Tag: environmental impact

OM in the News: Methane Emissions and the Fashion Industry

Savvy shoppers looking for luxury often hunt for high-quality materials such as 100% wool or genuine leather. But these two materials are responsible for an outsize share of the fashion industry’s methane footprint, reports The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 15, 2025). 

Fashion needs to be more sustainable

Methane traps far more heat than carbon dioxide; it’s 86 times more potent in contributing to global warming in a 20 year time frame than carbon emissions are. These carbon emissions come mainly from animals such as cows, sheep and goats belching out the gas.

Leather and wool are particularly harmful to the environment. The materials make up only 3.8% of the apparel industry, but producing them accounts for 75% of fashion’s methane footprint.

Buying a high-quality piece of clothing made of a natural fiber such as wool will last longer than a cheaper, less durable version made of fossil-fuel derived polyester. But the fashion industry doesn’t do enough to address the environmental impact of animal-derived materials.

Man-made polyester also has a major impact on the planet, particularly as fast fashion companies pump out cheap pieces to satisfy ever-evolving trends—many of which end up in landfills. Greenhouse gas emissions from clothing are ballooning. The global fashion industry is responsible for emitting about 8.3 million metric tons of methane every year, which means its footprint will amount to nearly 4 times the methane emissions released by France annually. Ultimately, shoppers are better off buying fewer pieces of clothing and shopping secondhand when they can to lower methane and carbon emissions.

Sourcing new materials is especially harmful. Producing textiles, from extracting raw materials to manufacturing, accounts for 92% of the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions overall. There is increasing anxiety about where mountains of clothing end up when they’re discarded. The European Parliament is going to adopt a new law requiring producers to oversee textile waste from clothing to blankets and curtains.

One challenge lies in fabric complexity. Most modern textiles are blends of natural and synthetic fibers—like cotton, polyester, and elastane. Yet most recycling technologies today, which are still primarily mechanical, can only process single-material fabrics.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Are your students aware of the emissions from different types of fabrics?
  2. Which is worse for the planet–polyester clothes or wool?  Why?

OM in the News: Building Sustainability Into Product Design

Did you know 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design phase? With so much dependence on design, it is critical to start thinking about the environmental impact of a product as early as possible, alongside the traditional drivers of cost, quality, and time. To overcome resource scarcity and meet emissions targets, manufacturers are steadily increasing their environmental consciousness, writes Industry Week (April 26, 2024). Those set to succeed are doing so from the very start of their development processes.

Combining the real and digital worlds makes it possible to integrate the entire value chain. This delivers a digital thread that serves as the foundation for collective intelligence, connecting workflows and processes along the value chain. It can also provide designers with access to a comprehensive digital twin informed by simulation results and production data, material information, supplier and product carbon footprint data, etc.

This empowers engineers to rethink design, as they have access to a dynamic and iterative process (outlined in the 5 points below) that is never finished and allows for recycling, remanufacturing and reuse. However, for this to work, sustainability needs to be embedded into all phases of the design process. a point we make in both Ch. 5 (Product Design) and Supp. 5 (Sustainability in the Supply Chain).

1. Conceptual Design In addition to traditional design requirements such as performance, durability, usability and cost, designing for sustainable outcomes means meeting new requirements, including carbon emission caps, water use restrictions and recyclability. Capturing these early is critical .

2. Suppliers When sourcing materials and components, it is important to establish communication with suppliers that best comply with sustainability requirements.

3. Detailed Design The right tools will enable engineers to select the best part materials based on required material properties and the associated sustainability scores.  One material may result in a lowered carbon emission rating within manufacturing because it is more recyclable, while another material option might be more durable and extend product life.

4. Validation Validation covers many workflows and engineering domains to ensure the product functions as expected. Innovative materials used to meet sustainability targets might require more thorough testing.

5. Design Improvement This is a continuous journey that extends long after the product is made. Integrating sustainability goals into product design is making that a reality for every company.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why are suppliers an important part of new product design?
  2. Name a product that has gone through these 5 steps.