Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles
Textile fibres are derived from natural and artificial fibres and, in some cases, are blended together to ensure optimum properties. Textiles made from cotton and polyester blends currently hold a significant market share as they are relatively inexpensive, offer excellent performance, and have comp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0061 |
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| author | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Poberznik Mojca Vamza Ilze Blumberga Dagnija |
| author_facet | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Poberznik Mojca Vamza Ilze Blumberga Dagnija |
| author_sort | Valtere Megija |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Textile fibres are derived from natural and artificial fibres and, in some cases, are blended together to ensure optimum properties. Textiles made from cotton and polyester blends currently hold a significant market share as they are relatively inexpensive, offer excellent performance, and have complementary properties. However, the production and consumption of textiles contribute significantly to environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions, but the scale of the impact is uncertain and under debate. This is also the case in studies of cotton and polyester blends, as a detailed life cycle inventory of the production of this material is absent in the scientific literature, thus affecting its environmental impact assessment. Therefore, the study aimed to identify the limitations and assumptions used so far in the environmental assessments of cotton and polyester blends and to assess the uncertainties they may introduce in future environmental assessments. Two methods were used: literature analysis and scenario-based life cycle assessment. The literature analysis summarized five studies and reports that have carried out an environmental assessment of blended textiles and provided inventory data. The results of the life cycle assessment showed that it is not possible to fill the knowledge gap by creating a new life cycle inventory using existing literature data. This is because the uncertainty in results was too high, reaching as much as 772 % difference from the baseline scenario. Nevertheless, this study is a step towards a complete life cycle inventory and can improve the future environmental assessment of textile blends. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-472978e81d9042a8a11be7c09f99f6d8 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2255-8837 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-472978e81d9042a8a11be7c09f99f6d82025-08-20T02:58:03ZengSciendoEnvironmental and Climate Technologies2255-88372024-01-0128110.2478/rtuect-2024-0061Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended TextilesValtere Megija0Bezrucko Tereza1Poberznik Mojca2Vamza Ilze3Blumberga Dagnija4Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, Riga, LV-1048, LatviaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia3Institute for Environmental Protection and Sensors, Ltd., Beloruska 7, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, Riga, LV-1048, LatviaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, Riga, LV-1048, LatviaTextile fibres are derived from natural and artificial fibres and, in some cases, are blended together to ensure optimum properties. Textiles made from cotton and polyester blends currently hold a significant market share as they are relatively inexpensive, offer excellent performance, and have complementary properties. However, the production and consumption of textiles contribute significantly to environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions, but the scale of the impact is uncertain and under debate. This is also the case in studies of cotton and polyester blends, as a detailed life cycle inventory of the production of this material is absent in the scientific literature, thus affecting its environmental impact assessment. Therefore, the study aimed to identify the limitations and assumptions used so far in the environmental assessments of cotton and polyester blends and to assess the uncertainties they may introduce in future environmental assessments. Two methods were used: literature analysis and scenario-based life cycle assessment. The literature analysis summarized five studies and reports that have carried out an environmental assessment of blended textiles and provided inventory data. The results of the life cycle assessment showed that it is not possible to fill the knowledge gap by creating a new life cycle inventory using existing literature data. This is because the uncertainty in results was too high, reaching as much as 772 % difference from the baseline scenario. Nevertheless, this study is a step towards a complete life cycle inventory and can improve the future environmental assessment of textile blends.https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0061cottonenvironmental impactfabriclife cycle inventory (lci)literature analysismixed fibrepolyester |
| spellingShingle | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Poberznik Mojca Vamza Ilze Blumberga Dagnija Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles Environmental and Climate Technologies cotton environmental impact fabric life cycle inventory (lci) literature analysis mixed fibre polyester |
| title | Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles |
| title_full | Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles |
| title_fullStr | Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles |
| title_short | Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Blended Textiles |
| title_sort | uncertainty of life cycle assessment studies for blended textiles |
| topic | cotton environmental impact fabric life cycle inventory (lci) literature analysis mixed fibre polyester |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2024-0061 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT valteremegija uncertaintyoflifecycleassessmentstudiesforblendedtextiles AT bezruckotereza uncertaintyoflifecycleassessmentstudiesforblendedtextiles AT poberznikmojca uncertaintyoflifecycleassessmentstudiesforblendedtextiles AT vamzailze uncertaintyoflifecycleassessmentstudiesforblendedtextiles AT blumbergadagnija uncertaintyoflifecycleassessmentstudiesforblendedtextiles |