The current Norwegian clothing system and a circular alternative

A new Lasting publication by María Carolina Mora-Sojo, Kamila Krych, and Johan Berg Pettersen from NTNU presents an overview of the current clothing consumption in Norway and a potential circular alternative.

The article first maps the current flows of clothing and explains that the problem lies in the current linearity of the system. In 2018, 95% of clothing acquisitions in Norway were brand-new items (Figure 1). At their end-of-life, nearly all garments faced either exportation (58%) or incineration (41%). The authors performed a life-cycle assessment and estimated the total impacts of the system.

Figures for clothing flows in Norway in 2018. — Figure 1: The clothing system in Norway in 2018. The flow of each garment type is distinguished by color. Gray boxes represent processes and the dots inside them represent the absolute contribution of the process to greenhouse gas emissions of the system. Each dot represents 0.05 Mton CO₂-eq, and its color corresponds to the subprocess type. Subprocesses with low absolute contribution were omitted.

Circular alternative

The authors use other data sources to suggest that many of the exported clothes are in good condition, and could have a second life within Norway. Some garment types are also suitable for rental. If both reuse and rental were implemented at a national scale, we could increase the circularity and decrease the environmental impacts of the system by around 50% (Figure 2).

Figures for alternative clothing flows in Norway. — figure 2: Circular alternative to the clothing system in Norway in 2018. The flow of each garment type is distinguished by color. Gray boxes represent processes and the dots inside them represent the absolute contribution of the process to greenhouse gas emissions of the system. Each dot represents 0.05 Mton CO₂-eq, and its color corresponds to the subprocess type. Subprocesses with low absolute contribution were omitted.

Environmental impacts of clothing acquisition

Evaluation of environmental impacts shows that the consumption of new garments is the most emission-intensive acquisition channel. Secondhand or inherited garments have no production impacts due to cut-off allocation, while rented garments have a third of production impacts, given that each garment is rented three times. The climate change impacts of consumer mobility are the highest for physical stores located in the city center, and slightly lower for rented garments because rented garments are fetched from pick-up points (Figure 3).

Climate change impacts per kg of garment acquired through various channels. Buying new clothes in physical stores have highest impacts, while buying second-hand online has lowest. — Figure 3: Climate change impacts per kg of garment acquired through various channels. The uncertainty represents the full range of values depending on the garment type and is fully associated with the production phase. Inheritance is not included.

Conclusion and recommendation

Even with the demonstrated circularity increase, the environmental benefits reach only a certain level, and further impact reductions would require limiting clothing consumption. The authors estimated that an average Norwegian consumed around 11 kg of clothes in 2018, and this number should decrease in the future if more environmental savings are to be seen.

Reference

Mora-Sojo, M. C., Krych, K., & Pettersen, J. B. (2023). Evaluating the current Norwegian clothing system and a circular alternative. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 197, 107109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107109