Life Cycle Assessments of Textile Products: A Study Related to Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Production, Use, and Disposal

The textile industry has been identified as one of the most environmentally polluting industries in the entire world. The textile industry, especially the “fast fashion” trend, has a number of adverse impacts on the environment as well as a large number of individuals involved in the production of inexpensive clothing. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper aimed to present a Life cycle evaluation of textile goods, which would analyze the environmental effect of textile product manufacture, usage, and disposal. In light of these considerations, this review paper's central argument is on the disclosure of data on the assessment of life cycle assessment (LCA) of textile goods via production, use, and disposal in relation to environmental impacts. This statement of the research problem is based on the existing gap in the review of the literature concerning the framework of the role of implementation of environmental economics. The primary goal of this paper is grounded on an examination of the production, consumption, and disposal phases of the textile industry’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the context of environmental economics.  The methodology of the paper is based on the review of selected related literature concerning the debate and feature of the life cycle assessment of textile products by their production, use, and disposal. In these consequences, the present review paper presents a base for developing an understanding of the phenomena of the role of the life cycle assessment. Additionally, the review of this paper is based on the thematic and systematic analysis of the justification of the objectives according to the nature of the study. The current paper utilized the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique because the overall environmental impact of a textile product or process could be most effectively evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA), which is a technique for assessing environmental impacts related to every phase of a product’s life, including raw material extraction, processing, manufacturing, distribution, and use. The research showed that the major problems that make the textile and clothing life cycles unsustainable are the excessive use of water and energy, the application of harmful chemicals, the production of large quantities of solid and gaseous wastes, the employment of non-biodegradable packaging materials, and the use of large quantities of fuel for transportation to geographically dispersed textile units. In addition, the paper concluded that LCA should be performed routinely, especially for new goods and procedures, to monitor their impact on the environment and to suggest the necessary measures that should be taken to reduce the pollution burden and make textile products and processes sustainable. In light of these considerations, this paper provides policy-based recommendations for improving the quality of future research into the effects of globalization on the sustainability of the textile industry's production, consumption, and disposal processes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52783/jier.v4i2.983