivizes them to use the clothes longer. The clothes that have been

brought in can then be used in new products, or be donated to the secondhand clothing market (Jönsson &

Wätthammar, 2013).

Leftovers and accessories

The decoration of leftover materials is the use of leftover fabrics of clothing for decorations such as

ribbons, buttons, etc. This approach not only adds design highlights to the clothing, but also strengthens

the inherent saving and utilization of clothing design and the environmental protection of resources, and

cleverly integrates clothing design and environmental protection awareness. Combine them to create a

green, ecological and sustainable clothing style. Moreover, the use of leftover materials can echo the style

of clothing fabrics and complement each other.

Clothing materials

Sustainable dyeing process

At the level of apparel fabrics, manual printing and dyeing can be said to be an important means for

sustainable development of apparel fabrics. Combining traditional handicrafts and using environmentally

friendly dyes to dye or print fabrics can not only carry forward the traditional handicrafts, but also provide

a new direction for the design of clothing fabrics. Nowadays, many sustainable dyeing processes have

emerged, such as recycling waste jeans and grinding them into powder as dyeing pigments, which not

only reduces the pollution of waste jeans to the environment, but also recycles them.

Vigorously develop new materials

The development of new environmentally friendly fabrics is also an important means for the sustainable

development of clothing. Such as outdoor sports clothing, need to have the functions of UV protection,

windproof, waterproof, cold protection, moisture absorption and sweat wicking; another example is the

very popular soybean protein fiber fabric, which contains a variety of natural amino acids, which is

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healthy, soft and comfortable. Features such as functionality. At the same time, many clothing

manufacturers are now beginning to cultivate colorful cotton, linen, silk, etc., so as to ensure

environmental protection while taking into account the aesthetics of clothing (Plieth et al., 2012).

Clothing manufacturers are also paying more and more attention to selecting materials from nature, such

as: pineapple, banana velvet, colored cotton, pineapple leaf fiber, abaca, etc., to fundamentally ensure the

sustainability and environmental protection of clothing design. Moreover, a trend can be spotted in which

consumers are increasingly interested in utilizing clothes made from sustainable materials (Reich, 2017;

Nakano, 2007).

Clothing technology

Nowadays, handmade is more and more sought after by the public, and manualization and classicization

have become a new trend. Hand-made clothing is more embodied in the high-level customization of

clothing. The addition of hand-crafted craftsmanship in clothing design, such as hand-beading,

hand-embroidered, etc., can not only increase the beauty of the clothing, make consumers cherish the

clothing, but also extend it. An effective method for the service life of clothing.

We have also considered the energy loss that may be caused during the processing process as much as

possible in the design, and set the goal of minimizing energy consumption as one of the goals.

Mapping the product life cycle

look at 5 steps of a product lifecycle for an example:

https://ecochain.com/knowledge/life-cycle-assessment-lca-guide/

According to the 5 steps of a product life cycle including raw material extraction, manufacturing and

processing, transportation, usage and retail, waste disposal, the life cycle of moduled jacket from raw

material to production at end-of-use is shown by a brief and legible product life cycle figure (Liebsch,

2021) . Compared with the life cycle of the old jacket, the new cycle shows great advantages not only in

energy consumption but also in recycling chain design. The life cycle map can be found in appendix C.

Inputs for the LCA (inferior product)

The materials for the old jacket comprised of the following materials, which were used as inputs for the

LCA impacts calculation. For the aluminium zipper, the material of Aluminium DC cast inGOT has been

utilized. This is a typical process for producing aluminium alloys (Grandfield, 2011). For the lining of the

jacket, the outer layer of the jacket, and for the polyester stuffing, polyester polyols have been used as

inputs as provided on the label. Lastly, for the coating of the material to make it waterproof, the material

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of fluoropolymer has likely been used which is typically used for the coating of synthetic fibers and a

density of 3 mg per cm2 is utilized (Kureha, n.d.). Below you can find a table with an overview of how

much of each material has been used.

Table 1:Overview of materials used as inputs for the LCA Process of the inferior jacket

Product type: Material used: Amount:

Aluminium Zipper Aluminium DC cast inGOT 61.1

Lining of the jacket polyester polyols 148.3

Outer layer of the jacket polyester polyols 331

Polyester stuffing polyester polyols 148.7

Coating fluoropolymer 19.2

Inputs for the LCA (sustainable jacket)

For the new jacket, most of the parts we used as inputs on LCA are natural materials. The jacket includes

five parts. The Sustainable zipper is produced by the largest zipper producer worldwide KYY, and the

material used is molasses, which is a byproduct from sugar production (GreenRiseTM, 2021). Moreover,

the main ingredients for the jacket are hemp & lyocell, which have been proven to be a more durable

alternative than cotton. We opted for a 55% hemp and 45% lyocell proportion, of which 295 g/m2 is used,

this includes stitches (Baghaei & Skrifvars, 2016). A sustainable coating layer is considered to makes the

coat waterproof, based upon the Liquiglide technology (Ondrey, 2016). Additionally, aluminum buttons

are also used, as these can be recycled an infinite number of times. The exact amount of materials are

shown in the table below:

Table 2:

Overview of materials used as input for the LCA process of the sustainable jacket

Product Type Materials Used Amount

Sustainable Zipper50% of recycled wastes of sugar wastes, 50% syntheticmaterials 30 gr

Main Fabric 55% Hemp, 45% Lyocell (Recycled Natural Fiber) 420 gr

Buttons Aluminum 25 gr

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Waterproof Layer Waterproof coating material 200 gr

Fillings Stuff Bamboo Fillings (Recycled Natural Fiber) 100 gr

Impact findingsIn the production process of the fashion textile industry, a large number of non-renewable resources areextracted. These non-renewable resources include: petroleum for the production of synthetic fibers,fertilizers for the cultivation of cotton, production, dyes, and chemicals for fibers and textiles, reaching 98million tons per year. Among them, 20% of global industrial water pollution is caused by the dyeing andtreatment of textiles. As a result of this, we aimed to reduce the amount of chemicals used in theproduction process. Based on this direction of thinking, we considered the pollution and energyconsumption caused by ordinary jackets, and the relevant data is displayed in our LCA charts of oldjacket in detail.

In addition, since so much waste can be generated during the garment production process, can itbe recycled? The answer is yes. However, only a small amount of clothing in the entire industry can berecycled in a certain form. And these secondary recyclables can usually only be turned into other low-endapplications, rather than re-turned into main raw materials, such as insulation materials, cleaning cloths,mattress padding, etc. When we design, we don't just apply "sustainability" to outlook or industry, but toeverything. So, the question can eventually become, what function do we need this piece of clothing tohave? What does its production have to go through? Who is it for? Can it be recycled?

Based on the above considerations, we further considered the application of materials. Becausesome materials do not mean that they are difficult to recycle or degrade, but that the fabric itself willcause a lot of pollution during the production process. The so-called environmentally-friendly productionis energy-saving, water-saving, energy-saving and emission reduction, and sewage treatment inproduction. It is also possible to reduce the use of chemical agents and the consumption of waterresources in the production process by optimizing the process. These are all directions that we can thinkabout in the future, but the system is too large, so at present we only consider the choice of materials.Depending on the above considerations, we designed our new jacket.

In the new design, in addition to energy consumption and resource consumption, pollution andeconomic toxicity are also considered. In the raw materials of clothing, we use more environmentallyfriendly fabrics, while also considering the functionality of a jacket. Precisely, our new jacket includes 5parts, Aluminum Buttons, Sustainable Zipper, Hemp and Lyocell Fabrics, Water Resistant Layer, Bamboofilling separately, of which the energy put in two directions, Recycling and Coating powder. In our LCApart, we analysed the powder into different elements, for example, the land use and resource use etc. Aswell as calculating the final amount of the energy waste, shows far lower than the chosen old jacket. Inthese dimensions, we will continue to modify and improve, but in the current direction, as can be seenfrom the LCA chart, the magnitude of the pollution generated by the new jacket is much smaller than theold jacket. In the subsequent joint work, we first want to perfect the prototype of this jacket, and on thisbasis, consider more long-term possibilities, for our better environment and slower climate change. But atleast for now, the presentation of data is sufficient to support our vision of sustainable development,which is also an incentive for us to be proud of.

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Please find the excel file with the impact from the old jacket herePlease find the screenshots with the impacts from the old jacket LCA in the appendix.

Old jacket impacts:

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References

Baghaei, B., & Skrifvars, M. (2016). Characterisation of polylactic acid biocomposites made from

prepregs composed of woven polylactic acid/hemp–lyocell hybrid yarn fabrics. Composites Part A:

Applied Science and Manufacturing, 81, 139-144.

Byun, S.-E., Sternquist, B., 2011. Fast Fashion and In-Store Hoarding: The Drivers, Moderator, and

Consequences. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 29(3), 187–201.

Charpail, M. (2017). Fashion's Environmental Impact [Internet]. Available from

https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/old-environmental-impacts [Accessed 27th of October 2021].

Grandfield, J. (2011). Ingot casting and casthouse metallurgy of aluminium and its alloys. Fundamentals

of Aluminium Metallurgy, 83–140. https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857090256.1.83

GreenRiseTM. (2021, 18 februari). YKK. Geraadpleegd op 29 oktober 2021, van

https://ykkamericas.com/product/greenrise/

Hu, Z.-H., Li, Q., Chen, X.-J., Wang, Y.-F. (2014). Sustainable Rent-Based Closed-Loop Supply Chain for

Fashion Products. Sustainability 6(10), 7063–7088.

J Jönsson, T Wätthammar. Sustainable shopping : consumer behavior in purchasing and donating

secondhand clothes. 2013.

Kureha Corporation. (2019). KF Polymer.

https://www.kureha.co.jp/en/business/material/pdf/KFpolymer_en.pdf

Liebsch, T. (2021, 24 augustus). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – Complete Beginner’s Guide.

Ecochain. Geraadpleegd op 29 oktober 2021, van

https://ecochain.com/knowledge/life-cycle-assessment-lca-guide/

Mclauchlan S. Crafting sustainable repairs: Practised based approaches to extending the life of

clothes[J]. 2015.

Nakano, Yukie. Perceptions Towards Clothes with Recycled Content and Environmental

Awareness: the Development of End Markets[J]. Ecotextiles, 2007:3-14.

Ondrey, G. (2016). Engineering surfaces to repel all liquids. Chemical Engineering, 123(7), 16.

Plieth H , Bullinger A C, Hansen E G . Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Apparel Industry -

The Case of Manomama[J]. Social Science Electronic Publishing, 2012, 45:121–134.

Reich A. The social influence motivating middle-aged Germans to purchase sustainable clothes[J]. 2017.

Vieira G G, Varela L R, Ribeiro R A. A Knowledge Based System for Supporting Sustainable

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Industrial Management in a Clothes Manufacturing Company Based on a Data Fusion Model[C]

International Conference on Decision Support System Technology. Springer International

Publishing, 2016.

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Appendix:

Appendix A: screenshots from the old LCA

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Reducing the land-use impact by at least 30%.

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Worsens in land use

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Improvement in water use

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Appendix B: Life Cycle Assessment Map(Please open the link and view the figure in high definition.)Life cycle of old jacket:Polypart-lin, Online Whiteboard for Visual Collaboration (miro.com)Life cycle of new jacket:

Module Jacket-Xiao.pdf

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