Modeling the environmental and social impacts of the handloom industry in Bangladesh through life cycle assessment

Promoting socially and environmentally sustainable textiles is a prerequisite for transitioning into a more sustainable global fashion industry. The ethically sourced, eco-friendly fabric from Bangladesh’s age-old handloom (HL) weaving industry is an ideal candidate for that. However, the HL industry has declined in Bangladesh and globally under the invasion of the power loom (PL) industry fueled by the onslaught of consumerism and fast fashion. The sustainability aspects of HL and PL industries must be compared to draw attention to the potential role of the handloom industry in achieving sustainability in the textile industry worldwide. This study addresses the issue by comprehensively assessing the environmental and social footprints of both HL and PL industries in Bangladesh by adopting environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approaches. The E-LCA revealed around four times less global warming potential and energy consumption by HL than PL industries. The water consumption per ton of cotton fabric of HL industries (0.39 tons) was stunningly lower than that of PL industries (87 tons). The S-LCA indicated HL industries as more socially inclusive than PL industries. The results showed that a thriving HL industry could help attain sustainability in the textile industry. Accordingly, based on a scenario-based analysis, this study makes specific policy recommendations to pave the pathway toward sustainable fashion using the HL industry.