Pollution : Defining sustainability with metrics or risk greenwashing of fabric digi...

Defining "sustainability" in the context of fabric digital dyeing involves specific metrics related to environmental, economic, and social impacts of the dyeing process. These metrics help ensure transparency and avoid the risk of greenwashing. Here are key metrics to consider:

Environmental Sustainability Metrics:

Water Usage: Digital printing typically uses significantly less water than traditional methods. Therefore, digital dyeing is expected to follow suit.
Chemical Usage: Digital dyeing consequently requires fewer and less dyes and harmful chemicals. Importantly, it eliminates the need for salt, which often disrupts wastewater treatment processes and increases costs.
Energy Consumption: Electricity is typical clean energy to be used for – Digital Dyeing Houses.

The greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generation vary widely, ranging from less than 0.01 kgCO2e/kWh for renewables like nuclear, wind, and solar, to around 0.9 to 1.1 kgCO2e/kWh for coal-fired power plants.

Waste Generation: Using 20 – 30 percent of water consumed in traditional dyeing.

Digital dyeing should produce less waste and less dyes and chemicals content and free from salt.

Carbon Footprint: Rotary printing house uses natural gas and heated oil; natural gas emission is 2.03 kg CO2 per cubic meter plus 2.68 kg CO2 per liter oil. Total is 4.71 kg.
Effluent Quality: The less quantity of waste makes it easy and cost effective to treatment.

Economic Sustainability Metrics:

Cost Efficiency: Taking into account the cost metrics of textile digital printing compared to traditional methods, along with the projected market share, estimated at USD 2.7 billion for 2024 and expected to reach 4.36 billion by 2031, and considering its significant ecological benefits, I believe digital dyeing will prove to be cost-effective.
Production Speed: Considering the absence of salt that will shorten the overall process and the ease of use, digital dyeing can speed up the process.
Scalability: Digital dyeing will be highly efficient in adjusting production levels to match demand fluctuations without experiencing notable cost increases or overburdening resources as proven from digital printing metrices.

Social Sustainability Metrics:

Worker Safety: Inspiration from industry leaders such as: Transcontinental Inc., Bertelsmann Printing Group, and RR Donnelley. By adopting similar strategies, comparable success in minimizing hazards and ensuring a safe working environment for all employees is achievable.
Job Creation: Digital dyeing represents a significant advancement beyond digital printing, supported by successful examples such as Kornit Digital, Spoonflower, Printful, and FabFad. These companies have demonstrated the creation of new jobs with fair wages through the establishment of production units both locally and globally.
Community Impact: Digital textile printing can save as much as 95% of industrial water usage, whilst energy consumption can be reduced by 75% - leading to the minimum use of resources and textile waste (Advanced Market Analytics), by FESPA, 28/06/2021. Digital dyeing follows the same technique.

Avoiding Greenwashing in Fabric Digital Dyeing:

Transparency: An important development seen by environmentalists, consumers and producers is that there is a significant decrease in electricity and water consumption in digital textile printing. It can be said that over 30% savings on electricity costs and almost 95% in terms of water consumption. Research gate: June 2019, International Journal of Science Technology and Society 7(2):38
Third-Party Certifications: Inks, chemicals, and auxiliaries used in textile digital dyeing should obtain certifications from reputable organizations (e.g., OEKO-TEX, GOTS) to validate claims about reduced environmental impact and safe chemical usage.
Lifecycle Analysis: The proven reduction in water consumption, accompanied by lower usage of dyes and chemicals, and the absence of salt, along with the practice of coloring fabric on the face-side only, significantly reduces processing time. This not only extends the fabric's lifecycle but also decreases recycling costs.
Stakeholder Engagement: It is crucial to educate stakeholders—customers, employees, and local communities—about verified sustainability claims that are both accurate and meaningful. This transparency helps inform and engage everyone involved, ensuring a shared understanding of our commitment to sustainability.
Consistent Messaging: We acknowledge certain limitations in digitally printing wool, particularly with hairy wool, where achieving high-resolution images is hindered by the need to lift print heads above the fibers. However, this issue does not arise with digital dyeing for solid colors. Moving forward, our next challenge lies in developing solutions for blends such as Polyester/Cotton.

By focusing on these metrics and principles, companies can credibly define and promote the sustainability of fabric digital dyeing, minimizing the risk of greenwashing.

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References:

Emissions Calculations:
https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/simplified-ghg-emissions-calculator

https://www.ecoonline.com/blog/electricity-emissions-factors-and-how-to-calculate-your-electricity-emissions#:~:text=Total%20electricity%20consumption%20value%20is,N2O%20per%20kWh

https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/co2_vol_mass.php

Market analysis and economic cost efficiency:
https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/industry-reports/digital-textile-printing-market

Social Sustainability Metrics:

https://tctranscontinental.com/en-ca/node/57

https://www.bertelsmann.com/corporate-responsibility/reporting/

https://www.rrd.com/about/commitments/sustainability

https://ir.kornit.com/

https://www.spoonflower.com/en/about