‘the Chemicals Between Us’: the Use and Discharge of Chemicals in the Life Cycle of a Pair of Jeans - From Legal Theory To Practic

Abstract

The use of hazardous chemicals is widely embedded throughout the life cycle of jeans. Recent literature on the use and discharge of hazardous chemicals in the denim and jeans industry reveals that in many of the production phases of a jeans, the use of such chemicals poses a health risk to cotton farmers, companies’ employees and neighboring communities, and that local eco-systems have or are becoming dysfunctional due to chemical pollution. This implies that those chemicals often negatively impact the planetary boundaries and the human right to a clean and healthy environment. This chapter first provides an analysis of the adverse impacts in each phase of the entire life-cycle of a pair of jeans (‘jeans’): (i) cotton farming and (ii) weaving and dyeing (Turkey); (iii) manufacturing (Vietnam); (iv) consumer use and (v) disposal (the Netherlands). Subsequently, the legal standards applicable to the use and discharge of (hazardous) chemicals in each of these five phases are discussed, covering international and EU law, soft law, domestic law and self-regulatory standards. In the final part, the legal standards are compared with industries’ best practices that emerged from the gathered information in a case study concerning a specific pair of jeans. This comparison provides an in-depth insight in the gap between legal theory and practice. Based on this understanding, further action can be initiated, and solutions can be developed by the denim and jeans industry and policymakers aimed at addressing the challenges revealed in this study. © Springer Nature Switzerl and AG 2020, corrected publication 2020.