Goal
The project has as its vision to design a model that integrates fuzzy mathematics into the environmental impact assessment of the wearing apparel industry. There are many ways in which corporate activity affects the natural environment, which makes the analysis and assessment of corporate environmental impact difficult. Fuzzy mathematics allows addressing the complexity of the environmental impacts and enables the incorporation of expert knowledge into the system of assessment.
Background
Wearing apparel industry is an important example of significant environmental impacts along the supply chain (product design, fiber production, yarn and fabric production, fabric dyeing and finishing, clothing production, selling and distribution, recycling, and disposal), including CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions originating from the clothing production as well as the high consumption of energy during washing of clothes. Use of chemicals during production and water use during washing of clothes are also problematic areas. This industry is a global one, where fibers, thread, and weave might be produced in different countries, and the legal system of a single country may not be able to address the great environmental problems alone. Furthermore, customers are not able to evaluate the environmental impacts created along the supply chain and sellers do not pay sufficient attention to the earlier stages of the chain. For these reasons it is important to provide useful environmental indicators that allow companies to measure their progress towards environmental targets and for market actors to have a greater influence on the company, in order to facilitate the shift toward sustainable development.
Project period and financing
This project period is September 2014 through November 2015. The project is supported by Nils Science and Sustainability Programme (ES07), ABEL – Coordinated Mobility of Researchers (ABEL-CM-2014A), and financed by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism, operated by Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
The project is led by the Research Group SoGReS-MF, Universitat Jaume I (Spain). For further information, see the Research Group’s website in Spanish.
.jpg){kind=link}