Environment in textile supply

Polyester production

Key environmental issues

· Emission of volatile organic compounds

· Remains of catalysts in fibres

 

Details

Chemicals

Polyester is produced from fossil resources such as oil and natural gas.

Key intermediates are paraxylene, teraphtalic acid, ethylene glycol and polyethylene teraphthalate. In other words we are dealing with organic chemical synthesis where catalysts are used to a great extent to control the processes.

The main environmental impacts from production relates to the chemical synthesis process where volatile organic compounds (VOC) – potentially harmful to the health and the ozone layer - are emitted to the surrounding environment together with acetaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane – potentially carcinogenic.

Also the catalysts used – manganese, cobalt and antimony oxide – are potentially carcinogenic.

The chemicals used in the manufacturing of fibres can persist in textiles and come in contact with the skin of people using the finished textiles. Therefore it is important to control the level of such substances in the final fibre product.

Options for improvements/available tools

A new generation of antimony-free catalysts has been developed and are expected to revolutionise the market within the coming years. Antimony free catalysts are preferred, and the EU Eco-label system requires limitations on the use of polyester catalysts – however does not exclude them. The maximum content of antimony in polyester fibres is limited to 260ppm with the EU Eco-labelling criteria, while the Oeko-Tex standard limit is 30ppm.

The EU Eco-labelling system also limits average annual VOC emission, the limit being 1.2 g per kilogram of manufactured polyester resin.

 

Resources

Use of fossil resources for polyester production is not a significant quantity in textile service life cycle assessments. By comparison the fossil resources used to produce energy for laundering greatly exceeds the fossil resources needed as raw materials for the production of polyester.