Water Conscious Blue Jeans Washing Process: A Case Study of Turkey

Washed denim garments represent a popular field of fashion design and environmental effects of denim washing are being increasingly explored since the process has adverse impacts on the environment due to its chemical discharge and other pollutant emissions that affect water supplies. As being one of the biggest suppliers of denim apparel manufacturing worldwide, Turkey has also faced problems of high water consumption and pollution. To reveal the pressure on the environment caused by the denim washing sub-sector in particular, the water related environmental negative impacts in the industry need to not only be quantified, but also reduced. Accordingly, the study was conducted to develop a sustainable washing process for blue jeans for a medium scaled, commercial denim apparel washing plant. The results showed that the sustainable washing approach displayed superior performance with 36% lower grey water footprint (GWF), lower environmental impact in all categories, 28% lower overall energy demand, 50% lower natural gas and 36% lower direct water resource consumption with similar garment quality and washing effect attained.