Textile Institute Series: Responsibility and Sustainability

The Textile Institute and Routledge have partnered to produce a ground--‐breaking new book series entitled　Sustainability in Textiles. As the second largest industry in the world, textiles and textile production have a huge impact on the environment, the people who work within the industry and the development of business and government policy at a global level.

The Textile Institute, the world’s leading institution for the industry, defines Sustainable Textiles and Apparel in the following ways:

• Safe for humans and the physical environment;
• Made from renewable materials;
• Produced through making the most efficient use of resources such as water and energy;
• Manufactured by people employed in decent working conditions;
• Capable of being washed at low temperature using environmentally friendly laundering agents;
• Capable of being returned safely to the environment at the end of their useful life (Performance Apparel Market, 2009).