Polyester production has gained fresh impact figures spanning both fossil-derived and recycled material streams, with major environmental pressure points identified across raw chemical feedstocks, heat and electricity supply, and waste material gathering, alongside a parallel social assessment of conditions affecting workers and the communities living near production sites. Action points addressing traceability and the full spectrum of human rights accompany the findings.
- A cradle-to-gate approach covers resource extraction to fibre formation, with virgin material data taken from Southeast Asia and recycled operations sampled in the United States, Europe, and China.
- Virgin fossil-based inputs are the largest contributor to environmental impact across the assessment, with petrochemical building blocks driving results across most impact categories.
- The analysis covers all 16 indicators recommended in the European Commission's Environmental Footprint 3.1 reference package, with seven categories foregrounded including climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and water scarcity.
- Textile Exchange has issued the findings in Polyester Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study, released on Thursday as the second instalment in its ongoing fibre series, following March's cotton edition.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH: The study has been prepared by SCS Consulting Services using the Textile Exchange LCA+ approach to pair environmental impact modelling with a social dimension covering human rights along the supply chain. It conforms to ISO standards and has undergone critical review by an independent expert panel. As with all comparable assessments, comparisons between studies, or between datasets within a study such as production systems or regions, should not be drawn.
- Project authorship and supervision are held by Ilan MacAdam-Somer, Urvi Talaty, Cicy Geng, and Keith Killpack of SCS Consulting Services.
- Among the gaps the study addresses, virgin PET output across the Southeast Asia region receives an environmental impact dataset that is publicly available for the first time.
- Fresh data on chemical recycling and thermomechanical recycling has also been added, covering the two technology routes used to turn used polyester back into feedstock or fibre.
- LCA findings are sensitive to methodological choices, assumptions, and boundaries, meaning the same dataset can produce different results when applied within different analytical methods.
WHERE THE IMPACT LIES: How polyester is produced strongly influences the scale of its environmental footprint, with hotspot areas differing sharply by production technology. Each route shows a distinct impact profile across materials, energy sources, and transport, and the modelling identifies where each contribution sits to inform where impact reduction efforts are most needed by producers and brands working with the fibre.
- Virgin polyester production depends on three key petrochemicals: monoethylene glycol (MEG), purified terephthalic acid (PTA), and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), each a primary input fed into the manufacturing process.
- Energy sources used for electricity and heat, and the emissions associated with them, are a second major contributor in virgin polyester production.
- Thermomechanical recycling carries two principal hotspots: electricity use and feedstock collection, particularly where waste materials must travel long distances to reach processing facilities, driving up climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and abiotic depletion of fossil fuels.
- Chemical recycling's two largest hotspots are energy consumption for electricity and heat and the input chemicals used in the process, including solvents like methanol.
BEYOND THE ENVIRONMENT: The social assessment found that polyester production can carry serious consequences for workers and surrounding communities across the value chain. Documented conditions include unsafe working conditions, labour rights violations, and gender-based violence, as well as violence by law enforcement against local communities in efforts to secure access to oil and gas extraction sites around the world. Severe health impacts linked to accidental spills and pollution are also recorded.
- Both PET plastic bottle and textile-to-textile recycling chains are often informal and poorly regulated, which can lead to human rights impacts. Textile-to-textile recycling also creates potential for meaningful solutions to help tackle the world's textile waste crisis.
- The Principles of Preferred Production Systems identify reducing and ultimately eliminating fossil-based feedstock reliance as a critical lever, with the study's findings reinforcing that position.
- Complementary measures, including increasing renewable energy use and sourcing waste locally to minimise transport emissions, play an important role in further reducing impacts, particularly within recycled systems.
- The findings reinforce actions brands and retailers should take to support recycling technologies, including investing in post-consumer collection, sorting technologies, and enabling infrastructure.
- Companies should look beyond labour rights to the full spectrum of human rights, working towards full traceability of polyester supply chains by engaging with supply chain actors and progressively mapping upstream to the origin.
- The study data will be submitted to industry databases as proxy data for cases where source-specific LCA data is unavailable; Textile Exchange's position paper Ensuring Integrity in the Use of Life Cycle Assessment Data provides guidance on responsible use.
WHAT THEY SAID
This LCA study marks a significant update to existing polyester LCA data and advances our understanding of the impacts of its production for the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. By addressing known data gaps across both virgin and recycled polyester, and by identifying major hotspot impact areas, these findings create a stronger foundation for making informed decisions that support the shift toward preferred production systems.
— Beth Jensen
Chief Impact Officer
Textile Exchange
There is significant industry investment and momentum behind the development of new technologies for textile-to-textile recycling. This LCA study provides both brands and recyclers with credible and up-to-date data on such systems, while identifying opportunities to reduce their impact … Traditionally, recycled production systems within the textile industry have focused primarily on the recycling plant itself. By taking an "LCA+" approach, this study enables a greater understanding of the significant social impact and vast network that exists before the recycler. To design a successful lower impact recycling system, it needs to protect and support the livelihoods of all people throughout the value chain.
— Adam Gardiner
Recycled Lead
Textile Exchange
