The textile industry is the fifth largest industrial polluter globally, generating massive waste; in Europe, 87% of textile waste is incinerated. To address this, ISO is developing a new standard, ISO 22067-3. This standard will provide tools for the textile and footwear supply chain to communicate and improve the environmental accountability of all printing processes.

One of the world’s worst industries when it comes to negative environmental impacts is the textile business. The sector is notoriously water and energy hungry and it generates an astonishing amount of waste. If you look at primary materials use and greenhouse gas emissions, the textile industry is the fifth largest industrial sector when it comes to environmental impacts. A report from the European Parliament says that only about 1% of used clothes in Europe are recycled into new clothes. Apparently Europeans use nearly 26 kilos of clothes per year and of this a jawdropping 11 kilos are thrown away. Some of these discarded clothes are exported outside of the EU but most of this waste is incinerated. Incineration accounts for 87% of waste textiles, according to the European Environment Agency. In places where textile waste is rising fast-fashion is making things even worse. But that’s another story. In the meantime, work is underway to help make textile printing more sustainable

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