ASOS Circular Design Collection Key Definitions
This page contains definitions of technical terms used within the ASOS Circular Design Collection.
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Conventional Electroplating
A prohibited process within The Jeans Redesign Guidelines: “electroplating is the process of coating with metal by means of an electric current. The major environmental issues associated with electroplating activities are the generation of hazardous wastes and effluent disposal as well as odour and noise.” (1)
Conventional material
A fibre or material that is not produced to the specifications of a sustainability program (standard, certification, regulation, initiative, or process). (2)
Disassembly
Multi component products can be designed for disassembly, enabling a product to be taken apart so components and materials can be reused, remade, or recycled (3). The customer is not required to disassemble the product, this will be completed by the industrial recycler.
Durability
The ability of a physical product to remain functional and relevant over time when faced with the challenges of normal operation. This can relate to physical properties or emotional characteristics to do with appearance. It applies to a product over multiple owners and acknowledges repair and other services as a means to increase overall durability. (4)
Mono-material
Recycling technologies are constantly developing and scaling. Currently, the majority of larger scale mechanical and chemical recyclers only accept mono-material fibres (which is a material that is created from a single fibre type), with a small % allowed for ‘contaminants’ that don’t match the main fibre, therefore for a product to be classed as mono-material, it must include a minimum of 98% of a single fibre type, by weight, in the total product composition (5) (includes main fabric, linings, pockets, and labels but excludes trims, threads, care labels and hardware components). (6)
Non-renewable (material)
Material that is made from sources that will run out or will not be replenished in our lifetimes – or even in many, many lifetimes. Most non-renewable materials are made from fossil fuels: coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Carbon is the main element in fossil fuels. (7)
Post-consumer material
Material generated by households or by commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product that can no longer be used for its intended purpose. This includes returns of materials from the distribution chain. (8)
Potassium permanganate
A prohibited chemical process within The Jeans Redesign Guidelines: “Potassium Permanganate (PP) is a strong oxidising agent used to create different finishes on jeans. The use of PP decreases performance and durability and is thus counterproductive to The Jeans Redesign goal of increased durability. PP in contact with skin can cause irritation, burning, and pain; PP coming in contact with eyes carries the risk of a permanent loss of vision. PP is also an environmental hazard, especially for marine pollution and can bioaccumulate in the food chain.” (9)
Pre-consumer material
Material diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process. Excluded is the reutilization of materials such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed within the same process that generated it. (10)
Recycling
Recycling is the process of reducing a product all the way back to its basic material level, thereby allowing those materials (or a portion of them at least) to be remade into new products. (11)
Recycle now – recycling locator
Recycle Now™ is the national recycling campaign for England and Northern Ireland, which aims to motivate more people, to recycle more of the right things, more often. (12)
The Recycling Locator tool helps citizens find out what they can recycle at home and their nearest recycling locations for a range of items. For more information please click here - https://www.recyclenow.com/
ASOS is a signatory of Textiles 2030, a voluntary initiative by WRAP. Recycle Now is one of the citizen-facing brands brought to you by WRAP.
Renewable (material)
A renewable material is made from a natural resource that can be replenished at a rate equal to or greater than the rate of depletion. (13)
Regenerative (material)
Regenerative production practices build soil health and carbon content, increase water quality and biodiversity, and improve the resilience of ecosystems. (14)
Reuse
Operation by which a product or component is used repeatedly and for long periods of time, for its original purpose, without being significantly modified, remade, or recycled. Products might need to be ‘prepared for reuse’, which often involves cleaning, repairs, or small modifications so that they can continue to be used throughout time and multiple users. (15)
Sand Blasting
A prohibited process within The Jeans Redesign Guidelines: “Sand blasting is a process used to create a distressed look on jeans. Sandblasting reduces the durability of the garment and is dangerous for workers’ health, with risks such as the potential for serious damage to the respiratory passages.” (16)
Stone Finishing
A prohibited process within The Jeans Redesign Guidelines: “The use of pumice stones has several damaging effects and negative factors, such as: decreasing fabric quality, damaging the washing machine, causing a build-up of sludge that needs to be disposed of in an appropriate manner, breaking down into smaller parts during washing that get caught in pockets and other parts meaning garments need to be washed several times to get rid of residue, and a large quantity of stones are needed for washing.” (17)
Virgin raw materials
Virgin materials are natural resources that are extracted in their raw form that are traditionally used in industrial or manufacturing processes. Examples of raw materials include steel, oil, corn, grain, gasoline, lumber, forest resources, plastic, natural gas, coal, and minerals. (18)
ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals)
The ZDHC Foundation is a global organisation leading the fashion industry's efforts to phase out hazardous chemicals. With a vision for widespread sustainable chemistry adoption, ZDHC leverages collaborative engagement across over 330 industry signatories to drive holistic, practical solutions for the textile, apparel, leather and footwear industry. (19)
The Roadmap to Zero Programme, by the ZDHC, leads the fashion industry to eliminate harmful chemicals from its global supply chain by building the foundation for more sustainable manufacturing to protect workers, consumers, and our planet’s ecosystems. (20)
ASOS joined the ZDHC Foundation’s Roadmap to Zero Programme in 2018.
ZDHC ClearStream Report
“ClearStream is a visual, easy-to-read report of a supplier's wastewater performance, as tested against the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines. It provides a clear, globally-accepted standard for wastewater reporting and facilitates better output control. ClearStream makes it easy to understand the impact of wastewater management parameters and to see where improvements can be made.” (21)
ZDHC InCheck Report
“The ZDHC Performance InCheck is an easy-to-read chemical inventory report. It provides an overall score of the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) conformance for all products in the inventory and shows where improvements can be made. Comprehensive overviews, understandable results and helpful guidance support facilities to increase their use of more sustainable chemistry. This helps people's well-being and the environment across the entire chemical inventory.” (22)
ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL)
A list of substances restricted from intentional use in commercial chemical formulations used by manufacturing facilities in the textile, apparel, leather and footwear sectors. (23)
References
(1) The Jeans Redesign Guidelines
(2) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(3) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(4) Textiles 2030, Circular Design Toolkit, an introduction to design for circularity, page 89
(5) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(6) The Jeans Redesign Guidelines, Section 5.2a.
(7) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(8) https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2021/02/Global-Recycled-Standard-v4.0.pdf
(9) The Jeans Redesign Guidelines
(10) https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2021/02/Global-Recycled-Standard-v4.0.pdf
(11) https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/the-circular-economy-in-detail-deep-dive
(12) https://www.recyclenow.com/
(13) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(14) The Jeans Redesign guidelines, Appendix 1 Common definitions for The Jeans Redesign
(15) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(16) The Jeans Redesign Guidelines
(17) The Jeans Redesign Guidelines
(18) Textiles 2030, 2023, Circular Design Toolkit: An introduction to design for circularity
(19) https://www.roadmaptozero.com
(20) https://www.roadmaptozero.com/about
(21) https://www.zdhc-gateway.com/reports/clearstream
(22) https://www.zdhc-gateway.com/reports/incheck
(23) https://mrsl.roadmaptozero.com/