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

UK policy should aim at
reducing global impacts
For all three scenarios the global environmental impact
is reduced, but in each case the environmental impact
within the UK alone is increased. This is significant
as UK environmental policy is generally focused on
UK indicators alone, which is politically rational but
environmentally illogical.
Moving production to the
UK has a social cost in
China and India
The base case shows that the contribution
to GNI from these two products is very
much larger in the UK than elsewhere,
due to the higher gross margins
available to retailers, and all three
scenarios lead to increased GNI and
improved balance of trade in the UK as
it becomes more self-sufficient.
Scenario analysis for the T-shirt
United States of America: impacts
161 161
148
313 307
281
969 954 876
75.5
144
448
CCI
WASTE
EI
252 252 231 46.0 10.2 10.2 9.33 2.36
GNI
EMP
However, taking production away from China and
India clearly eliminates any contribution to GNI
from these products and also takes away the jobs
associated with production. Economists traditionally
view the significance of this effect differently in
countries with full employment (UK and USA) and
those with under-employment (China, India). The
logic of the distinction is that in the UK, to a fair
approximation, everyone who wants a job has one
– so adding jobs in clothing production, as happens
dramatically in the first scenario, is only possible by
taking people away from other employment. It is
likely that this will be harmful to the UK economy
– as the free-market will already have led to the
most profitable employment. In contrast, in China
or India, there is an excess supply of people who
would like work, but can’t find it. Their alternative to
employment is subsistence living. Thus the scenarios
taking production from China or India to the UK has
no beneficial effect on UK employment, but is harmful
in China and India as it forces those employed in
producing UK clothing to return to a poorer life.
Moving production from China
to the UK would be expensive
Although the UK’s national income and balance of
trade is improved in all three scenarios, the operating
surplus for the first scenario (shifting production from
China to the UK with no other change) is virtually zero.
The analysis has assumed that the final price to the
consumer is constant, so the high cost of employing
an additional 147,000 people in the UK is paid for
by a loss of profitability among UK companies. It is
Key
CCI
WASTE
EI
BOT
OS
GNI
EMP
Base case
Changing the location
of existing operations
Changed location with
new production technology
Change location with new production
technology and local recycling
Climate Change Impact [thousand tonnes CO 2e
]
Waste [thousand tonnes]
Environmental Impact [thousand PET * ]
Balance of Trade [million £GBP]
Operating Surplus [million £GBP]
Gross National Income [million £GBP]
Employment [thousand employees]
34 WELL DRESSED?