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Eco-friendly solutions
for cotton textiles

June, 2009
Kayser Sung
Textile Asia

It is fitting, in this United Nations International Year of Natural Fibres, that our attention is again directed to cotton, the leading natural textile fibre, through a conference on innovations and technologies for cotton textile processing sponsored by Cotton Incorporated and Cotton Council International.

Sustainable solutions

The conference, entitled “Cotton Textile Processing: Sustainable Solutions for a Better Future,” held in Hong Kong on May 18-20 represented the culmination of a two-year research project conducted by the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated to determine the technologies needed to reduce the environmental footprint of cotton textile processing. These technologies, however, do not need to be developed; they already exist today. “This conference showcased technologies that can significantly increase the sustainability of cotton textile processing by reducing water, energy and chemical usage,” says Mark Messura, Cotton Incorporated executive vice president, for global product supply chain. Detailed report of the conference is on pages 5-8.

Organic cotton

A discussion of eco-friendly solutions for cotton textiles is not complete without looking at the role of organic cotton. The term organic describes a method of farming without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides or fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation of genetic engineering, and is certified by an accredited independent organisation. In response to consumer demand, primarily in the European Union and in the United States, sales of organic cotton have increased 300% in the past five years. Many leading brands such as Nike now incorporate organic cotton fibres in their products, with some manufacturers using 100% organic cotton in their product lines.

In the United States, there are strict standards for organic cotton, with production set to strict standards of the United States Department of Agriculture and enforced by USDA-certified agents, who must annually inspect fields and the operation for adherence to National Organic Program (NOP) standards. Organic cotton marketed and sold in the US must meet these rigorous standards regardless of the country of origin.

Is organic cotton the eco-friendly solution for cotton textiles?

We had the opportunity of discussing this question with J. Berrye Worsham, president & CEO of Cotton Incorporated, at the Cotton Textile Processing Conference.

Interview with J. Berrye Worsham

J. Berrye Worsham, president & CEO, Cotton Incorporated

Swee C. Goh (Consulting Editor, Textile Asia): What about the growing trend towards organic – any issues?
Worsham: Retailers are very interested in organic, but they are just now beginning to realise that the suppliers would not be plentiful. If you have time to base your sustainability program and have a foundation in organic, that’s going to be very limited. So the key is going to be how to find better production practices, how to source from those areas that improve the supply chain in general. We estimate that organic is no more than 0.2% of the world production. World production has a little more than 110 billion, I think, in terms of bales, or about 24 or 25 metric tons.

Goh: The use of term organic has its problems – how it is grown and what does it mean?
Worsham: Yes, the problem of organic is several things. Number one, the yield is so much lower, and in some cases they would be even lower if they didn’t have conventional production in the area. Another thing that requires is, because we have to control weeds, that perhaps we have to use hand labour for that, and that’s very expensive, and it’s really not sustainable to have people bend over to pick cotton– we did that hundred of years ago, that’s not good.

The other thing is, we have the risk of possibly losing an entire crop in the same place. So we have some organic production in the US that has temporarily moved back to regular production methods and not organic, and so there is not going to be organic this year. And then it takes a while to get back to the organic. If they didn’t have an option, they might not be able to profit at all. So the risk is very high for trying to produce it. The reality is that, if you look at what the world is going to need in 50 or 40 years from now, we have to probably need, possibly three times as much textile fibres globally, and that either means we’re going to put a lot more of synthetic fibre plants into production, or going to chop down a lot of trees, for more acres, it would be better if we can maintain the same level of land but improving the technology so that we can get more cot-why the purpose of the event is to have the people who ton in the land, the same way with food. The food con-are involved in those technologies to share their knowlsumption, I think, is expected to double in the next 40 or edge, and hopefully we can be a catalyst for dissemina50 years with population growth, and organic is not going tion, even though we have not developed the technoloto be the solution for that.

Goh: I think biotechnology is the key to this.
Worsham: Exactly. It is, and that’s started in the US, and it’s now adopted in India. China has adopted biotech, very heavily; Brazil has also adopted biotech; and, there is on the horizon the potential for having things like higher producing cottons and other uses for the product.

Goh: Yes, are you working on that?
Worsham: The technology is there but that’s going to be a long term time off, probably for cotton. But it is still theoretically possible. And the other thing that is really interesting is, cotton has in the leaves, in its vegetation, a compound, which is a natural repellent. It’s been there. It is also contained in the seed. The problem with the seed is that we can’t eat it even though it has high protein content. They have had the technology to get it out of the seed and the plant. The US cotton industry, we spend about 20 years continuing research into how we can get it out of the seed and keep it in the plant. And that is now passed the first set of trials successfully. And it has the potential of, if we can do that, in 10, 15, or 20 years from now, a cotton seed can actually be edible as a high-protein supplement. It’s already been used in dairies, in cows and digested, but very limited for humans now. We estimate from the world production of cotton, the potential of seeds to feed half a billion people. It has enough protein content theoretically for that. So we have a vision for where cotton needs to be, to be a provider of food. For cotton, it is not a question like either fibre or seed. We get the fibre and the seed. The key is how we can make the seed a valuable commodity as well.

Goh: Excellent. Biotechnology is becoming the key focus for agriculture, so we can follow that trend.
Kayser Sung: During the time of the early ’60s in Hong Kong, seawater was used.
Worsham: But obviously the problem with that is now it’s still very expensive. Water is the most important issue, I think, we face in cotton because we found, through our own research, that 70% of the cotton’s energy use is in the processing of water, and the use of water in the whole processing. So anything we can do as an industry is to limit the use of water, to reduce the energy. Also, re-use of water is going to be another thing. Some of those technologies—I’m not a technical person, but some of the technologies, I think—are out of date. That’s why the purpose of the event is to have the people who are involved in those technologies to share their knowledge, and hopefully we can be a catalyst for dissemination, even though we have not developed the technologies. But it doesn’t matter. We want to be the facilitator of the idea with the potential users wherever they make it.
Sung: We published a very detailed interview about water. (Water reuse in the textile dyeing industry: An opportunity for eco-friendly savings, by Max W. Sung, M.D., Textile Asia November-December, 2008, pp5-7). I will send you a copy.

Editor’s comment:

In the interview, biotech or biotechnology was repeatedly mentioned as an eco-friendly alternative to organic cotton. The term “biotech cotton” refers to cotton plants which have been genetically altered to produce new proteins. These proteins may enable the plants to grow better even in adverse conditions. For instance, biotech cotton can produce a bacterial protein originally derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt cotton). Bt kills bollworm and budworm larvae which feed on the cotton plant. Bt crops have been reported to drastically reduce the frequency of insecticide sprays and increase crop yields. The World Development Report 2008 indicates benefits from Bt cotton with added yield by 54% (South Africa), reduced pest management costs by 73% (India) and added profits by 198% (South Africa). Bt crops is particularly useful in developing countries where insecticides are often applied by hand spraying under difficult conditions. Bt cotton is used by an estimated 9.2 million farmers worldwide, particularly in India, China and South Africa. Although biotech cotton was not extensively reviewed at the conference (Cotton Textile Processing: Sustainable Solutions for a Better Future), its commercial use has provoked a wide range of responses worldwide. Concerns have been raised regarding harm to insects beneficial for crops, to monarch butterflies, and the potential development of insect resistance to Bt crops. So far, these concerns have not been confirmed to be problematic in the field.

Can biotech cotton at this time be considered an eco-friendly solution for cotton textiles?

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