ACCESSORIES

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NEWSLETTER #12 : ACCESSORIES

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PART 1 : Ecological and ethical accessories

They are the detail that makes the difference, that gives the shine to a silhouette. Whether in the form of buttons, clasps or jewellery, metallic accessories emphasise the personality of a product. Responsible production is not limited to the sourcing of leather or fabric, as these days the humblest of components can illustrate the commitment of a label.

Metal matters: behind the scenes of the mining industry

The mining industry is in the spotlight as much for its environmental aspects as for ethical considerations. To excavate metal ores, intensive chemical and physical operations are necessary. Soil erosion, high energy consumption and pollution of the water table with the toxic runoff are the results of the use of these precious non-renewable resources. Gold mining and processing requires the use of cyanide and mercury, frequently producing sludge that is either acidic or has high concentrations of dangerous metals. Many foundries do not have systems for recovering emissions, rigorous filtration systems or reliable protective equipment. Those most affected by these harmful substances are miners, foundry workers and the neighbouring populations, with disastrous consequences on health as a result of these processes.

Economic considerations once again take precedence over the enforcement of decent and safe working conditions. Child labor, modern slavery, populations forced off their lands and the collapse of mines remain prevalent. The income from the metal and precious stones used in jewellery making is linked to geopolitical conflicts or may have been used to finance extremist movements.

Alloys and galvanization, the challenge of alchemy

Metals undergo multiple stages in development. Before the final stage, they will be refined, where the metal is purified, then they will be combined with other metals to create an alloy in order to improve their properties. Plating metals will then give them their final color or will strengthen their resistance to wear, and means adding a fine layer of gold, silver or palladium. The item will first of all be pre-treated to remove all oils and surface finishes, then the metal layer will be applied using a chemical or thermal process. The wastewater from these galvanic processes contains solvents, oils and toxic heavy metals, making the postproduction waste processing particularly complex.

These operations must therefore be carefully regulated and monitored to protect the health of workers and the wastewater must be thoroughly filtered before being rejected. Therefore it must be sent to special hazardous waste disposal centers.

PART 2 : Towards ever more eco-responsible packaging

Eco-responsible packaging: how can we package clothing without harming the environment? Whether functional or a signature item, packaging plays a number of roles during a product’s lifespan. Polybag, dust bag, tissue-paper, a branded box : an item will come into contact with multiple materials before being worn.

The polybag, invisible and omnipresent

The ultimate in discreet packaging, this bag is most often made from Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), which has the advantage of being flexible, transparent, light, waterproof and tearproof. Characteristics that explain why an estimated 180 billion polybags are made each year for the fashion industry, only 15% of which are recycled. While it is tempting to think that this problem could be resolved by simply eliminating polybags, they do have many uses. They facilitate product identification in warehouses or shop storerooms and meet a real need for garment protection, insulating them from the damp, reducing the creasing and rubbing that could cause colors to run or fabrics to pill. If they were eliminated, a garment would run the risk of being damaged and becoming impossible to sell, resulting in a much larger environmental and economic impact.

E-commerce, multiplying packaging needs

Whether they are sent out in boxes or plastic, the boom in e-commerce has resulted in an increased production of packaging for shipping. This trajectory is forecast to rise by 10% each year until 2024, making fashion the number one sector for online sales worldwide. Boxes are often poorly adapted to the size of their content but are more often recycled, while opaque plastic bags are often better suited to the volume of clothing thus optimising transport, but are also often made from LDPE, which is still not widely recycled.

Ecological packaging the challenge of eco-design

The packaging life cycle has been examined in detail in order to find areas for improvement, and promising innovations are emerging. However, these must be accompanied by a change in behaviour and improved processing systems at end of life, in order to meet all their potential.

There are two prime examples of solutions which may not be quite the eco-success story they appear: the fabric tote bag and bio-sourced plastics.

The tote bag, a victim of its own success

Promoted as a virtuous alternative to plastic bags, this cotton pouch can be used as a shopping bag and also as a general handbag to demonstrate a certain affiliation with a label. A characteristic which means that it has developed into a company accessory used to enhance the client experience rather than a functional form of packaging. It has succumbed to a rebound effect, like plastic in its glory days, with the overconsumption it has generated. The volume of shopping bags has not diminished with the emergence of its reusable cotton equivalent, and today tote bags can be found gathering dust in wardrobes, or filling textile recycling bins. Often screen-printed, depending on the technique used, whether water-based inks or synthetic resins, the decoration can limit its recycling potential.

Bio-plastics are not yet fantastic

To wean themselves off fossil fuels, plastics are turning towards bio-sourced components, with materials created notably from the fermentation of corn, sugar cane or soya. Although they are not widely recycled as of yet, they can be disposed of at the end of their life as biodegradable or compostable materials. While they do allow some independence from the oil industry, their use is not without incidence, particularly as they are not automatically biodegradable.

Materials have to pass tests and be certified in order to claim these qualities. These analyses are used to identify under what specific conditions and in what environments they can biodegrade. Compostability, which is becoming a widespread claim, consists of two categories, industrial and domestic. The industrial version has the advantage of being able to process substantial volumes, but collection and processing plants are few and far between, so the products are often buried or incinerated instead. Some packaging is labelled as suitable for domestic composting but this is less common and good composting practices must be respected. Poorly managed, these alternatives can also generate micro-plastics.

Although reams of regulations on packaging are entering their application phase, until this results in a substantial reduction in their impacts, how can we be proactive and what initiatives can be put in place?

Read and discover more about ecological and ethical accessories here, and about eco-reponsible packaging here !

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