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Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned the definition of sustainability and how our clothes are made.

• Now ask the students the following question – How can we tell how sustainable our clothes are?

To understand how sustainable an article of clothing is, we need to analyze its life cycle.

• A products life cycle begins with its raw materials.

• Materials are manufactured, then combined to produce the product. The product is then distributed for sale, sold, used, and finally disposed.

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A Life Cycle Analysis evaluates the social (people), environmental (planet), and economic (profit) impacts of a product through its entire life cycle, from cradle to grave.

• LCA’s are typically performed by certified professionals, engineers, and scientists from businesses, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions.

Today we are going to conduct a Life Cycle Analysis on an NBA replica game jersey, specifically the Swingman Jersey, based on information publicly available. While we analyze each step of the cycle, we’ll likely also identify additional questions that need to be answered. - Let’s get started

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There are three types of jersey’s available for sale to the public:

• Replica Jersey

  NBA replica jerseys are made to look like the ones worn on the court but are the least expensive of the three.

• Swingman Jersey

  The swingman jersey is the middle ground choice for fans that want something more like the real on-court thing but is more affordable; it's the best-selling of the three jerseys.

• Authentic Jersey

  An Authentic NBA jersey is just like the one your favorite player wears on the court.

We’ve selected the Swingman because it is the best-selling of the three. You may even have one in your closet.

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Fans wear these jerseys proudly to show the world who their favorite players and teams are. In many cases the jerseys have too much sentimental value to ever throw away and spend much of their life on a hanger or in a drawer.

• The jersey had double-knit mesh fabric with Dri-FIT technology helps you stay dry and comfortable .

• It has a straight hem, giving it an easy and relaxed fit for fans.

• The jersey is also made entirely of recycled polyester fabric which came from plastic bottles Nike has diverted from landfills since 2010 - bringing the total to more than 7 billlion bottles

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We need to further examine the jersey to see where this information came from, and to learn more about the product

• The interior of the jersey (interior back below collar) has a Nike logo that indicates the fabric contains Dri-Fit technology.

• The next place to check is the tags attached to the inside of the garment. They indicate the jersey is made of 100% polyester and manufactured in Guatemala. The tags also contain product codes that we will use to find out even more.

• Before that, we need to log on to the Nike website to examine the Swingman Jersey product page. This page contains the information included in the gray box on this slide, including some very important new information – the jersey is not just made of Polyester, it’s made of 100% Recycled Polyester (rPET).

We will start looking at the entire life cycle of a Swingman Jersey:

1. Swingman Jerseys begin their life as plastic water bottles.

2. The bottles are then recycled into pellets, spun into yarn, and double-knit into fabric.

3. The fabric is then cut and sewn into jerseys in Guatemala and sold to fans around the world.

Let’s do a deeper dive into each stage.

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According to Nike, each jersey contains approximately 20 recycled bottles. With an estimated 1.2 – 1.4 million jerseys produced annually, that equals 24 - 28 million bottles each year.

• Our challenge is to identify the economic, environmental, and social impacts of the production of recyclable plastic bottles.

• According to Nike, 1 jersey is made of 20 bottles. With 1.2-1.4 million jerseys sold per year, they have recycled over 24-28 million bottles.

• However, the American Chemistry Council estimates that the average consumer uses 166 plastic water bottles each year and that 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour.

• Bottled water production also uses 17 million barrels of oil/year, enough to fill 1 million cars with 1 year worth of fuel.

• Let’s examine this further through the lens of a bottle’s carbon footprint.

Now ask the students the following question – Can anyone tell us what a carbon footprint is?

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Carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions.

• The average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons, one of the highest rates in the world.

• To put it in perspective, the global average is closer to 4 tons.

• To have the best chance of avoiding just a 2℃ rise in global temperatures, the average global carbon footprint per year needs to drop under 2 tons by 2050.

Now ask the students the following question – Why does this matter?

• If we warm by 2°C, the world will be a lot drier, which will impact economies, agriculture, infrastructure, and weather patterns. Rising temperatures will damage ecosystems and species that cannot adapt, including those in coral reefs and Arctic areas. Low-lying coastal regions and small islands worldwide are at risk of disappearing as sea levels rise due to the Greenland ice sheet and Arctic ice melting at continuously faster rates. 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) could determine the existence of whole nations.

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Plastic bottles are made of resins derived from oil or refined petroleum and natural gas. The petroleum and gas are sometimes transported long distances to plastic manufacturers, using fossil fuels and producing emissions of greenhouse gases.

• The size of the carbon footprint depends on the mode of transportation and the distance raw materials have to travel. For example, truck transportation causes more carbon dioxide emissions than rail shipping. When long distances are involved, transportation energy expenditures can represent as much as 29% of a plastic bottle's carbon footprint.

• The manufacturing of plastic resins accounts for the highest percentage of a plastic bottle's carbon footprint. During processing, hydrocarbons in petroleum and natural gas are heated to extremely high temperatures to break down large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones. The small hydrocarbons are then combined in different ways to make various types of plastic. PET resin, resembling grains of rice, is the source material for plastic PET bottles. The energy to produce PET resin represents about 30% of the bottle’s total carbon footprint.

• Energy is needed to convert plastic resin into plastic bottles. Plastic resin is melted and injected into a mold, and then heated and formed into bottles. This final process represents about 8% of a plastic bottle's carbon footprint.

• Cleaning, filling, storing, and packaging plastic bottles also uses energy. Waste generation, including carting plastic bottles to landfills, adds to a bottle's carbon footprint. The total of these processes can represent 33% of a plastic bottle's carbon footprint.

Notice this analysis does not include the impacts of disposal, especially as 80% end up in landfills or the associated impacts of the oil or natural gas extraction required to make the resins.

Let’s look at some more statistics to put these impacts, and likely a few more, into perspective:

• The global plastic bottle and container market is expected to reach a value of USD 224.97 billion by 2025.

• What does this mean? It means this industry is huge. How huge? It is estimated that in 2021, 1 million bottles are sold per minute.

• If we count yearly, that’s 73 bottles for every human on earth. That also takes a lot of oil.

  • The production of bottled water uses 17 million barrels of oil a year - that’s slightly more than it would take to fill one million cars a year with fuel.

• If you include all rPET bottles (soft drinks, juice, tea, etc.), this is even easier to illustrate.

  • If you fill a plastic water bottle so it is about 25% full, that’s about how much oil it took to make the bottle.

• Recyclable water bottles also take more water to make than it contains.

  • It takes 3 times the amount of water in a bottle of water to make it as it does to fill it.

Now let’s think about what happens to these bottles at the end of their life. Remember only 20% get recycled into a new life. Also consider that it takes up to 450 years for a bottle to decompose in a landfill.

• What are the impacts of this? Why do you think recycling rates are so low?

• One of the biggest reasons is the lack of local recycling options. High income areas, such as North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and most of Europe have a waste management infrastructure for their plastic waste. Lower-income countries are unable to incorporate these systems.

The next stage of our analysis, recycling bottles, and the swingman jersey itself, requires a waste management infrastructure.

Part 2: Slide 1 (PDF 11)

Knowing that the jerseys started as recycled plastic bottles, we need to understand how these bottles are recycled into Dri-Fit fabric.

1. The first step is to collect and recycle the plastic bottles.

2. Next, they are pre-washed with steam and chemicals and their labels removed.

3. The bottles are then ground into particles known as “flakes.”

4. These flakes then go through another process including washing and water baths, to achieve a complete cleaning.

5. After the completion of grinding, washing and separation, the material is rinsed to eliminate any remaining contaminants or cleaning agents. It is then melt filtered to remove any contaminants that may have survived earlier steps.

   • This melted PET passes through a series of screens to form pellets. Pelletized plastic provides a uniform-sized material that can then be reintroduced into the manufacturing process.

From Nike’s perspective:

• This pelletized rPET is purchased from recyclers by Nike and shipped to facilities to produce Dri-Fit fabric. The location of the recyclers and Dri-Fit mills is not publicly available.

• Once arriving at the mill, the pellets are spun into a standard width Polyester fiber and a Polyester microfiber.

• The two fibers are then spun into yarn, double knit weaved into Dri-Fit fabric, then dyed and washed before being shipped to the cut and sew factories in Guatemala.

Part 2: Slide 2 (PDF 12)

The rPET business has been growing rapidly despite competing directly with the beverage industry for the 20% of recyclable bottles that are recycled.

• The global rPET Fiber market, valued at 470.53 million USD in 2020, makes up 40% of the total Polyester market.

• The challenges of securing the recycled bottles to support this growth have increased the cost of rPET while limiting its use.

Virgin PET vs rPET

• Because of supply constraints, prices for rPET are higher than that of virgin PET and the processing costs also limit the end-use applications to companies that can support a higher cost structure.

• Despite rising costs, the market is expected to continue its growth, with 59 renowned textile, apparel, and retail companies—including major brands such as adidas, Dibella, Eileen Fisher, Gap Inc., H&M, IKEA, Lindex, MetaWear, Nike, Target and Timberland—committed to an increase in their use of rPET by at least 25%.

• Nike alone diverts an average of 1 billion plastic bottles annually from landills and waterways .

• Recycled polyester reduces emissions by 30% compared to virgin polyester.

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This rapid growth creates another question: What is the best use for these recycled bottles?

• When they are used to produce rPET they lose the ability to be recycled again. Whereas when used to create new recyclable bottles they can be recycled many times.

• Unfortunately, because we don’t know where the bottles were collected and recycled, or where the rPET fabric was made, true carbon emission reductions of rPET are impossible to measure.

Now what do you think? What is the best use for recycled bottles?

Our next stage transforms our fabric into a jersey.

Part 2: Slide 4 (PDF 14)

The next step in our LCA Analysis is product manufcaturing. We know from the hangtag and label on the collar of the swingman jersey that they are made in Guatemala.

• There are over 160 apparel factories in Guatemala, most of them Korean-owned, making cotton and synthetic knit tops, cotton woven and knit cotton trousers, pants, and shorts.

• In 2019, they have a combined revenue of $1.8 billion USD.

• 90% of their production is exported to the US.

Approximately 90,000 people in Guatemala (46% female) work in the textile industry.

• The average textile worker makes 8,620 Quetzal per month ($1,116 USD).

• Positions range from an average of $403 USD/month (line workers) to an average of $2,418 USD/month.

• The Living Wage in Guatemala was $323 USD/month in 2018.

Nike manufactures apparel at two facilities in Guatemala that employ 2,729 workers with an average age of 39.

• Almost 6 out of 10 (59%) are women.

• The largest facility is Corporacion Indyknit SA in Villa Nueva with 2,337 employees (1,925 line workers).

• Combined, these factories produce 1.2 to 1.4 million jerseys per year, or an average of almost 3,300 jerseys a day.

• Villa Nueva has a population of 620,000 people and is in SW Guatemala. The local economy largely depends on industry, with the city having some 100 factories that produce such products as textiles, metallurgical goods, and plastics. The area's agricultural products include rice, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.

These demographics are much different then you find elsewhere around the world where 80% of the workers are female between the ages of 18-24.

• Why do you think this is?

  • Why is the average worker in Guatemala on average at least 15 years older?

  • Why are more men in the workforce in Guatemala (2 times the average)?

Remember the product codes we found on the hangtag of the jersey? These typically refer to the style, color, and season a garment is made. This tag contains several codes.

• The codes beginning with RN and CA are registered identification numbers issued by the US and Canadian Governments and cover multiple products made from the same material.

• The code at the top of the tag is specific to this style and can be used to get additional information about where it was made.

• With this information and the product codes we can go to Nike’s online Manufacturing Map (http://manufacturingmap.nikeinc.com/#), and learn more about production in Guatemala.

Part 2: Slide 5 (PDF 15)

The typical use of a Swingman Jersey is probably a bit different than most shirts people own. We don’t often wear uniforms associated with jobs we don’t have. For example, we all appreciate firefighters for their courage, bravery, athleticism, and benefit to society. Many of the same reasons we love athletes. We don’t, however, purchase and wear replica firefighting uniforms.

• Now ask the students the following question – What is the Swingman Jersey designed for, who buys it, and how do you think people use it?

• Based on sales statistics, it’s safe to assume fans wear swingman jerseys proudly to show the world who their favorite players and teams are. They don’t just wear them to games, you see them in classrooms, beaches, ski slopes and even fashion shows. The top 10 jerseys make up 85% of the total jerseys sold. Special edition player jerseys such as the City, Earned, or Icon are collected annually by fans for their exclusive, single-season designs.

• The jerseys are sold internationally with top selling jerseys in specific countries often representing players from those countries - such as Yuta Watanabe in Japan, Ben Simmons in Australia, or Steven Adams in New Zealand.

• In 2018 swingman jerseys became interactive thanks to NikeConnect and your smart phone. Now your jersey does more than just celebrate your favorite player or team, it connects you to the most recent highlights of that specific player and their team.

Use is a very important when considering the impacts of a product. Now ask the students the following question:

• What needs are fulfilled by these jerseys?

• Does this product meet our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs?

Part 2: Slide 6 (PDF 16)

Here is a list of the top 15 best-selling NBA jerseys.

Part 2: Slide 7 (PDF 17)

84% of our clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators. In the United States alone, the amount of clothing thrown away has doubled in the last 20 years, from 7 million to 14 million tons. This equals 80 pounds of textile waste for every American.

Part 2: Slide 8 (PDF 18)

But did you know that, according to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART), nearly 100% of all used clothing and household textiles can be re-used or recycled:

• 5% are re-used as apparel.

• 30% are converted into industrial polishing/wiping cloths.

• 20% are processed into fiber to be manufactured into new products.

• 95% of all used clothing is recyclable, only 5% is unusable due to mildew or other contamination.

Now ask the students the following question – Despite that, why is such a small percentage of our clothes recycled? What percentage of Swingman Jerseys do you think are recycled?

• Even though less than 20% or our old clothes are directly recycled or donated to charity, an incredible amount – over 1 billion pounds – of used clothing is exported from the US every year. Some of this includes clothes you may have donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

  • Up to 90% of clothing donations to charity ends up with textile recyclers.

  • About 50% of these will be recycled with the remaining half exported and sold by the recyclers to developing countries.

Part 2: Slide 9 (PDF 19)

Let’s look at some options to extend the life of your clothes when you are done with them.

• If it is still usable and doesn’t need to be repaired, consider trading it to friends and family, selling it, or donating it to charity.

  • Try a web search for ‘X donation near me’ and you will be amazed at your options.

  • Earth911 has a great locator tool for finding your nearest recycle point for a whole host of items, not just clothes

• If it needs a patch or a zipper, consider repairing and re-using it.

• If it can’t be repaired or used, DIY or upcycle into something new that you will use.

Now ask the students the following question – The next time you are getting rid of some old clothing what are you going to do?

Part 2: Slide 10 (PDF 20)

Graphics, images, and video are great ways to describe complex subjects. Together, we are going to create our own Gallery of Sustainability. We will close each class by designing a poster that graphically illustrates what we have learned that week. Each poster will be displayed in the classroom until we have completed our gallery.