How Sustainable Are Acrylic Fabrics? A Life-Cycle Analysis

How Sustainable Are Acrylic Fabrics? A Life-Cycle Analysis

By
Quynh Nguyen

Read Time:17 Minutes

CLICK TO
SUBSCRIBE

follow follow

Impactful Ninja is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Learn more .

Affiliate Disclosure

Hey fellow impactful ninja ?

You may have noticed that Impactful Ninja is all about providing helpful information to make a positive impact on the world and society. And that we love to link back to where we found all the information for each of our posts.

  • Most of these links are informational-based for you to check out their primary sources with one click.

  • But some of these links are so-called "affiliate links" to products that we recommend.

Why do we add these product links?

First and foremost, because we believe that they add value to you. For example, when we wrote a post about the environmental impact of long showers, we came across an EPA recommendation to use WaterSense showerheads. So we linked to where you can find them. Or, for many of our posts, we also link to our favorite books on that topic so that you can get a much more holistic overview than one single blog post could provide.

And when there is an affiliate program for these products, we sign up for it. For example, as Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.

What do these affiliate links mean for you?
  1. First, and most importantly, we still only recommend products that we believe add value for you.

  2. When you buy something through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission - but at no additional costs to you.

  3. And when you buy something through a link that is not an affiliate link, we won’t receive any commission but we’ll still be happy to have helped you.

What do these affiliate links mean for us?
  1. When we find products that we believe add value to you and the seller has an affiliate program, we sign up for it.

  2. When you buy something through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a small commission (at no extra costs to you).

  3. And at this point in time, all money is reinvested in sharing the most helpful content with you. This includes all operating costs for running this site and the content creation itself.

What does this mean for me personally?

You may have noticed by the way Impactful Ninja is operated that money is not the driving factor behind it. It is a passion project of mine and I love to share helpful information with you to make a positive impact on the world and society. However, it's a project in that I invest a lot of time and also quite some money.

Eventually, my dream is to one day turn this passion project into my full-time job and provide even more helpful information. But that's still a long time to go.

Stay impactful,

Acrylic is the supposed artificial wool, like how nylon was invented as a synthetic answer to silk and polyester was developed to replace cotton. And acrylic fabrics are claimed a vegan wool alternative. Yet, there is much more about this synthetic material than its being free of animal cruelty. So we had to ask: How sustainable are acrylic fabrics?

Acrylic is generally not a sustainable fabric. Manufacturing this fossil-based material demands a lot of energy and uses toxic substances, posing environmental and health risks. Washing acrylic fabrics releases microplastics into marine environments. Also, this material is not biodegradable.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the life-cycle of acrylic fabrics used for clothes and bedding. Then, we evaluate its sustainability, potential, and shortfalls. And in the end, we’ll show you tips for buying sustainable products made with acrylic fabrics.

Here’s How We Assessed the Sustainability of Acrylic Fabrics

Acrylic fabrics are generally considered unsustainable because of the energy and chemical-intensive manufacturing processes and the limited options at the end of the fabrics’ life. 

“Sustainable: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level | Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance”

Oxford Dictionary

To understand the sustainability of acrylic fabrics, we must assess its life-cycle and each stage’s sustainability. This life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environmental impacts of products and materials. Over the years, companies have strategically used LCA to research and create more sustainable products. So, let’s have a look at the LCA of acrylic fabrics!

In this article, we’ll use the cradle-to-grave perspective of the LCA, examining the five stages of the life-cycle of clothes and bedding made with acrylic fabrics. When applicable, we also look at cradle-to-gate assessments

The life-cycle stages of acrylic fabricsEach stage’s sustainability
Sourcing of acrylic fabricsThe main raw material for acrylic fabrics is acrylonitrile (85% and more of the content). Acrylonitrile is a molecule typically made from nonrenewable fossil fuels, making it an unsustainable raw material. However, acrylonitrile can be made from renewable biomass. 
Manufacturing of acrylic fabricsManufacturing acrylic fabric is not generally not sustainable. The process is energy-intensive and chemically hazardous. High energy demand could have serious knock-on ecological impacts when fossil fuels are the main energy sources at manufacturing locations. Toxic chemicals used in the process are potentially harmful to humans, wildlife, and the environment. 
Transporting of acrylic fabricsTransporting can be a carbon-intensive stage in the life-cycle of items made with acrylic fabrics because of the emissions associated with transporting and delivering vehicles. Acrylic fabrics typically travel from mines where fossil fuels were extracted to make acrylonitrile – the raw material for acrylic, to processing factories, then sorting centers, shops, and consumer’s houses before going to recycling centers or landfill. 
Usage of acrylic fabricsThe usage of acrylic fabrics is generally not very sustainable because acrylic doesn’t tend to last a long time. Also, washing acrylic clothes during the usage phase contributes to the increasingly serious problem of microplastic presence in marine environments. 
End-of-life of acrylic fabricsThe end-of-life stage for acrylic fabric is not sustainable because it is not biodegradable. Also, burning this material (as a way of disposing of it) may generate toxic fumes. 

Overall, we can say that acrylic fabrics are generally not sustainable. However, the actual environmental impact of a particular product, like a sweater or a rug, depends on more specific factors, including the manufacturing processes, and the distance and mode of transportation

Let’s dive deeper into each life-cycle stage and find out how you can buy acrylic fabrics more sustainably. 

How Sustainable Is the Sourcing of Raw Materials for Acrylic Fabrics

The main raw material for acrylic fabrics is acrylonitrile (85% and more of the content). Acrylonitrile is a molecule typically made from nonrenewable fossil fuels, making it an unsustainable raw material. However, acrylonitrile can be made from renewable biomass. 

What Raw Materials Are Used for Acrylic Fabrics

Acrylonitrile is the main raw material used to make acrylic fabrics, accounting for at least 85% of the content of (authentic) acrylic fibers

Typically, acrylonitrile is made from propylene derived from crude oil or natural gas liquids in petrochemical processes. 

How Do the Raw Materials Sourced for Acrylic Fabrics Impact the Environment

Sourcing fossil-based acrylonitrile as raw material for acrylic fabrics is unsustainable because of the depletion of nonrenewable resources, the acceleration of climate change, and the environmental pollution caused by acrylonitrile production from fossil fuels. 

Making Acrylonitrile From Fossil Fuels Depletes Nonrenewable Resources 

It takes millions of years and certain geological conditions to turn dead plants into fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil. 

Theoretically, more fossil fuels could be formed. Yet, with the current depletion rate, replacement is not realistically feasible. 

Consequently, fossil fuels are considered non-renewable resources. Thus, depending on fossil fuels for making acrylonitrile is not sustainable. 

Making Acrylonitrile From Fossil Fuels Requires Significant Amounts of Energy 

Fossil fuels like oil and gas are formed deep in the crust of the Earth, requiring heavy fuel-guzzling machines for extraction. 

Also, refining fossil fuels, such as crude oil, and transforming them into propylene to make acrylonitrile are energy-intensive. 

Transporting fossil fuels from often far-flung extraction sites to refining and manufacturing facilities is another source of energy usage. 

According to a cradle-to-gate assessment of acrylic fiber manufactured in Egypt, 82% of the fabric’s environmental impact is on fossil fuel depletion due to the high-energy requirement for acrylonitrile production. 

Making Acrylonitrile From Fossil Fuels Has High Carbon Footprint, Exacerbating The Climate Crisis 

Acrylonitrile production requires a lot of energy. When a higher share of energy is generated by fossil fuels, which is still the case in most industrial settings, high energy usage means elevated greenhouse gas emissions. 

The global average carbon footprint of acrylonitrile produced in petrochemical processes is 2.39 t-CO2 eq/t-product

Acrylonitrile’s carbon footprint (and thus the global warming impact) will be lower when the molecule is made with renewable feedstock instead. For example, Econitrile – a type of acrylonitrile made from bio- and/or circular sources has a carbon footprint 23% lower than the global average of fossil-based acrylonitrile. 

Extracting and Refining Fossil Fuels (For Making Acrylonitrile) Causes Pollution and Habitat Destruction 

Drilling for oil and gas causes lasting environmental damage, especially when the oil and gas deposits lie under diverse and ecologically important areas, on land and at sea. 

Major environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction are as following: 

  • Air and water pollution: Oil and gas operation releases harmful pollutants into the air and/or discharge dangerous chemicals into the sea. 
  • Habitat degradation and destruction: Building roads to reach drilling sites, pipelines for oil transportation, and offshore oil rigs for exploration degrade and destroy wildlife habitats. 
  • Mass deaths of marine species: Oil spills and refinery chemical discharges kill marine mammals and fish in huge amounts
  • Other disruptions to wildlife: Noise and light pollution caused by drill activities cause stress and further disruption to wildlife animals. 

In brief, sourcing fossil-based acrylonitrile as raw material for acrylic fabrics is not sustainable. However, efforts have been made to produce acrylonitrile sustainably, either by improving production methods or replacing crude oil or natural gas with renewable biomass

Where Are the Raw Materials for Acrylic Fabrics Usually Sourced From

The world’s top producers of acrylonitrile – the main raw material for acrylic fibers are The US, Canada, Japan, and China

The manufacturing location, or more specifically, the energy structure at a manufacturing facility, is a significant factor for acrylonitrile’s sustainability because this molecule’s production is energy-intensive. 

According to Our World in Data, the shares of renewable energy in primary energy in major acrylonitrile-producing nations vary significantly, with Canada having the highest percentage. 

  • The US: 10.66% renewable energy
  • Canada: 29,89% renewable energy
  • Japan: 11.46% renewable energy
  • China: 14.95% renewable energy

Using renewable energy (solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass) would significantly reduce carbon emissions at this sourcing stage. 

How Sustainable Is the Manufacturing of Acrylic Fabrics

Manufacturing acrylic fabric is not generally not sustainable. The process is energy-intensive and chemically hazardous. High energy demand could have serious knock-on ecological impacts when fossil fuels are the main energy sources at manufacturing locations. Toxic chemicals used in the process are potentially harmful to humans, wildlife, and the environment. 

How Sustainably Is Acrylic Fabrics Generally Manufactured

The typical acrylic fabric manufacturing process includes the following steps: 

  1. Polymerization: Polymerization is a reaction technique using heat and pressure to bind acrylonitrile molecules together, creating acrylonitrile polymer. 
  2. Dissolving: The acrylonitrile polymer is dissolved using a powerful chemical solvent. 
  3. Extruding: The gel-like solution is fed through a spinneret to form acrylic fibers. 
  4. Spinning: spinning acrylic fibers can be done with the same chemical solvent (in wet spinning) or a stream of heated gas (in dry spinning)
  5. Washing and Stretching: The fibers are washed, stretched, and crimped to create long filaments that can be made into yarn. 
  6. Loading: The yarn is loaded into bobbins, ready to be used for garment making 
  7. Weaving: The final step to creating acrylic textile products, from sweaters to carpets and many other household items. (Note that finishing with a dye is sometimes not necessary for acrylic fabrics because colors can be created during the chemical process.)

Let’s now deep dive into a few key sustainable issues of this life-cycle stage: 

Manufacturing Acrylic Fabrics Is Energy-Intensive 

Manufacturing acrylic fabrics demand a lot of energy. Polymerization is an energy-intensive process. Additionally, machines such as spinning and weaving require fuel to operate. 

According to a life-cycle assessment, manufacturing one kilogram of acrylic fibers consumes 175MJ, which is higher than many common natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic textile fibers. Specifically, 

  • The energy consumption of acrylic fibers is about 1.4 times higher than polyester. 
  • The energy consumption of acrylic fibers is about 1.5 times higher than polypropylene. 
  • The energy consumption of acrylic fibers is almost 1.8 times higher than viscose.
  • The energy consumption of acrylic fibers is almost 3.2 times higher than cotton
  • The energy consumption of acrylic fibers is almost 2.8 times higher than wool – the material acrylic was developed to imitate. 

On the other hand, nylon is the one type of fiber with a higher energy consumption than acrylic. 

High energy consumption leads to elevated global warming impact when manufacturing burns fossil fuels for energy. 

In a life cycle assessment of sweaters made of different textiles, including acrylic, the average carbon emission of the acrylic fiber and sweater production is 54 kg CO2 -eq, accounting for almost 63% of the total carbon emission (cradle-to-grave).

Manufacturing Acrylic Fabrics Is Hazardous 

Manufacturing acrylic fabrics start with acrylonitrile, which is a carcinogen (brain, lung, and bowel cancers) and a mutagen targeting the central nervous system. Acrylonitrile can enter our bodies through skin absorption, inhalation, and ingestion. 

Other chemical solvents used during manufacturing can also harm wildlife and human inhabitants if they enter the ecosystems without being treated properly. 

The polymerization process produces toxic fumes, which are required by law to be cleaned, captured, or otherwise neutralized before discharge into the atmosphere. This polymerization process is also prone to explosion if not monitored properly. 

Where Are Acrylic Fabrics Usually Manufactured

China is the world’s largest acrylic fabric producer, accounting for more than 30% of the world’s acrylic fabric and apparel. However, India has some of the biggest acrylic-producing companies. Regarding market growth, South American countries are the world’s fastest-growing acrylic marketplace. 

One of the main sustainability issues with producing acrylic fabrics in China and India is the dependency on fossil fuels for energy generation. Only 9.31% of the primary energy in India comes from renewable sources. The renewable energy share in China is higher (14.95%), yet it is much lower compared with South American nations like Brazil (46.22%), Columbia (33.02%), Venezuela (28.43%), and Peru (27.74%). 

Renewable energy (solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass) would significantly reduce carbon emissions at this manufacturing stage. 

According to a life-cycle assessment, the production of acrylic fabric (both fibers and clothes) has a significant climate change impact of 35.7 kg CO2 -eq (per kg of fabric). 

This climate change impact is the highest among all fibers studied, including other synthetic fibers (polypropylene, polyester, PA6), semi-synthetic fibers (viscose), and natural fibers (linen, silk, cotton, wool)

According to the same study, acrylic fabric manufacturing also has a substantial impact on human toxicity, which is 

  • 2.5 times higher than silk
  • 1.25 times higher than wool – the natural material acrylic is designed to replicate

How Sustainable Is the Transportation of Acrylic Fabrics

Transporting can be a carbon-intensive stage in the life-cycle of items made with acrylic fabrics because of the emissions associated with transporting and delivering vehicles. Acrylic fabrics typically travel from mines where fossil fuels were extracted to make acrylonitrile – the raw material for acrylic, to processing factories, then sorting centers, shops, and consumer’s houses before going to recycling centers or landfill. 

In the life-cycle of acrylic clothes, transportation typically occurs as below: 

  • From oil, gas and coal mines where acrylic raw materials are extracted to the acrylonitrile and acrylic fiber manufacturing locations
  • From the acrylic fabrics manufacturing location to the clothing manufacturing location 
  • From the clothing manufacturing location to sorting centers/physical shops 
  • From sorting centers/physical shops to the consumer’s house 
  • From the consumer’s house to the centers for recycling/ disposing
Traveling Distances of Acrylic Fabrics Vary Depending on the Supply Chain

It is not uncommon for acrylic fabrics to have their supply chain spreading globally, meaning that mining, refining, fiber and fabric processing, and finishing might happen in various towns, countries, or even continents. 

Here are some scenarios for transporting lambswool fabrics: 

  • Acrylonitrile manufacturers source oil and gas mined in the Congo basin and produce the molecule in Japan before selling it to acrylic manufacturers to be turned into clothes in India. Acrylic clothing and household items are shipped to the US to sell to consumers.
  • Fossil fuels are mined in Alberta, Canada. Acrylonitrile is made in Canada and sold to companies in China to be turned into acrylic clothes. These clothes are sold worldwide. 

You can reduce the transporting carbon footprint by choosing acrylic fabrics that travel shorter distances.

The Carbon Footprint of Transporting Acrylic Fabrics Depends Largely on the Vehicle of Transportation 

During its life-cycle, a piece of acrylic clothing can be transported using various types of vehicles, including: 

  • Large container ships 
  • Planes 
  • Freight trains 
  • Long-distance trucks 
  • Short-distance delivering vans 

And these various types of transportation vehicles have different carbon footprint impacts: 

For example, as a consumer, you can choose not to pick the fast delivery option when ordering acrylic clothing items and accessories to reduce the carbon footprint of your order. 

How Sustainable Is the Usage of Acrylic Fabrics

The usage of acrylic fabrics is generally not very sustainable because acrylic doesn’t tend to last a long time. Also, washing acrylic clothes during the usage phase contributes to the increasingly serious problem of microplastic presence in marine environments. 

Pure acrylic fabric (not blended with other fibers) is not resistant to abrasion and is prone to pilling. Thus, it generally doesn’t have a long lifespan, especially compared to wool fabric – the material it is designed to imitate. 

Long-lasting clothing is generally more sustainable because you don’t need to replace it too frequently (thus, no need for more resources to make the new one). 

A major sustainability issue with using acrylic fabrics is the microplastics released into the environment due to washing the material. 

According to a study, acrylic fabrics washed in domestic washing machines released nearly 730,000 tiny synthetic particles per wash, five times more than polyester–cotton blend fabric and almost 1.5 times as many as polyester. These microplastics travel through the sewage network and reach the sea, affecting numerous marine lives. 

How Sustainable Is the End-of-Life of Acrylic Fabrics

The end-of-life stage for acrylic fabric is not sustainable because it is not biodegradable. Also, burning this material (as a way of disposing of it) may generate toxic fumes. 

Acrylic is not biodegradable; thus, at the end of the fabric’s life, the only available options are landfilling and incineration (burning). 

Safe incineration of acrylic fabrics requires controlled conditions to prevent the formation of toxic by-products such as cyanide from being released from the fibers.

On the other hand, landfilling is possible but resource intensive because acrylic fabrics, like many other synthetic materials, would take approximately 200 years to decompose

In comparison, natural fibers such as wool or cotton are fully biodegradable. They can also be composted to return nutrition back to the soil. For example, cotton typically takes 11 weeks to decompose.

How Circular Are Products Made of Acrylic Fabrics

In the textile industry, a circular economy is designed to keep products and materials in use for as long as possible, especially through reusing and recycling. It also covers regenerating natural systems that support the industry and reducing polluted waste released into such systems.

“The circular economy is a systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.”

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

As a whole, the textile industry is almost linear: 97% of the input are new resource.

Acrylic fibers can be recycled to make acrylic blends in products such as React, Regel, or REACRYL. However, acrylic fabrics are generally much more difficult to recycle than other synthetic materials like nylon or polyester

How Can You Buy Acrylic Fabrics More Sustainably

The key to sustainably buying acrylic products is to check on relevant environmental and original certifications. 

  • OEKO-TEX®: OEKO-TEX® labels aim to ensure that products pose no risk to human health (i.e. containing banned chemicals). 
  • STeP by OEKO-TEX®: STeP by OEKO-TEX® is an independent certification system for brands, retailers, and manufacturers from the textile and leather industry. It communicates organizational environmental measures, including reducing carbon footprint and water usage.
  • Recycled Claim Standard (RCS): The Textile Exchange RCS was originally developed as an international, voluntary standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of Recycled input and chain of custody. (For recycled acrylic fibers)
  • The Global Recycled Standard (GRS): The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of Recycled Content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. It can be used for any product with more than 20% recycled material. (For recycled acrylic fibers)

Some certifications are signaling brands’ efforts toward lowered environmental impacts and a circular economy are: 

  • B Corp Certification: The label B Corp is a certification reserved for for-profit companies. Certified holders are assessed on their social and environmental impacts. 
  • Cradle2Cradle certification: Cradle2Cradle provides a standardized approach to material circularity. It assesses whether products have been suitably designed and made with the circular economy in mind covering five critical categories: material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness.

Where to Buy Sustainable Acrylic Fabrics 

We have established throughout the life-cycle assessment that acrylic fabrics are generally unsustainable. The most significant reasons are: 

  • Manufacturing this synthetic material generally depends on fossil fuels for raw material and for process energy. 
  • Acrylic fiber and fabric production use toxic chemicals, which could have adverse health impacts on exposure (for both factory workers and end users) and pollute the environment. 
  • Washing acrylic fabrics releases microplastic into marine environments, causing harm to wildlife. 
  • Acrylic fabrics are not biodegradable and, thus, take up space in landfills for a long time (i.e., centuries). 

However, researchers and manufacturers have found ways to make acrylic fabrics more sustainable, including: 

  • Recycling acrylic fibers to reduce pressure on extracting more fossil fuels 
  • Using acrylonitrile made from renewable biomass (instead of crude oil and natural gas) as raw materials for acrylic fibers 
  • Manufacturing acrylic fibers and fabrics in locations with high shares of renewable energy

As a consumer, you can look out for these indicators when buying acrylic clothing and household items. 

Why Is It Important to Buy Products Made of More Sustainable Fabrics

It is important to buy products made of more sustainable fabrics because a sustainable textile industry has a lower carbon footprint, helps save natural resources, and is better for forests, animals, and humans. 

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Reduces Your Carbon Footprint 

The production of clothing and footwear is estimated to contribute 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than all international flights and shipping combined. If the fashion industry were a country, it would be the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide

One way to reduce the carbon footprint of the clothes you buy is to opt for sustainable fabrics. Sustainable fabrics, which are often made with natural or recycled fibers, have relatively low carbon footprints compared to petroleum-based fabrics. For example, organic cotton made in the US has a carbon footprint of 2.35 kg CO2 (per ton of spun fiber) – a quarter of polyester’s carbon footprint.

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Reduces the Demand For Natural Resources and Waste Management

The textile industry uses water and land to grow cotton and other fibers. It is estimated that 79 billion cubic meters of water were used for the sector worldwide in 2015. For example, producing a single cotton t-shirt requires as much water as one person drinks for 2.5 years (2,700 liters of fresh water).

Worse yet, the textile economy is vastly more linear than circular: the largest amount of resources used in clothes ended up in landfill (instead of being recycled to remake clothes). According to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation,

  • Less than 3% of materials used in the textile economy in 2015 came from recycled sources.
  • In other words, more than 97% of resources used in making clothes are extracted new. 

When clothing items are disposed of within a short period of time – under a year in the case of half of the fast fashion clothes – the natural systems that provide raw materials for fabrics don’t have enough time to recover and regenerate, which could lead to ecological breakdown. 

Sustainable fabrics are made with less water and emissions while lasting longer:

  • Because they are durable, you don’t need to buy new clothes too often. 
  • Thus, you help reduce to pressure to extract more resources for making new items. 

Similarly, making and consuming sustainable fabrics made with recycled materials reduces the demand for virgin materials while helping tackle waste management. 

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Encourages the Sustainable Management of Forests

Sustainable plant-based fabrics are made with raw materials from forests and plantations that are sustainably managed, such as complying with FSC standards

When you buy sustainable plant-based fabrics, you discourage unsustainable forestry practices like illegal logging. You can help reduce deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the effect of climate change. 

Buying Sustainable Fabrics Encourages Fairer Treatment of Animals 

The fashion industry is rife with animal mistreatment when it comes to making animal-based fabrics like cashmere or leather. Every year, billions of animals suffer and die for clothing and accessories.

Buying sustainable vegan alternatives can help to reduce the pressure on raising more and more animals to meet the demand for animal-based fabrics while sacrificing their well-being and lives. 

Suppose you have to buy fabrics made with, for example, leather or wool; make sure you only choose brands committed to cruelty-free products. In that case, you help advocate better treatments for animals raised within the textile industry. 

Using Sustainable Fabrics Encourages Fairer Treatment of Textile Workers 

Recent statistics from UNICEF estimated as many as 170 million child laborers worldwide, many of whom were engaged in some form of work in the textile industry. They don’t get paid minimum wages and often work long hours. 

When you buy sustainable fabrics from brands transparent about the working conditions at their factories, you discourage the use of child labor and help promote better working conditions for textile workers.

Final Thoughts

Acrylic fabric is generally not a very sustainable material. Acrylic fabric production is energy- and chemical-intensive. Washing clothes made with acrylic fabrics contributes to microplastic problems in marine environments. Also, acrylic clothes aren’t biodegradable. 

However, if you choose to buy clothes and household items made with acrylic fabrics, the following can help it to be more sustainable: 

  1. Buy second-hand, recycled, or upcycled acrylic clothing and household items.
  2. While using acrylic products, maximize the number of wear between washes, and keep the items as long as possible.
  3. At the end of acrylic products, upcycle the material to extend its usage and arrange for it to be recycled or properly disposed of. 

Stay impactful,



Sources

Photo of author
Did you like this article?

Get the 5-minute newsletter that makes reading impactful news enjoyable—packed with actionable insights to make a positive impact in your daily life.

Three Related Posts

One Unrelated Post