SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SCREEN PRINTING WORLD? IT'S COMPLICATED. WHEN IT COMES TO SUSTAINABILITY CLAIMS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, IT PAYS TO LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN. By Steve Kahane GLOBAL APPAREL is a trillion dollar industry that keeps us all clothed, but the process casts a large footprint on our environment. The average person today buys 60 percent more clothing than they did 20 years ago, and they throw out more as a result. Less than one percent of used clothing today is recycled or reused. According to the World Bank, the fashion industry uses more than 93 billion cubic meters of water. That's enough to meet the needs of five hundred million people. An estimated 20 percent of wastewater worldwide comes from fabric treatments. The fashion industry contributes 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions; that's more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At its current rate, the fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase by more than 50 percent in the next 10 years. 16 SCREENPRINTING | APRIL + MAY 2020