Clothing offered by the fashion industry to the market hides a not-so-silent danger to the Amazon and may affect the entire reality of the biome. Responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the textile sector generates more than 4 million tons of residues per year in Brazil. In Belém, the capital of Pará and host city to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2025 (COP 30), an estimate indicates that this amount is around 15 tons per month, coming from 30 different companies in the clothing sector.
The national data come from the Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Limpeza Pública e Resíduos Especiais (ABRELPE) [Brazilian Association of Public Cleaning and Special Residues Companies], while the local data come from Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial (SENAI) [National Service for Industrial Training]. The effects of this unbridled production on the environment can be devastating: contamination of rivers and, consequently, of groundwater, in addition to the lack of regular and ideal disposal of the material produced - some items, such as those made of cotton, take around 20 years to decompose, while those made of synthetic materials can last up to four centuries.
According to a survey by the Global Fashion Agenda, a non-profit organization, the textile industry is the second most polluting in the world, behind only of the oil industry. Thinking of alternative proposals to the problem, which guarantee a source of income and promote sustainability within the processes is a step already underway in the Amazon. The practice of upcycling has proved differential by reusing clothing fabrics to make a wide variety of products, from accessories such as bags to bricks for the civil construction and structures for tables and chairs.
Fast fashion
Another environmental concern has become increasingly severe in recent years: fast fashion, a business model that focuses on producing an excessive number of clothing as quickly as possible. Chinese company Shein and the European company Zara are examples of this. Upcycling is also seen as an alternative trend to this problem and is even the central topic of a course offered by the Senai Clothing Center in Belém. In the classes, students develop techniques for reusing textile materials - from the local industry - that would otherwise be incinerated.
Clarisse Chagas, the manager of the Center, explains that the technique is a way of rethinking the material in a creative way, thus starting a new, more sustainable cycle for it. At Senai, around 75 students are taking the course. “One of the goals is to understand how we need to rethink this process in the clothing industry. When we think of the word fashion, civil society ends up relativizing it and putting it down to trends, to things that are not urgent nor necessary to be discussed, and in fact, we are among the leaders in pollution,” she says.
Combined with the environmental factor, upcycling is a way to ensure that the creative and circular economy becomes a reality to the peoples of the Amazon - entrepreneurs can generate income without necessarily requiring raw materials. “In the past, we understood fashion production as linear. Nowadays, we understand it as circular, where, at the end of use, you give the product a new purpose. For example, a pair of jeans can become a bag and extend the product's lifespan. Upcycling came from this need to reallocate these products”, highlights Clarisse.
Residues can become civil construction items
The proposal of the Senai Clothing Center course is to expand the application of the upcycling concept to the most varied sectors of Economy. The manufacture of bricks and partitions to wall decoration, necessary in the construction industry, for example, can be made from textile fragmentation, as well to the production of asphalt. “Since we have a large production of clothing, we can flexibilize the production of materials from the upcycling. Upcycling may be used in pet fashion, in decorative items... We are thinking about a single goal, which is to be more sustainable”, says the manager.
The variety of possibilities that exist within the Amazon scenario when it comes to sustainable fashion involves people who work with latex and fabric patchwork, even those coming from the bio-dyeing (coloring from natural sources) products. However, Clarisse points out that a debate in the region about the importance of valuing sustainable fashion is still needed. “We have enormous potential and this is very positive. We have several designers, creators and stylists who have this vision of the urgency of fashion within sustainability issues. We need to have a society in which everyone thinks about this issue.”
According to Clarisse “This concern in the Amazon is very strong and, in addition, we have an advantage, which is the relationship of cultural belonging. Our culture is very rich and is well connected with this sustainability issue. One challenge we have is to make consumers from Pará aware that they need to pay attention to this. Our consumers, unfortunately, are still from outside; it is the eyes of foreigners who are interested in the Amazon. But I speak in a very hopeful tone: we see the market changing. We have the beginning of a fashion that is constantly thinking about materials, inputs, seeds and pigments”.
Marajó
The regionalization of the production type suggested by upcycling is an important factor discussed in the Senai classes. Maria Gonçalves, a seamstress, embroiderer and artisan from the municipality of Soure, in Marajó, took part in the professional training course to increase the offer of products and the family's income. Before this training course, she used to make clothes without the right technique. Now, in the manufacturing process, other materials are produced as a result: earrings, necklaces and accessories to shirt pockets. The learning progress was such, that around 49 women from Marajó joined forces to undertake together.
The regional embroidery strips used to add value to the pieces produced by Maria have become the flagship since she started the course. The idea, from there, is to expand the business and the Marajoara culture. “Usually, there are 3 or 4 cm left over. You can make a necklace, an earring, put it in the pocket of another blouse... That piece is not wasted, it goes to other purposes. After all, the material to us, in Marajó, is difficult [to access]. Everything is more expensive. To get the things, we have to look for them in Belém, pay for a boat ride…”, concludes the artisan.
SENAI students create exclusive products from textile residues
Maria’s enthusiasm is also reflected in other Senai students. Josilene Garcez, a fashion professor at the institution, says that the objective of the classes is exactly this: to involve those interested in creating exclusive products from residues, to strengthen socioeconomic development. “The students are excited because it is a new product to them. It is a raw material that they have access and as a result, things that do not exist on the market or in stores. They are able to develop exclusive products and they are satisfied with their work.”
“Companies from Pará came to us to solve a problem they have with residues. So, we developed projects and developed several researches on how to reuse this raw material that would otherwise be discarded in nature. We also want to work with bricks, because the fabric is a very resistant part. So, we work not only with clothing, but also with construction materials. The research project is to make the part that makes the alloy to give it consistency. Senai is looking to develop a machine to shred this fabric, because we are going to reduce it by 100%”, she adds.
Upcycling reduces impacts on the Amazon
The fashion industry still has a huge responsibility ahead. Deryck Martins, a forestry engineer and president of the Conselho Temático de Meio Ambiente da Federação das Indústrias do Pará (FIEPA) [Environmental Thematic Council of the Federation of Industries of Pará], states that the sector’s options are still very limited and that there is a challenge in reusing and repurposing the residues generated by the process. “The fashion industry depends a lot on the trends that are presented and disseminated to consumers, but that often requires rethinking. And there is a practice that has become increasingly common, the thrift stores.”
Social and economic transformations for the communities living in the Amazon are described by the Council president as possibilities in light of rethinking the practice of what textile residues can become. “When you adopt reuse practices, you reduce discarding practices. This is essential, it seems simple, but it is essential to combat excessive consumption, and promote a more conscious market. In our reality, there are still social inequalities that need to be combated,” emphasizes Deryck.
Carbon
In addition to the list of benefits, upcycling in the biome also helps to control the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. “More conscious practices reduce the amount of resources, generate more business opportunities, of labor use and reduce the need to obtain natural resources. There is a relationship between you using more locally produced clothes, which greatly reduces the impact of this mass production. If we are talking about carbon, [local production] reduces the footprint, because it is consumed here, leaving income to producers in the region”, concludes Martins.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.
