Life Cycle Assessment of Organic Cotton

Supervisor: Students:
Tine Herreborg Jørgensen Abraham Asare
Nkafu Patrick Asonganyi
Eleonora Cogo
Anne Mette Dalum
Lis Nowak

University of Aalborg
September 2006
 Preface
This report “Life Cycle Assessment of Organic Cotton” is the product of a mini project made in the period
from September the 5th to September the 18th, 2006. This report is made by five international students on
the master programme Environmental Management in the University of Aalborg.
This report is made under the theme “Textile Industries”, which is a common topic for the mini projects on
this semester. This group has chosen to work with the tool conceptual Life Cycle Assessment, with the goal
of finding environmental impacts related to the life cycle of organic cotton. This report briefly review the life
cycle of cotton and the environmental impacts connected to this life cycle due to the short time available.

The references in this report follow the Chicago style of referencing.

It is not allowed to reproduce the report without source of reference our after an agreement with the group.

Abraham Asare Nkafu Patrick Asonganyi

Eleonora Cogo Anne Mette Dalum

Lis Nowak

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Content
1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................................4
Problem formulation .......................................................................................................................5
Methods ........................................................................................................................................5
Structure .......................................................................................................................................5
2. The Life Cycle Assessment tool...........................................................................................................6
History and perspective of Life Cycle Assessment ..............................................................................6
Conceptual Life Cycle Assessment....................................................................................................7
3. Life Cycle of Organic Cotton ..............................................................................................................8
Growing.........................................................................................................................................8
Harvesting .....................................................................................................................................8
Cleaning/ginning and spinning .........................................................................................................9
Fabric production, treatment and finishing (weaving and knitting) ......................................................9
Sewing and garment production ......................................................................................................9
Transportation ...............................................................................................................................9
Use, reuse and recycling .................................................................................................................9
Disposal.........................................................................................................................................9
4. Hot spots in the Life Cycle of Organic Cotton .....................................................................................10
Seeding, growing and harvesting of organic cotton..........................................................................10
Spinning, washing and dying of the organic cotton ..........................................................................10
Production of textiles from organic cotton.......................................................................................10
Use, reuse and recycling of textiles from organic cotton...................................................................10
Transportation and disposal of the textiles from organic cotton ........................................................11
Hot spots in the life cycle of organic cotton.....................................................................................11
5. Conclusion......................................................................................................................................12
References .........................................................................................................................................13

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1. Introduction
Cotton is one of the textile products which is being worn at one time or another by most of the world’s
population. But there are some great environmental and health consequences by using this product. During
the last years organic cotton production has occurred as an alternative to the conventional cotton
production, as an attempt of solving this problems. (Myers & Stolten 1998) But are there still environmental
problems connected to the production of organic cotton? That’s the intention of this mini project to
investigate.

Cotton plant is a deciduous and can be cultivated in the temperate and even subtropical zones. This crop
develops in an orderly, predictable pattern. Cotton fibre is the world’s most important fibre and its seed is
the second most oil seed crop. (Ruano 2001)

In recent years, the cultivation of organic cotton is gradually been seen as an alternative to conventional
cotton production due to the later highly dependence on synthetic chemicals and pesticides. According to
one study, conventional cotton produces use about 2.6 billion worth of pesticides (Lotus Organics 2006). It
must however be remembered that, legal usage of these synthetic chemical do not make them
environmental friendly therefore minimising their environmental impacts.
Conventional cotton is grown in almost every part of the earth. However, the cultivation and production of
cotton is mainly concentrated in developing countries. According to the FAS, the total production of
conventional cotton fibre for 2004/2005 was 120.8 million bales (218.2kg/bale).The table below shows the
leading producers of conventional cotton for that period. (FAS 2006)

COUNTRY PRODUCTION (in million bales)

CHINA 29
USA 23
INDIA 19
PAKISTAN 11
BRAZIL 6
Table 1.1: World’s cotton production for 2004/2005. (FAS 2006)
The heavy dependence on chemicals and machinery of conventional cotton production impact on the
environmental hence the need for organic cotton production.

Generally organic cotton is an environmentally friendly, synthetic chemical free alternative to conventional
cotton production. Not only is organic cotton products free from chemical but are also extremely soft and
very durable. (Wikipedia 2006)
This form of cotton cultivation and production is gentler on the environment and allow the eco-system to
have a bigger influence in the cultivation of the crops. This may include the adoption of several cultivation
practices such as crop rotation, trap cropping etc. to enhance soil fertility and crop yield. (Ecochoices 2006)

Unlike the conventional cotton fibre production, organic cotton must meet and be labelled by a certification
authority as organic before it can be sold as organic cotton. This means that, every stage in the life cycle
production of organic cotton must meet and use products or practices that are organic. It is interesting to

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know that, despite the low environmental impact of the life cycle of organic cotton production, less that 0.1
% of the world’s cotton production last year was organic cotton. (PAN germany 2006)

According to a recent press release by the ICCO in September 2006, the demand for organic cotton products
has exploded, from 245 million USD in 2001 to more than 580 million USD by the end of 2005. Triple digit
growth is expected for the next several years, with the 2008 market estimated at 2.6 billion USD. The
leading companies in this market include Nike, Coop Switzerland, Marks & Spencer, Patagonia etc. This
potential growth in the organic cotton market will provide the various stake holders the opportunity to
expand their production and also help protect the environment. (ICCO 2006; Sustainable Solution Design
Association 2002).

Problem formulation
It is known that organic cotton production is gentler on the environment than conventional cotton
production which is heavily dependent on synthetic chemicals. Though this may be the case, like many
organic products, there are some environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of organic cotton
production. No matter how less severe this may be, it is still a challenge to know the various environmental
impacts with the life cycle of organic cotton and how they can be removed. This is even more pressing in
view of the fact that more and more people (both producers and users) are becoming aware of organic
cotton production and usage. With expected increase in the market share of organic cotton production
(ICCO 2006), any less severe environmental impact could not be tolerated hence the need to know the
various environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of organic cotton. It is the focus of this study
(report) to find the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of organic cotton.

To help us do this, we have proposed three research questions (Sub-questions) that will guide us in
identifying these environmental impacts. We would like to look into:
1. What is Life Cycle Assessment from a conceptual point of view?
2. How can cotton be produced organically, and
3. What are the potential environmental impact concerning organic cotton production from cradle to
grave?
These three research questions will form the basis of our study and will be help us answer the main question
presented.

Methods
This study will contain a description of a method for analysing how to locate the environmental impacts of
organic cotton. Also, with the help of Life Cycle Assessment we will identify these environmental impacts.
This will then set up the frame for analysing the various hot spots (environmental impacts) in the life cycle
of organic cotton.

Structure
The structure in the project follows the order of the three sub-questions. The first section, chapter two, will
explain what organic cotton production is, the second section, chapter three, will discuss Life Cycle
Assessment and the third section, chapter four, will analyse and discuss the various environmental impacts
that are associated with organic cotton production. Finally the chapter five will highlight solutions and
suggestions that can help minimise or eliminate these environmental impacts.

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2. The Life Cycle Assessment tool
It is the point of this chapter to shortly describe the history behind the Life Cycle Assessment tool, and also
describe the thinking of life cycle and at last the tool conceptual life cycle assessment which we are using in
this mini project to find the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of organic cotton.

History and perspective of Life Cycle Assessment

Since 1993 there has been an ISO standard in which it is described how exactly to execute a Life Cycle
Assessment. Those ISO standards 14040-14043 is based on a number of meetings and publications from
SETAC and more, and is made by the technical committee ISO/TC 207 Environmental management. Before
this standards creation there were however some others who already made assessment similarly to Life
Cycle Assessment primary in relationship to evaluation of the environmental impacts related to packaging.

Ten years before the standards, the report of the Brundtland Commission was made, in which the
perspective of various association on environmental impacts changed. From the 1970’s and up to the 1990’s
the focus was primarily on the outputs from the production- and disposal phases. But in the 1990’s as a
reaction to the Brundtland report, among other things, this sight changed into a more overall and global
picture, where all the inputs, outputs and transportation in the products entire life cycle became area of
focus. This old and new views is illustrated at figure 2.1. (Jerlang et al. 2001, Riisgaard et al. 2002)

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Figure 2.1: Illustration of the two perspectives on environmental impacts in focus. Freely after (Riisgaard et
al. 2002).

Conceptual Life Cycle Assessment

There is in principle three different kinds of Life Cycle Assessments;
y Conceptual Life Cycle Assessment
y Screening Life Cycle Assessment
y Detailed Life Cycle Assessment
The conceptual Life Cycle Assessment is the least extended version of the three and the one which we are
doing in this mini project. To describe this type of assessment in a few words; the conceptual life cycle
assessment is a simple qualitative assessment of the environmental impacts seen in a perspective from
cradle to grave. This kind of assessment is typically used in the preparatory phase of the making of the
design in a product development or development of policies addressed for some kind of industry product - in
this case textiles.
The screening Life Cycle Assessment is more detailed and combine qualitative and quantitative assessments
of the environmental impacts in the whole life cycle of the product. This kind is often used as a preparatory
work before the detailed Life Cycle Assessment. Often the screening only looks on selected stages in the life
cycle which appears to be the most voluminous in relation to the environment. The detailed Life Cycle
Assessment includes both qualitative and quantitative assessment, and discuss every stage in the life cycle
of the actual product. Furthermore the detailed Life Cycle Assessment includes several evaluations of the
process of the assessment. (Riisgaard et al. 2003, Schmidth & Thrane 2005, Jerlang et al. 2001)

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3. Life Cycle of Organic Cotton
This chapter focuses on the Life Cycle Assessment stages of organic cotton. We intend to look at the various
product stages of organic cotton production. This chapter will not discuss the environmental impacts (the
hot spots as also used in this report) of these life cycle stages. The next chapter will address this.
Throughout this chapter, we use examples from conventional cotton life cycle stages that illustrate principles
relevant to organic cotton life cycle assessment. The life cycle stages that this chapter highlights include the
growing\harvesting, spinning\cleaning\weaving, dyeing, use\reuse and disposal

Figure 3.1: Life cycle stages for organic cotton.

Growing
Growing of organic cotton uses natural alternatives compare to the traditional or conventional methods
which use synthetic chemicals.
Natural predators, bio pesticides, organic fertilizers, natural manure and flame weeding are used to fight
parasites, control weed and increase soil fertility. Other cultivating management practices such as cover
cropping, crop rotation, trap cropping (for isolate parasites) are employed to renew soil productivity and
boost yield. Less water is consumed during the growing of organic cotton. Usually seeds with at least four
seasons without chemical treatment are used for cultivation. (Berman 2006, Guenera & Sullivan 2003)

Harvesting
Harvesting organic cotton can be complicated because the plant leave cannot be mixed in with the crop.
Normally spraying the plant with weak organic acids or waiting for the frosts to coax off the plant and then
the crops can be manually or mechanically harvested. It must however be noted that, manually (hand
picking) harvesting of the plant can reduce the waste. Normally, the use of defoliant is avoided when
harvesting is done manually. (Berman 2006, The kids window 2006, MEC 2006)

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Cleaning/ginning and spinning
Ginning separates the cotton fibres from the seeds. Before the ginning starts, the gin is cleaned to avoid any
contamination from the machine to the organic cotton. The seeds are used in the manufacturing of organic
animal feed and also some organic cotton seed oil. Natural processes such as potato starch are use in the
cleaning process instead of chlorine. In organic cotton spinning, natural spinning oils are easily biodegraded
so subsequent washing of the cotton fibre is reduced. (Berman 2006, Uneptie 2006)

Fabric production, treatment and finishing (weaving and knitting)

This stage of organic cotton production involves the use of natural dyes with vegetable or animal origin. No
finish enhancement is used. Organic cotton may also be colour grown. Unlike organic cotton, conventional
cotton production makes use of large quantities of synthetic chemicals such as iron, tin etc. and solvent-
bases inks containing heavy metals, benzene. (Berman 2006)

Sewing and garment production

The various process involve in the organic cotton garment must meet the certification authority requirement
in order for the garment to be labelled or certified as organic cotton garment or product. It any unapproved
product or process is used as part of the garment, the final product cannot be labelled or will lack
certification as organic cotton garment. (Guenera & Sullivan 2003)

Transportation
Unlike organic cotton production, there are a lot of risks in transporting large quantities of synthetic
chemicals to and from the manufacturing plants to the place of cultivation, dyeing, finishing etc. this huge
risk is avoided relatively reduced or avoided because organic cotton production uses fewer process hence
fewer transportation. (Berman 2006, Uneptie 2006)

Use, reuse and recycling

The absence of artificial synthetic chemicals in the cultivation of organic cotton results in a high quality and
easily worked product. The pure biological nature of organic cotton makes the fibre both non-allergic and
usable without warning indications even for people who are hypersensitive or affected with special skin
pathologies (it doesn't alter neutral pH). By increasing reuse of textiles, the over-consumption of raw
materials can start to be addressed. New clothes designed in new styles can be made from old textiles and
second-hand clothing. Jackets, dresses, pants and shirts etc. can be unstitched and used in a new context
and form. New impressions can be created from old materials and it is certainly possible to create new high
quality designs from sources other than raw materials. Evening dresses have been made into shirts; tailored
jackets have been turned into skirts and an underskirt has become part of a blouse. (Eco Fashion 1998)

Disposal
Like any other usable material, organic cotton products may be disposed off after their use. However, it
must be noted that since organic cotton products are of biological nature, they are easily biodegradable and
have less environmental impact on the environment in overall terms. (Uneptie 2006)

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4. Hot spots in the Life Cycle of Organic Cotton
The purpose of this chapter is to compare the environmental impacts related to the life cycle of conventional
and organic cotton. Due to the limited period of time available, the group decided to make a conceptual Life
Cycle Assessment. The results focus mostly on qualitative observations, generated by brainstorming in the
group.

Seeding, growing and harvesting of organic cotton

The first stage in the life cycle of organic cotton, as described in chapter three, is the seeding and growing
of the cotton on the field. Especially in these stages of the cotton productions it is possible to notice the
main differences between conventional and organic cotton production. In fact organic cotton is not
subjected to any use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers. Only the use of natural or organic pesticides,
predators and fertilisers are allowed at this stage of the life cycle and no environmental impacts are directly
connected with the use of them. However the origin of those products could have environmental
consequences if they were transported from a distant production place.
Usually less water is used in the organic cotton production and the lack of aggressive additive guarantees a
better soil quality.
The seeding and harvesting phases can be made by hand or by machinery. By using machinery there are
the same environmental problems for both productions, such as air emissions, noise, compaction of the soil
and potential impacts related to the building and disposal of the machinery it self. In organic cotton
production no defoliant process through the use of toxic chemical is allowed.
While organic production regulations focus mainly on the chemicals used during the cotton growth. Other
problems such as working conditions, health & safety standards, and children labour are not always clearly
indicated as standards for organic productions. These problems are also seen in the following stages of the
life cycle of organic cotton.

Spinning, washing and dying of the organic cotton

During the spinning, washing and dyeing stages no chemicals such as chlorine or heavy metals that pollute
air and water are added. However in the organic production, due to the low amount of production, the same
machinery are used as in the conventional one, only toxic substances are avoided. As a consequence the
amount of water and energy needed for processing the yarn is reduced but still impacting the environment,
as well there are still considerable amount of wasted water to purify and pollution affecting the atmosphere.

Production of textiles from organic cotton

At this stage of the life cycle the cotton is being woven, cut, sewn and gamed. In this stage there is no
relevant difference between the conventional and organic cotton besides avoiding the use of chemical
addition for improving the cotton stain resistance, fireproofing, mothproofing, softening, deodorizing, etc.
The environmental impacts still regard energy consumption, water use, waste water and solid waste.

Use, reuse and recycling of textiles from organic cotton

Perhaps the most possible environmental impacts will occur at this stage in life cycle. However the impact
depend on for how long the use and reuse continues. But in this period there would be washing, ironing,
and drying of the textiles which involve a lot of energy and water use. The machinery used for these

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processes have some possible environmental impacts it self, and as mentioned before there is some impacts
connected to the energy and water consumption.
In this stage it is also interesting to notice that different prices of conventional and organic cotton may result
in different possible environmental impacts – if it is taken into consideration what people is using their
available amount for.

Transportation and disposal of the textiles from organic cotton

The organic and conventional cotton have the same impact on the environment concerning transportation: It
costs emissions, noise, pollution, and others impacts connected to the machinery as mentioned earlier.
The organic and conventional cotton can both be recycled, stored or burned, however they are different in
the time they take to biodegrade and the consequent impact they have on the environment.

Hot spots in the life cycle of organic cotton

In view of the qualitative analysis of the life cycle of organic cotton we find that the most possible and
serious environmental impacts are associated with the following;
y Working conditions (from cradle to gate 1)
y Energy consumption (from cradle to grave)
y Water use (from cradle to grave)
These impacts will be elaborated in the conclusion in the chapter five.

1
From cradle to gate: From the start of the life cycle where the raw material is manufactured until the
production of the product is finished.

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5. Conclusion
Through this mini project it has been established that organic cotton is a good alternative compared to the
life cycle of conventional cotton. It has been the purpose of this study to find:

Which environmental impacts are associated with the life cycle of organic cotton?

To answer this question we have established the hot spots of environmental impacts which are associated
with the life cycle of organic cotton in comparison to the life cycle of conventional cotton. The various
impacts that have been found can be generally categorised into three groups as follows:
y Working conditions (from cradle to gate)
y Energy consumption (from cradle to grave)
y Water use (from cradle to grave)

Working conditions (from cradle to gate) is located as an important impact in the life cycle of organic cotton,
given that there are no demands for organic cotton regarding this point. The problems which still are in this
area are for instance child labour, the duration of the working day, standard of wages, ergonomic positions
or health problems arisen from inhalation of particles from dust etc. To solve these problems it is important
that the consumers and the producers behind organic cotton set up demands for proper working conditions.
There could also be policies and regulations that could improve the circumstances for workers. As for
example by allowing labour unions, but in general by focusing more on the overall human rights.

Less energy and water consumption (from cradle to grave) is furthermore not included in the demands
regarding the organic cotton. As described in chapter four, there can be some differences depending on the
technology being used - Technology witch is not necessarily linked to whether it is organic or conventional
cotton. For instance it could be a matter of policies and regulations to reduce the consumption of water and
energy by inviting to energy saving consumption for example by using cleaner technology, which for
instance should be cheaper and because of that more favourable. This should perhaps be followed up by
working for educate both users and producers. It is important to mention that improvement of the ecological
consciousness is not just a matter of knowledge, but also a matter about economy.

The above discussions and analysis answers the problem formulation of this report, by pointing out some
central hot spots of the life cycle of organic cotton.

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References
Berman 2006
Berman, A., A Guide to Cotton Adapted from Your Naturally Healthy Home: Stylish, Safe, Simple. Retrieved
September 13, 2006, from www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/247

Eco Choices 2006

Cotton, Conventional versus organic. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from
http://www.ecobedroom.com/1/cotton.html

Eco Fashion 1998

Eco Fashion – Denmark. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from http://www.tve.org/ho/doc.cfm?aid=393

Guerena & Sullivan 2003

Guerena, M. & Sullivan, P., National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, NCAT Agriculture
Specialists. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from http://www.attra.org/index.html

ICCO 2006
Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-Operation, Eco Fashion. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from
www.icco.nl/delievery/icco/en/doc.phtme?p=press_report&index=29i

Jerlang et al. 2001

Jerlang, J., Christiansen, K., Weidema, B., Jensen, A. A., & Hauschild M., 2001, Livscyklusvurderinger – en
kommenteret oversættelse af ISO 14040 til 14043, Dansk Standard

Lotus Organics 2006

Cotton: From field to fashion, Facts behind the fiber. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from
http://www.lotusorganics.com/articles/cotton_facts .aspx

MEC 2006
Mountain Equipment, About Organic Cotton. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from
http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text.jsp;jsessionid=GdCKvlgcP9fvPkDDL2Gl15MbTfjMB0ZtXy5ZbPyssPQBsl
khy0Ql!514428131?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302881662&bmUID=1155383882631
Mountain equipment CO-OP (2006)

Myers & Stolten 1998

Myers, D. & Stolten, S., Organic Cotton from field to final product. Retrieved September 13, 2006 from
http://www.pan-uk.org/briefing/cotton.htm

PAN Germany 2006

Pan Germany, The problem with conventional cotton production. Retrieved September 13, from
http://www.pan-germany.net/baumwolle/en/hintergrund.htm

Riisgaard et al. 2002

Riisgaard H., Arler F., Jamison, A., Christensen, P., Nielsen, E. H., Kørnøv, L., Løkke, S., Lassen, J., Lund, H.,
Østergaard, P.A., Næss, P., Hvelplund, F., & Ingemann, J. H., Humanøkologi – Miljø, teknologi og samfund,
Aalborg Universitetsforlag.

Ruano 2001
Ruano, A., Marur, C. J Reference system for determination of developmental stages of Upland cotton.
Revista de Oleaginosas e Fibrosas 5:313-317.

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Schmidth & Thrane 2005
Schmidt, J., Thrane, M., Arler, F., Blarke, M. B., Busck, O., Christensen, P., Hvelplund, F., Holgaard, J. E.,
Jørgensen, T. H., Kørnøv, L., Lund, H., Løkke, S., Möller, B., Nielsen, E. H., Remmen, A., Schmidth, J.,
Smink, C. & Østergaard, P. A., Tools for Sustainable Development, Aalborg Universitet.

Sustainable Solution Design Association 2002

Guideline, A Handbook on the environment for textile and fashion industry

The kids window 2006

Organic cotton. Retrieved September 13, 2006, from http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/natural-baby/about-
organic-cotton.htm

Uneptie 2006
Textiles: Fashion that doesn’t cost the Earth. Retrieved September 10, 2006, from
http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/reports/SCP_Resource_Kit/PDF_FINAL_uk/textiles.pdf

Wikipedia 2006
Organic cotton. Retrieved September 14, 2006, from www.en.wikipedia.org/wk/organiccotton

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