Comparision of woven fabric finishing processes on the basis oflife cycle assessment

In this thesis, potential effects of textile dyeing and finishing processes on the environment, human health and resource consumption were evaluated on the base of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. Prospective improvements and accessible reductions in those impacts were examined in consideration of sustainable production methods and cleaner production opportunities for each particular process. The processes were reviewed with reference to the Best Available Techniques (BAT) approach, and a checklist was prepared to assess the sustainable production competency of textile dyehouses. A gate to gate LCA was carried out for 16 different dyeing processes of polyester/viscose, CDP/viscose, wool/polyester and wool/polyamide fabrics. LCAs were performed in accordance with the ISO 14044:2006 Environmental Management-Life Cycle Assessment-Requirements and Guidelines Standard, using GaBi ts 9.5 LCA professional version software. The selected environmental impact categories were global warming potential (GWP100), acidification potential (AP), human toxicity potential (HTP), eutrophication potential (EP), freshwater ecotoxicity potential (FAETP) and marine water ecotoxicity (MAETP). A hotspot analysis of the production process for each fabric quality was also achieved on the basis of the GaBi methodology of Gabi LCA software. In general, sodium sulphate, soda, levelling agent and softening agent used as auxiliary chemicals and dyestuffs containing heavy metals in dyeing processes were identified as the sources of hotspots. In addition, primary emissions from steam, electricity and natural gas production appear to affect the environmental impact categories at various rates. The LCIA results prove that wool/polyamide fabrics have less environmental impact than polyester containing fabrics . It was also observed that the significance of environmental impact increases as the dyeing colour gets darker while the fabric quality and process conditions remain the same. In addition to the shade of the colour, the number of pre-treatment and finishing processes applied and the process conditions also have great effect on the environmental impact.