Commentary by Tessa R. Salazar
If you think some people are too sexy for this planet, well, maybe you’re right.
The clothing industry, as I’ve just recently found out, turns out to be the second most polluting industry in the world, coming just after petroleum. The manufacture and consumption of our second skins have had a huge adverse impact on the environment. This is far as the European Parliamentary Research Service is concerned, according to its website.
The European Environment Agency corroborates the research service’s findings, stressing that textile consumption in Europe causes on average the fourth highest pressure on the environment and climate, following consumption of food, housing and mobility.
Textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products. As discussed by the European Parliament, a single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibers that can end up in the food chain.
Over 100 billion garments are produced each year, while 92 million tons of them end up in landfills. Environmental news website Earth Org puts this into perspective: The equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second. If this trend continues, the volume of “fast fashion” waste is expected to soar up to 134 million tons a year by the end of the decade. Journalist Martina Igini, editor in chief of Earth Org, said that the apparel industry’s global emissions will increase by 50 percent by 2030. She added: “If a business-as-usual scenario prevails in the coming years—meaning that no action is taken to reduce fast fashion waste—the industry’s global emissions will likely double by the end of the decade.”
If you think only humans need “clothes,” well you better think again. Without upholstery and fabrics, you’ll be sitting on cold, hard steel in your cars. True, the production of cars requires the extraction and use of the obvious natural resources like steel, aluminum, and petroleum-based plastics. But this industry also uses textiles and fabrics for vehicle interiors. And they use a lot of them.
It’s good to know that certain car brands have been mindful of such things. A number of them have resorted to using sustainable or recycled materials. For instance, a new luxury thread called Wyron truecycled for Lotus, and the Vescin vegan leather interior for MINI, have been added to the list of materials that would help mitigate the adverse effects of textiles and garments on the environment.
In the Wyron truecycled website, it was revealed that up to 100 million textile fibers are produced every year, of which only 1 percent are recycled. This means 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions per year are generated just from new textile production. The recycling percentages need to be ramped up.
During the launch of Lotus Manila and the debut of the Lotus Emeya in September 2024 at the Lotus Manila Showroom in BGC Taguig, what piqued my curiosity, apart from the eye-popping design of the Emeya, was what was used for its “skin.”
Lotus Manila GM Jefferson C. Lizardo told me about the sustainably sourced materials of the so-called hyper electric car to reduce its carbon footprint, among which was the Wyron truecycled sourced from repurposed fibers from the fashion industry. Lotus is the first automaker in the industry to use this application.
MINI’s Vescin
On the other hand, at the unveiling of the full range of new MINI models at The Fifth at Rockwell last Sept. 20, the Autohub group (the Philippine distributor of MINI, Lotus, and Zeekr) showcased what it called “the best of MINI’s innovative design and performance.” It highlighted the perforated synthetic leather sports seats made of Vescin, 100-percent sustainable and leather-free upholstery made from recycled materials, which complement the extravagant interior in dark and light.
Sustainability website One Green Planet lauded MINI’s latest models that use Vescin for its commitment to eco-friendly innovation.
Lotus and MINI are among a growing list of car manufacturers that have been taking concrete steps toward sustainability and compassion in their products and processes. They join BMW (for its Veganza material and SensaTec Perforated upholstery, as well Michelin tires that use only plant-based stearic acid, for certain vehicle models) and Mercedes-Benz (for its Artico). Volvo has the Nordico (a blend of recycled plastics, cork, and other organic materials).
In 2023, the introduction of the full-size battery electric SUV E-HS9 (from Chinese luxury marque Hongqi) featured Alcantara+PVC and Nappa+PVC synthetic leather (the kind of Nappa not sourced from animal skin, according to the general distributor EVOxTerra).
That same year, the Mercedes-Benz EQ series of all-electric vehicles which the official and sole distributor of Mercedes-Benz in the Philippines IC Star Automotive Inc debuted in its Greenhills showroom came with the Artico faux leather fabric combination, which meant the seat materials weren’t sourced from animals.
Volvo Philippines launched the BEV C40 Recharge Twin and the XC40 Recharge Twin in October 2023, both of which had interiors furnished with non-animal sourced T-Tec.
Prior to these, luxury entries from BMW, Porsche, Audi, and Lexus had also offered faux leather in their new EVs. Porsche has been using Race-Tex for its Taycan, while the Audi e-tron SUV is upholstered either with a combination of artificial leather and the Kaskade material, or with a mixture of artificial leather and the microfiber material Dinamica, with recycled materials such as old plastic bottles used in both cases. The Lexus RZ BEV, meanwhile, offers ultrasuede, a sustainable form of suede partly using biomaterials and recycled PET.
So, as we can see, inch by inch, more automakers are taking the extra mile to make their cars more sustainable and cruelty-free outside of the gas tanks and batteries.