The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the ...

The United Kingdom 2004 clothing
and textiles mass balance
The overall mass flow of clothing and textile materials
and products (excluding shoes and leather) in the
United Kingdom in 2004 is shown in the double-page
spread overleaf. The primary data sources used in
preparing the figure are:
• Detailed HM Revenue & Customs 2004 trade data
by value and quantity covering chapters 50 to 63
in the “Combined Nomenclature” classification
system B1 .
• Detailed UK 2004 production data by value and
quantity provided by the British Apparel & Textile
Confederation (BATC) and using the PRODCOM
classification system (PRODucts of the European
COMmunity) B2 .
Further details of the methodology and assumptions
made in preparing this mass balance are given in the
technical annex B3 .
Major material and product
mass balance findings
From the flowchart it can be seen that:
• 3.25 million tonnes of textiles flow through the UK
each year – approximately 55kg per person.
• Of this, half (52%) is imported as textile products,
25% as ‘intermediate products’ mainly fabric, yarn
and non-wovens. The rest is imported fibre and
fibre created in the UK – about 10% each. The
total import of textile materials and products is
about 2.9 million tonnes.
• The UK exports 1.15 million tonnes of clothing and
textiles each year, comprising fibres, fabric and
some completed products (mainly clothing and
carpets). This includes about 200 thousand tonnes
of products for reuse, recycling and final waste
disposal abroad.
• The total UK consumption of textile products is
approximately 2.15 million tonnes equivalent to
approximately 35kg per UK capita. The average
consumer expenditure can therefore be estimated
to be around £20 per kg.
The UK clothing and textile
sector and industry
Several key indicators and findings for the sector and
the industry can be extracted from the figure to the
right B4 B5 B6 :
• About 0.6kg of oil equivalent primary energy is
used in the industry per kg of output (about 0.4%
of the UK total).
• About two kilograms of CO2 equivalent is emitted
to air per kg output (about 0.4% of the UK total).
• Approximately 60kg of water is used (about 0.5%
of UK total) and about 45kg of waste water is
discharged per kg of output. The difference is lost
as evaporation during textile wet processes (e.g.
dyeing).
• About one kg of solid waste arises per kg of output
(about 0.5% of UK total).
• About half of the UK consumption of products
is clothing (about one million tonnes). The major
clothing product categories (both by value and
mass) are “Trousers (woven) etc.”, “Pullovers etc.”
and “T-shirt etc.”. Combined these three clothing
categories represent about half of the total
consumption by mass.
• One fifth of the UK’s annual consumption
by weight of clothing and textile products is
manufactured in the UK (about 0.4 million tonnes).
Of this about one third is carpet alone.
• About two-thirds of the UK import of basic textile
materials (fibres, yarns and fabrics) by mass to the
industry is man-made, the rest is of natural origin
(primarily cotton and wool – about 15% and 10%
respectively).
• Total employment in the industry amounted to 182
thousand people in 2004 (47% in textiles and 53%
in clothing). This is equivalent to a productivity of
about £50 thousand of sales per employee.
• The combined waste from clothing and textiles in
the UK is about 2.35 million tonnes (0.7% of UK
total B4 ), 13% going to material recovery (about
300 thousand tonnes), 13% to incineration and
74% (1.8 million tonnes) to landfill.
16 WELL DRESSED?