Wool: sustainable by definition?

I asked a question of the panel at a recent webinar run by the Bradford Textile Society on 'Wool for the 21st Century' (9th February 2020): "What would you look for in choosing a wool garment or textile to ensure it was sustainable?"  One panellist answered immediately to the effect that there is no such thing as an unsustainable wool garment; by definition wool is sustainable because it is natural, biodegradable, recyclable and can be repurposed, something which cannot be said of many textiles.  But is it as simple as that?  I shall use this post to explore the sustainability of wool, a textile I am particularly interested in at the moment because I'm working on a project about Bradford, historically the heart of the UK wool trade.

In writing this blog, it is clear that there is some overlap between sustainability and ethical decision-making in textiles.  The latter includes factors such as animal welfare and employment conditions which may not neatly impact on sustainability, even the reverse in fact.  For example, poorly paid garment workers in the third world may have much less impact on the environment than affluent employees (and therefore greater consumers) in the first world (Deutsche Welle, 2017).  But today I'm just going to focus on sustainability.

Assessing sustainability

Assessing sustainability is a complex process with many aspects: supply chain, use, re-cycle and disposal as illustrated in this diagram from the International Wool Trade Organisation. The key issues contributing to unsustainability for textiles are greenhouse gas emissions, use of fossil energy and pollution of people, land and water. (ITWO undated 2)

from Beverley Henry for IWTO (undated 2)

Carbon footprint, water and pollution

Wool's advocates, like the webinar panel member, stress the positive characteristics of wool as a natural, biodegradable, hard wearing, water and stain resistant, breathable, self-deodorising and renewable fibre but its environmental credentials cannot be taken for granted. Firstly it is derived from livestock, a sector which 'emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global' (LEAD, 2006 p.xx). For example, the industrial scale of sheep rearing in countries such as Australia and New Zealand leads to the clearing and degradation of land and reduction in biodiversity (Woolf, 2021, Allen 2019).  Sheep also release vast quantities of methane gas and their manure has contributed to increases in green house gases over a long period of time (Allen 2019).

Environmental organisations have not issued positive assessments of the sustainability of wool. For example, Allen (2019) notes that 'the "Pulse of the Fashion Industry" report ranked the production of sheep's wool as more polluting – for cradle-to-gate environmental impact per kilogram of material – than that of acrylic, polyester, spandex, and rayon fibres.  Likewise wool is only ranked as E on the Made-By Environmental Benchmark for Fibres which is not dissimilar to the rating for non-organic cotton. Wool's impact on the environment is ranked at 82 out of 100 by The Higg Index which measures social and environmental sustainability performance.  This is better than cotton but worse than many other textiles including polyester (Common Objective, undated). Alpaca wool scores particularly badly.

In fact new wool doesn't feature anywhere in the Good on you (Woolf 2021) Ultimate table of the most eco friendly textiles although it is worth noting that there is a strong element of ethics in their decision-making as well as sustainability.

from Wolfe 2021

There are criticisms of this negative assessment of the sustainability of wool (Devaux 2019).  For example, there have been challenges to claims regarding land use and the calculations do not take into account that sheep are raised on land that is not suitable for growing crops. Sheep also contribute to the world's food (Common objective, undated) meaning that there are other benefits beyond just the production of wool. IWTO (undated 1) argues that 'Sheep are part of the natural carbon cycle, consuming the organic carbon stored in plants and converting it to wool. Fifty per cent of the weight of wool is pure organic carbon.'  

In addition, comparisons with other textiles differ depending on the emphasis in the rating scheme, for example on ethical as well as environmental factors or a negative approach to the use of animals in textile production.  Whereas silk production processes have very high emissions (Good on you undated 2),  silk may make a positive contribution to green house gases through the mitigating contribution of mulberry trees (Giacomin 2017).  Others argue that wool stands up well in relation to polyester using 18% less energy to produce and wool uses 70% less water than cotton (Woolmark, undated). Indeed conventional cotton production is one of the most environmentally harmful agricultural activities around (Good on you, undated 2). Although bamboo can be a very sustainable crop because it is a fast-growing grass which requires no fertiliser and does not need annual replanting or pesticides like cotton, most bamboo products are a rayon and involve highly polluting chemicals in their manufacture. (Hymann, 2020)

A key criticism of negative ratings for the environmental impact of wool is that they don’t take into account the full lifecycle of wool products including post purchase by the consumer.  As wool is a higher value and longer-wearing fibre, wool products are likely to stay in use longer, be washed less, recycled more and biodegrade at the end of their life (IWTO undated 1 & undated 3).  They can also be easily mended - see my darned sock above!

According to the International Wool Textile Organisation, up to 5 per cent by weight of the total clothing donated by consumers for recycling and re-use is wool. The IWTO has a technical advisory group working on ensuring more robust lifecycle assessments for wool (Common objective, undated).  In addition, wool biodegrades easily and does not contribute to microplastic pollution through wear, washing or disposal ( ITWO undated 1). This compares very favourably with synthetic textiles which do not decompose and release harmful substances into the soil and groundwater if disposed of through landfil or, alternatively, involve costly separation or polluting incineration (Oecotextiles undated).

Textile miles

Australia produces 90% of the world's fine wool and 50% of wool used for clothing (Rhodes, 2020). In fact the UK is a net importer of wool despite having the sixth highest number of sheep in the world (Rhodes, 2020). Still, I found it very difficult to locate data about the carbon footprint associated with the distance that wool travels from sheep to garment or product. This seems important to me because of the sustainability issues in long distance transport of the fibre. However, my research suggests that the type of wool needed for fine wool clothing and garments that can be worn close to the skin comes from merino sheep which do not thrive on the lush grassland of the UK or in the types of livestock intensity used here (Mustoe, 2017).  

What can be done about improving the sustainability of wool?

Environmental and social issues are particularly important to 'woke' consumers, particularly young people who are major consumers of textiles and most likely to care about the supply chain for their purchases: 'Nine in ten Generation Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues' (Mackinsey 2019) and brands ignore the wishes of the younger generation 'at their peril' (MacKinsey & Co, 2019) because millenials are the largest consumer group.

One strategy being used is traceability. Traceability refers to the extent to which you can tell the provenance of the wool from the sheep to the fibre, fabric or final product. All of the main wool producing countries now have traceability systems for wool (IWTO 2019) which are designed to provide greater confidence in the standards of wool production down to farm level including factors such as how well animal welfare standards have been met.  The intention is to reassure consumers of the authenticity and quality of their purchases. Other factors of concern included in some schemes are the standards and location of the dyeing, spinning and manufacturing processes. 

Woolkeepers is such an initiative in the UK where wool is traceable to groups of farms linked by similar fibre quality and breed and other factors.  Wookeepers argue that their model 'provide[s] sourcing integrity, pays a fair price for wool, communicates farm provenance and develops positive animal welfare' (Woolkeepers, undated).  

Large retailers are responding to changing consumer concerns and increasingly demanding that the wool used in their products is regulated in this way. You can see this approach in their marketing, for example M & S (2018) and the BOSS Traceable Wool Capsule Collection.

BOSS traceable trouser suit

Other suggestions recommend making use of wool's long lasting qualities and seeking second hand or recycled items as well as taking advantage of its potential for mending.  'Look for clothes made from recycled wool, resale and vintage items, or wool certified by the Responsible Wool Standard, ZQ Merino Standard, or the Soil Association Organic Standards' (Woolf 2021).

Conclusion

It is clear you could write a PhD on the sustainability of wool as there are so many factors to consider and I have only scratched the surface here.  There are contradictory arguments about the impact of the complete wool cycle on the environment with many problems from the farming of sheep to the processing and production methods.  It certainly cannot be said to be 'sustainable by definition'. Wool's strength appears to be in its post consumption qualities: being easily biodegradable (we use it on our compost heap) as well as hard wearing and worth mending or passing on.

Finally, I have sourced the information for this blog almost entirely from the internet.  Whilst I have tried to look for reliable, independent information, much of what is available has come from, on the one hand, wool trade organisations and regulators and others in the textile industry, for example, Woolmark.  Woolmark, although a not for profit company, was established to support the Australian wool trade and therefore their publications, as with many of my sources, need to be read with a wary eye. On the other hand,  I have used websites that are authored by campaigning groups in the eco sector and they, too, will have a vested interest in promoting certain information.  The complexity of this topic means we should be wary of simple assessments.

Post script: For those who want more help in selecting sustainable fabrics and garments, here is a useful analysis of the sustainability of different textiles used in clothing and produced by Good on you, a group of campaigners who are attempting to influence the fashion industry towards more sustainable and ethical practices.  But always be wary!

References

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https://www.hugoboss.com/uk/boss-traceable-wool/. accessed 12th February 2021

Champ, G. (2014) As footage emerges of sheep being violently mistreated, is there hidden cruelty behind your winter woolly? Daily Mail, 21st December. [online] available from" https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2882895/As-footage-emerges-sheep-violently-mistreated-hidden-cruelty-winter-woolly.html [accessed 15th February 2021].

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