Biodegradability: Is It Just Another Buzzword?

Sustainability

Biodegradability: Is It Just Another Buzzword?

By Ani Wells and Anatt Finkler

The saying “news travels fast” has a whole new meaning. News doesn’t just travel fast, it travels instantly. And this is why we have a major problem with buzzwords becoming instantly popular. Biodegradability and compostability claims are used interchangeably far too often. But, with no consumer education surrounding these claims, how are consumers equipped to compost or recycle their garments properly?

First, it is important to note the difference between biodegradability and compostability. Even though biodegradable materials return to nature and can disappear completely, they can leave behind an unwanted residue, whereas compostable materials leave behind a nutrient-rich organic material called humus, which creates a healthy soil environment for new plant growth. For further information on the differences between the two, see this post.

Whether an item is compostable or simply biodegradable, it requires to be placed in an environment that facilitates its breakdown. Just as with traditional recycling, composting rates depend greatly on the infrastructure available, and compared to recycling, very few of these facilities exist for the big demand of unsold and throw away clothing the industry is facing. So these claims become more a problem than a solution because of the lack of education and infrastructure around it.

With all of these variables, it is imperative for businesses to clearly communicate what they mean when they say “biodegradable” or “compostable.” For brands to label themselves “compostable,” 60-90% of the product must break down into C0₂ within 180 days in a commercial composting facility. However, there is no internationally recognized definition specifying how long it should takes for something to degrade to be considered “biodegradable.” Therefore, brands must tell consumers what the benefits of their biodegradability claims are. Additionally, brands need to provide education on how to properly dispose of their products or refer them to facilities that can do so for them.

But let’s not forget, compostability and biodegradability have to be the very last step of the process. We have to design for a Circular Economy.

According to the CFDA Guide for Sustainable Strategies, “One current goal for sustainability in fashion is the creation of a circular product cycle and economy. Circularity, also known as the Cradle to Cradle approach, is the idea that products not only cause no harm, but actually benefit people and the environment along the entire product’s life cycle. Cradle to Cradle proposes a future “where design is a positive, regenerative force, producing effects that we want to expand rather than shrink.” In addition to having a positive impact, products create no waste – all materials are either infinitely recyclable or biodegradable.” (Of course this is an ideal reality, as we know even with recycling, fibers create microfibers, which lead to pollution. So merging recyclability with biodegradability properties is highly important. )

Designing for circularity can take many forms depending on the purpose of the product. We can look at this from 5 different approaches: durability, longevity, reparability, disassembly and recyclability.

When designing for longevity, durability and reparability, the aim is to extend the use of a garment. On the other hand, when designing for disassembly, recyclability or biodegradability, the aim is to ensure that products and materials return to the system and can be regenerated.

Quoting the GFA, “The design approach for a product will depend on its specific function. A product’s intended use should guide its longevity and circularity. Products designed for longevity require, for example, taking the durability of the material chosen into consideration. Whereas biodegradability might be prioritized for garments that are intended to have a short lifespan.”

Denim, for example, is a durable fabric. It is made to last and intended to be repaired, but it can also be recycled at the product’s end of life. A good pair of jeans should be made to endure the test of time and the wearer’s life. With this mentality, we started to question if advertising a jean as biodegradable or using its biodegradable components for marketing claims even makes sense?

After an inspiring conversation with David Breslauer, co-founder of Bolt Threads, we came to the conclusion that using renewable materials as inputs is always a positive, but they must be sourced in a responsible and regenerative manner and ensure they don’t jeopardize the quality of the end product. Currently, the aim is to design cleaner and with greener materials that have longevity and recyclability in mind to finally achieve circularity.

Selecting the most sustainable method of design also completely depends on the type of product. So jeans, for example, should be designed for reparability and longevity as a priority, while biodegradability would be better suited for underwear or socks.
*If you wish to know more about the Circular design approaches, we recommend you to read through the “Circular Design Toolbox” by the Global Fashion Agenda.

Sustainable clothing company Vaude states the following and we can agree: “The solution cannot be just to replace all clothing to biodegradable – durability and recyclability is the solution. That’s why the focus has moved past biodegradability to circular design.”

There are some downsides to biodegradability now at days that eventually need to be solved and tackled. Even if biodegradability fits best with the nature cycle, as an industry-wide solution, it represents a much more complicated problem due to the following reasons:

1. Biodegradation as a product’s end-of-life strategy, without it having the ability to be repurposed or recycled can be seen to be wasteful.
2. Biodegradation emits greenhouse gases CO2 and methane in significant quantities.
3. If a product is technically biodegradable, the process itself is not straightforward.
4. Biodegradation also requires the right conditions to happen, as mentioned above.
5. If biodegradable materials are blended with non biodegradable ones, treated with synthetic dyes, chemicals, finishes or coatings then the process becomes obsolete, and represents a threat to the environment.
6. Designing for biodegradability only has value if products are returned to the right place and customers are well aware and informed about this.

Providing information on how and where a product was made, along with tips on how to care, repair and recycle, or given its end life, places to compost or companies that help biodegrading is a decisive and an important factor to ensure the circularity of design. If customers are not well informed and educated, the probability of circling a product declines and turns into a very difficult task.

Approaches we can take to mitigate the impact and enhance this are the following:

1. Increase communication and collaboration; create new systems and new partnerships that circle around this.
2. Education at every level (product developers, designers, sourcing and supply teams) into thinking circularly and using lessons learned, cases, practices and tools applied.
3. Develop systems and companies to collect textiles and either recycle, repair, compost or help biodegrade. One of the biggest challenges will be to attract investors and dedicated scientists who will continue to invest money and time in building these tools. For example, Saitex partners with Atelier and Repairs to upcycle unused denim and keep unwanted jeans in rotation longer. Once they can longer be repaired, Saitex has also partnered with a textile recycler that turns discarded textiles into tiles.
4. And finally, even if there is industry fatigue around the matter of certification, maybe what we need right now to avoid false or wrong marketing and open loops in this area is a certification for compostability and/or biodegradability put in place industry wide. These claims shouldn’t be put vaguely and it’s imperative for them to be sustained all the way through the supply chain. We have seen these certifications in the plastic industry, but as textiles concern, Hohenstein is the only company we have found to provide some sort of biodegradation certificates in textiles and yet it’s very vague.

We can’t say a jean is biodegradable just because the cotton it contains is organic. What happens when dyestuffs or coatings are non-biodegradable and finished with trims that are hard to be disassembled? This can break the entire degradation cycle and actually harm the soil and environment.

Our way of thinking has to be changed, and shifted for good. We have to design for circularity, aiming for biodegradable materials because they are better, but we must not use biodegradability as a marketing ploy. Go for materials that are genuinely good for the environment: responsibly sourced hemp, cotton, linen, and manmade cellulosic fibers such as TENCEL™ lyocell and REFIBRA™ technology.

So what can we do? Buy garments that last longer, use them longer, repair them, and then recycle them. Buy better materials, and listen to inspirational success stories. Don’t buy into the buzzwords that create misinformation and confusion. Don’t go after eco conformism. Give meaning to these words. Create a consciousness around them and at the end of the day, never stop asking questions.

As Bert Van Son, owner and founder of MUD jeans recently expressed on the latest Fashinnovation talks, “Good is the new cool and people like to talk about their clothes and how good they are. But education is of essence.”

**post photo credit: EcoTextile News