Water footprint assessment of viscose staple fiber garments

The viscose fiber industry forms a large part of the textile industry and is a typical water consumption and wastewater discharge industry. As a tool to quantify environmental impacts in terms of water resources, the water footprint assessment (WFA) is a control method for the textile and apparel industry to measure water consumption and wastewater discharge. In this study, the water footprints of viscose staple fiber blouses and blended men’s suits were comprehensively evaluated based on the ISO 14046 standard and the life cycle assessment (LCA) polygon method. The WFA results from our study indicate that the production stage of viscose staple fiber garments has the most significant water resource environmental load. Specifically, the water footprint related to the production of viscose staple fiber for three types of clothing accounted for more than 50% of the total water footprint, with men’s 100% viscose staple fiber suits having the largest impact on water resources and the environment. Furthermore, our results indicate that the water alkaline footprint is primarily influenced by the viscose staple fiber production as well as the dyeing and finishing processes. NaOH and Na2CO3 are the main pollutants that caused the water alkaline footprint. In addition, the water ecotoxicity footprint was the major driving factor of water resource environmental load. Zn2þ is the main pollutant that caused the water ecotoxicity footprint.