A new report links Russian oil to the clothing made by the world’s top retailers and brands using hidden supply chains and Tier 3 manufacturing contracts despite global sanctions in place.
Of the many brands that have withdrawn from the Russian market or paused their sales, there is ample evidence that some collections are made with Russian oil to produce polyester-based products.
Data from the Changing Markets Foundation (CMF) report “Dressed to Kill: Fashion brands’ hidden links to Russian oil in a time of war” reveals the hidden supply chain links between major global fashion brands and retailers and Russian oil, which contributes to Manufacturing synthetic clothing is used. The investigation focuses on two of the world’s largest polyester manufacturers, Reliance Industries in India and China’s Hengli Group.
“We found evidence that Russia has become the largest supplier of oil to Reliance Industries and its polyester production, and that the Hengli Group is also buying Russian oil to manufacture its polyester-based products. Polyester from both companies is then sold to apparel manufacturers around the world, who in turn make apparel for many of the world’s biggest brands,” the report said.
Another 2021 Changing Markets Foundation report, “Synthetic Anonymous,” revealed that most fashion brands are refusing to abandon their fast-fashion business model, based on cheap synthetic materials made from oil and natural gas, and adopting theirs instead Washing collections green by quick shots like using polyester made from recycled plastic bottles.
How the report links Russian oil to Western wardrobes
Using the shipment traces and lists of suppliers published by brands, the CMF was able to break down the supply chains of numerous global brands to Reliance Industries and the Hengli Group. While only a handful of brands disclose their supply chain in a way that allows direct connections to be made with Hengli or Reliance, many brands included in this research are less transparent.
The research linked 78 percent of the brands and parent companies surveyed directly or indirectly to manufacturing operations, showing just how far polyester-based clothing can spread in the global fashion industry. These companies include H&M, Adidas, PVH, Asos, Next, Inditex, Boohoo, Zalando, Nike, Uniqlo, G-Star, Benetton, Columbia, VF Corp, Marks & Spencer, and a long list of other retailers and brands.
Polyester is the most commonly used fiber in the fashion industry
Polyester accounts for more than half of all textiles produced and has become the driving force behind today’s fast fashion model. While people are aware of the ubiquitous plastic pollution and environmental issues related to plastic packaging such as plastic bottles, few are aware that the same product is also found in our clothes, is virtually non-recyclable, creates a significant waste problem, and pollutes the body and nature with plastic microfibers burdened.
Increase in Russian oil exports
While the West has cut back oil imports from Russia, imports from India and China have skyrocketed. The data shows that between August 2021 and February 2022, the monthly average value of Reliance’s delivered imports of Russian oil was 67.4 million euros, increasing almost tenfold to 663.5 million euros per month from April 2022.
Brands are opaque about their synthetic fabric supply chains and do not disclose the origin of the petrochemical products in their collections. The selective reporting also reveals a worrying lack of transparency in the supply chain of 39 of the 50 fashion companies surveyed, which are linked to manufacturing operations that use Russian oil.
Clothing with coal as origin
Despite the fashion industry’s rhetoric on decarbonization, the Fall 2022 Changing Markets Foundations survey shows that many prominent global brands have yet to adopt a coherent stance on sourcing from suppliers that use coal to manufacture synthetic fabrics such as polyester, or plan to do so in the future. This is of great concern as the investigation found that at least 32 clothing companies are at risk of producing clothing from coal in the near future.
recommendations
Companies should set concrete, measurable and time-limited targets to reduce the use of synthetic materials and move away from the unsustainable fast fashion model, prioritizing the phasing out of the use of synthetic fibers in children’s clothing and collections for new mothers should, as there is increasing scientific evidence that young children’s health is most affected by microfiber pollution. The Changing Markets Foundation calls for a complete phase-out of synthetic fibers with the following milestones: Reducing the use of fossil fuels in materials by 20 percent by 2025 compared to base year 2021 and by 50 percent by 2030.
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Source: Changing Markets Foundations report “Dressed to Kill: Fashion brands’ hidden links to Russian oil in a time of war”
This translated article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk.