Explore how the textile industry reduces water consumption at fabric mills with innovative dyeing techniques, recycling practices, and advanced technologies, leading to more sustainable and efficient production.
The industry is networking in the fight against climate change. Recycling, circularity, renewable energies and detailed monitoring - with innovative approaches and concrete measures, it is striving to reduce its carbon footprint, achieve the 1.5-degree target and prevent catastrophic consequences for billions of people. Where do we stand and what measures are effective in achieving Net Zero?
Missing the 1.5 degree target by just half a degree Celsius will lead to 2 billion people being exposed to extreme heat in five to ten years' time. 50 percent of the world's population will suffer from a lack of drinking water, droughts and flood disasters. Everything will change - for the worse.
In order to avert these disasters and ultimately survive as a brand, global emissions must be reduced by 50 percent by 2030, and by as much as 90-100 percent by 2050. This will not work with the current political measures. The industry urgently needs to prioritize the 1.5 degree target over short-term policies in order to achieve Net Zero.
There was a lively exchange on this topic at OutDoor 2024. Studies were presented and the most successful measures and findings shared in the Sustainability Hub, in the Speakers Corner and on the Green Stage. Recycling, circularity, renewable energies throughout the supply chain, monitoring - the outdoor sector is a productive test laboratory for a climate-positive economy, partly because it is relatively small.
"The outdoor industry is the antithesis of fast fashion, fast food and fast social media: We convey values by motivating people to get outside. This creates a sustainable lifestyle, a sustainable society," summarizes Jan Lorch, CSO of VAUDE and member of the Outdoor Climate Innovation Initiative (OCII).
David Ekelund, who has also joined the OCII with his brand ICEBUG, is certain: "We can help to change people's lifestyles. We want to improve quality and health while saving resources at the same time."
It works: the Swedish shoe label has been climate-positive since 2019. How did they achieve this?
David Ekelund explains at OutDoor that his company has switched the energy supply in its production facilities to solar energy and has thus made the biggest leap towards net zero. In combination with compensation projects such as 1% for the Planet and collaborations with major players such as Microsoft, ICEBUG has become the first shoe brand to become climate-positive - without any financial losses.
Another big keyword in the fight against emissions is LCAs - Life Cycle Assessments. Life Cycle Assessments. These life cycle analyses make the environmental impact of a product visible using data sets from the entire product life cycle.
Decarbonization does not start with collecting data, but with making decisions, says Ekelund. Nevertheless, the monitoring tool needs to be much more appreciated - just like good bookkeeping.
"80 percent of emissions are attributable to 20 percent of the data collected," says Maximilian Hagmann from Carbonfact, underpinning the argument. The company supports brands with comprehensive data analyses to measure the actual footprint of products and identify points in their life cycle where positive change can be made quickly.
"We don't just have to reduce our CO2 emissions, we have to avoid them as much as possible," says Jan Lorch in the panel talk of the OutDoor Climate Innovation Initiative.
Circularity is the keyword and the goal is to minimize the footprint of the entire product life cycle. It's about materials that have a low impact because they are recyclable. It's about short supply chains, production that is powered by renewable energy, a long service life and good recyclability afterwards.
However, every new product has an impact and the word "climate neutral" quickly sets off the greenwashing alarm. It really isn't enough to assuage your guilty conscience by planting trees. Compensation must take place where emissions are caused. Or as Kai Landwehr from myclimate puts it: "Finally take responsibility for your emissions!"
Don't misunderstand: Offsetting is an important tool. But achieving net zero also requires technical innovations, such as the air filter systems from Climeworks. At OutDoor, the engineers explained how they are using their technology to turn emissions into stone at several locations around the world.
In Iceland, for example, the Climeworks ORCA plant has been filtering CO2 out of the air for three years - 360,000 tons in total. It is stored underground, in basalt rock, without any environmental risk. Cooperation partners such as Mammut thus achieve actual climate neutrality: not through traditional offsetting, but through the actual removal of emissions with the help of Climeworks air filter systems.
There are currently 15 known technologies for removing CO2 from the air, says Kyra Vertes from Climeworks. The company works with five of them. In addition to the successful air filter systems, these include the conversion of biomass into coal, the permanent storage of CO2 in mineral pellets, above-ground storage in stone and other filter technologies. The CO2 filtered from the air at the pilot site in Zurich is used, for example, as carbon dioxide by Coca-Cola.
1.5 degrees - one goal, many measures and too few successes overall so far. Even if the outdoor industry only contributes a small part to the overall problem, it is already a prime example of change. And the mood at the trade show was positive, because what may sometimes sound unattainable is really possible if we change our thinking.
"It's not about being perfect, but about getting started and taking action," pleads David Ekelund. Massamba Thioye, Manager of the UN Climate Change Innovation Hub, also provides a great impulse: "Let's not just talk about problems. Let's design a future that enables everyone on this planet to live a life worth living!"
The outdoor industry is close at hand: with its ability to connect people with their environment. And with many innovative ideas and measures for a regenerative planet.
Vaude celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. As a true sustainability pioneer, the manufacturer passed on its expertise to the industry: Whe Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) marks a milestone and how prcise data can serve as a sustainability booster.
Today, Vaude is one of Europe's leading outdoor brands in a market that the family-run company from Tettnang has helped to shape - not least because of its innovative, recycled or bio-based materials. For this, Vaude was recently awarded the prestigious German Sustainability Award as Germany's most sustainable textile company.
Melanie Bleicher, Head of Department at the Vaude Academy, is convinced that sustainable transformation offers enormous opportunities for every company. Her clear message to other companies is: "Start now! Just get started." Especially as companies that oversleep transformation processes will be hit all the harder later - on several levels.
Vaude as best practice makes sense. In 2022, the company has committed to manufacturing all products in a climate-neutral way. Other sustainability highlights, such as the successful second-hand platform, have also become established. Vaude also shares its expertise at self-organized sustainability camps ("EU Green Deal - Are you prepared?").
As a speaker at OutDoor 2024, Melanie Bleicher explained why the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) marks a milestone: This European Union directive, valid since April 2021, obliges companies to prepare more detailed and comprehensive sustainability reports.
The CSRD requirements are significantly stricter than the previous requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The outdated directive only applied to larger companies with more than 500 employees and the reports did not have to be externally audited.
These optimizations greatly improve the transparency and comparability of sustainability data. They also promote responsible action, which contributes to long-term environmental and social sustainability overall. CEO Karin Ekberg and Sustainability Director Stefanie Rieder-Haas from the consultancy firm Leadership & Sustainability also emphasize the enormous importance of accurate sustainability reports.
The so-called "double materiality analysis" is just as effective as the CSRD: it means that a company should examine both how sustainability issues affect the company itself and, conversely, how the company affects its environment and society. What can companies do to avoid the risk of greenwashing? This was the topic of the discussion between Dr. Diana Born and Dr. Marc Herz (both from the management consultancy K'UP) and lawyer Dr. Katja Middelhoff.
A key insight from this discussion was the importance of consistent and authentic sustainability measures. Brands can have a significant impact on the environment and society depending on how consistently they implement sustainable practices. To avoid greenwashing, companies should therefore carry out careful analyses and pursue transparent sustainability strategies.
They also shed light on the legal situation in Germany and regulatory developments at EU level. Their most important thesis: be careful with green claims (advertising and statements by companies that present their products as environmentally friendly).
"Green claims should be accurate in terms of content, and the promises made by brands should be transparent and verifiable. Otherwise, reputations are at risk and fines can be imposed," warns Dr. Katja Middelhoff.
Women are not little men - that should have gotten around in the sports world by now. "Shrink it and pink it" is therefore so out of date. Female athletes simply expect more from the sporting goods industry than just throwing men's products onto the market a little smaller and more colorful. It starts with a mix of function and fashion, continues with breathable clothing for all phases of a woman's life cycle between menstruation, menopause and beyond and doesn't end with the demand for more female managers. Here are 10 wishes for the sports companies of this world.
Forbes sees the development as positive and states "a whole new shoe game for women". According to the US magazine, Puma, Nike and Adidas want to score points with signature shoes for WNBA athletes and beyond. Let's hope it's a high-scoring game so that shopping experiences like basketball player Kahleah Copper's - "going straight to the men's section" - are a thing of the past.
And even when it comes to sports items that are produced specifically for women, athletes like biathlete Selina Grotian simply see a need to catch up: "Sports bras also sometimes have unfavorable seams and are not always ideal, especially in combination with the chest strap. Although I clean the chest straps, they always have an unpleasant smell." Lara Lessmann feels the same way. The BMX rider would like sports bras "that fit well and don't slip".
Microplastics are omnipresent and are becoming a growing threat to our environment and health. The clothing industry is one of the main sources of microplastics. The fibers of textiles, which break down into tiny particles, pollute our environment and damage the health of many organisms. Which fibers are particularly problematic and what can companies in the sports and outdoor industry do to manufacture their products in such a way that they emit fewer microfibers?
Ubiquity of microplastics: Microplastics can be found in all environments, from bodies of water to human tissue.
Main source textile industry: Textiles, especially synthetic fibers, are the main sources of microplastics.
Causes of fiber fragmentation: Yarn twist, fiber length and surface treatment influence microfiber output.
Challenges with natural fibers: Natural fibers are not automatically more environmentally friendly, as chemical treatments make them more difficult to break down.
Innovative solutions: New materials and processes, such as Polartec® Shed Less Fleece and Polygiene ShedGuard, reduce fiber loss.
"Wherever researchers look for microplastics, they find them," says Elliot Bland, researcher at The Microfiber Consortium (TMC) during his presentation at the last OutDoor by ISPO. Together with the University of Leeds and with the support of the European Outdoor Group (EOG), the NGO is investigating how the clothing industry can help to reduce microplastics.
Microplastics in the clothing industry are defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as small plastic particles with a diameter of less than five millimeters. Although we are most familiar with microplastics from our rivers, lakes and oceans, the majority of them do not come from there, but are produced on land and accumulate in the water. But it can also be found in other places: In Arctic and Antarctic ice samples, in water, in the air, in land and sea animals, in human organs and tissues. It does not belong anywhere else, as the particles enter the food chain of humans and animals via the water and the organisms living in it, thus not only damaging individual organisms but also threatening entire ecosystems.
There are many different sources of microplastics: they are found in cosmetics and cleaning products, they are caused by tire abrasion, fishing nets or the decomposition of plastic waste. However, research has shown that there is one main source of microplastics: Clothing. The majority of these particles are fragments of textile fibers. According to projections from a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 35% of microplastics in the sea actually come from fiber abrasion from synthetic textiles. "These microfibers are created during washing, in the washing machine, but also during production, during spinning, weaving, dyeing - in fact at every stage of textile production," explains Bland. He is therefore interested in how fabrics and yarns will have to be constructed in the future in order to reduce microplastic in clothing - which incidentally also means a loss of product quality. In order to achieve this, "The Microfiber 2030 Commitment" was launched together with cooperating companies from the entire sports, outdoor and fashion industry. All signatories are committed to working as a global collective to reduce the impact of fiber fragmentation of textiles on the natural environment to zero by 2030.
A total of 827 fabrics from 241 fabric manufacturers have already been tested for fiber loss using a standardized measurement method. The first results are already emerging. For example, we know that filament yarns* emit fewer fibers than staple fibers**, as do higher twisted yarns compared to loosely twisted yarns. It is also known that roughened or brushed fabric surfaces lose more fibers and that fiber loss increases sharply the more often the process is repeated. TMC has also found that fabrics made from recycled polyester are no more susceptible to fiber fragmentation than comparable fabrics made from virgin polyester. In principle, many different factors influence fiber fragmentation, including fiber length, yarn twist, chemical composition, mechanical strength of the fiber, fabric construction and chemical finishing. "We need solutions for this," says Bland, and does not mean that certain fibers or fabrics should be generally banned in the future. "If we find that filament yarns have less fiber loss than staple fibers, then we can't simply stop processing staple fibers, we would have to abandon all natural fibers. Of course, that doesn't make sense."
There is another important finding that TMC would like to draw attention to: Natural fibers are not inherently better than man-made fibers. For a long time, the prevailing opinion was that natural fibers, because they are of natural origin, do not pollute the environment to the same extent as petroleum-based man-made fibers do. It was assumed that natural fibers such as cotton or wool biodegrade more quickly than their synthetic counterparts and are therefore less durable and persistent in the environment. But it's not that simple. "Natural fibers also end up in the environment and remain there for a long time. This is due to the many chemical processes that natural fibers undergo, which ensure that they don't degrade either," explains the researcher. "It therefore makes no sense to differentiate between the two types of fibers, in aspect of microplastics in clothing. Dyeing natural materials on a plant basis and applying various finishes can also prevent degradation. Studies have shown that naturally dyed cotton, for example, contains significantly more vegetable wax than conventional cotton, which slows down the degradation process.
Relying on biodegradable materials is not (yet) a solution to the problem for a number of reasons, even though the industry is now developing more and more synthetic fibers that are biodegradable. Firstly, biodegradability depends on the right conditions for the type of material in question. This means that not all fibers that are declared biodegradable do so under the same conditions. For example, there are major differences between the conditions for industrial and domestic composting. Of course, nobody would think of composting their T-shirt in their own garden, but ultimately this is exactly what happens in all countries that do not have a functioning waste management system. On the other hand, biodegradability says nothing about which substances are released during the degradation process and what effect these have in the various environments on land and in water. "The issues of biodegradability and fiber fragmentation are both complex in their own right, and overlaying them to create solutions without remorse requires further work to ensure that major sustainability issues are not created," TMC writes in an official statement.
It is therefore just as important to look for ways to make fibers and fabrics more robust and release fewer fragments. The industry has already presented initial concepts for this. For example, fabric manufacturer Polartec - the inventor of fleece after all - presented its Polartec® Shed Less fleece in 2023. Shed Less is a process that combines yarn construction, knitting, chemistry and production to reduce the shedding of fiber fragments in household laundry by an average of 85%. The first fabric to receive this new technology is the Polartec® 200 Series fleece. Polartec has also developed new processes in its factories to reduce the dispersion of microplastics in clothing. These include the installation of vacuum and filter systems for all surface finishing machines and the upcycling of all collected fabric waste for reuse in other products. Back in 2018, the company introduced Polartec Power Air, which is designed to trap the fibers in air pockets, i.e. between two layers of fabric.
Textile supplier Polygiene is working on a chemical method to reduce the fragmentation of fibers. In November 2023, Polygiene presented its new innovation project Polygiene ShedGuard at ISPO Munich. It was developed to minimize the loss of microfibers and improve the resistance of the fabric during washing. Polygiene ShedGuard creates a film of polymers around the fiber bundles. It prevents fragments from separating from the fabric structure, splitting and tearing off. According to Polygiene, the process reduces the loss of microfibers by up to 70 %. For this, the technology was awarded the ISPO Textrends Award 2025/26 as the best product in the "Performing Finishes" category. ShedGuard is still in the test phase.
There are also new developments from washing machine manufacturers. In 2023, Samsung worked with Patagonia to develop an external filter that reduces the release of microfiber emissions into wastewater. The filter can be purchased separately and retrofitted.
Consumers can also help to ensure that their products lose fewer fiber fragments. TMC has found that liquid detergents are better than washing powder, water-saving washing machines are better than those with high water consumption and full wash loads produce less fiber breakage than half-full washing machines. Special microfiber filters are also useful, as long as they are cleaned regularly and the fibers are disposed of correctly. However, "it is still too early to make detailed statements here," says Bland.
Ultimately, all research into microfibers and their impact on our environment is still in its early stages. Even TMC, which launched 'The Microfiber 2030 Commitment' in 2021, only entered the phase of "developing an understanding of the causes" in 2024. And there is still no globally recognized, uniform standard for measuring fibre fragmentation, which makes it difficult to compare research results. The good news is that the problem has been recognized and more and more companies try to do something about microplastics in clothing. TMC is also already sharing its findings in training courses for the industry and public webinars.