SFI0045
Written evidence submitted by International Fur Federation (IFF)
In order to reach global sustainability targets, there is a pressing need to transform the way fashion is made. The fashion industry, as a responsible design, manufacturing and retailing sector, has a responsibility to prevent or otherwise minimise or mitigate harmful environmental impacts of its operations.
We are concerned that in recent years there has been an increasing focus on moving away from natural, animal-based materials such as leather, silk, wool and fur. It is well documented that the corresponding surge in the use of synthetic materials is having a devastating impact on the environment.
Scientific analyses clearly show that the production, use and disposal of natural material has a smaller enviromental impact and, in the case of circular fashion, can actually make a positive environmental contribution. This is particularly true when comparing the use of natural fur against synthetic fibres. This is why the International Fur Federation (IFF) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry.
- Farm-raised fur utilizes the animal in its entirety to ensure that there is no waste
- Wild fur is a positive example of sustainability as the entire wild fur harvest (100 percent) from North America is part of government wildlife management programs
- The dressing and dyeing process operates under strict control working to internationally recognized standards. A new independent testing and certification regime will shortly be in place to ensure that these standards are developed further
The International Fur Federation (IFF) was established in 1949 and is the only organisation to represent the international natural fur industry and regulate its practices and trade. The federation promotes the business of fur, establishing certification and traceability programs on welfare and the environment. It is also committed to supporting young designers and retailers who intend to go into natural fur and fashion.
The IFF represents 56 members associations in over 40 countries around the world. The members encompass all parts of the fur trade including farmers, trappers, dressers, manufacturers, brokers, auction houses, retailers and designers. Each of these members have signed a strict code of conduct committing them to upholding the industry-relevant laws they fall under in their home countries.
The natural fur sector in the UK is thriving and according to research published by the University of Copenhagen, in 2016 UK retail sales of fur products were £162m, an increase of 350% since 2011. The British Fur Trade Association (BFTA) is experiencing a growth in membership, particularly among young, independent designers. Fur also remains popular among fashion students. The BFTA is working with 14 fashion colleges and universities across the UK to provide factual information regarding sustainability, ethics, animal welfare, fur production and processing and traceability. The BFTA delivers annual keynote lectures to students and supports the development of their technical skills. The BFTA does this by working with college staff and technicians to strengthen the fur component of courses, running practical workshops and arranging demonstrations with BFTA furriers.
In order to address the committee’s questions concerning sustainability in fashion it is relevant to first explain the natural fur supply chain.
4.1. Farm-raised and Wild-fur
Animal welfare is the uppermost priority for the fur industry and across the globe a number of programs are in place to ensure that fur derived from farms or from Government authorised conservations programs are subject to rigorous inspection and certification. From 2020 the sector will be launching FURMARK, a global certification and traceability system that brings these various programs together under an umbrella system. The following are just several examples of the programs that are currently in place across the globe.
4.1.1. Farm-raised Fur: WelFur (Europe)
WelFur[4] is the name given to the fur farm assessment and certification program that covers farms for mink, fox, and Finnraccoon (Asiatic raccoon) in Europe. Assessments are performed by third party assessors and low performing farms are omitted from the program. The protocols are centered on the four principles of: good housing, good feeding, good health and appropriate behavior. Using these principles, independent scientists from seven European universities developed the WelFur program which is science-based, independently assessed and covers thousands of farms across Europe.
4.1.2. Farm-raised Fur: FURMARK Americas (North America)
There are two separate programs for fur farming in North America, one in the United States (USA) and one in Canada. The USA has been certifying its farms with veterinarians since 1988 and is currently updating its standards in response to scientific advances and innovation. Canada has had Codes of Practice for farmed mink and fox in place since 1988. It has recently updated these welfare standards and has begun the process of third-party farm certification. Both programs are science-based and founded on the same FURMARK principles of: truthfulness, transparency, sustainability, relevance, accessibility, efficiency, engagement, impartiality, improvement, and rigor.
4.1.3. Wild Fur – North American Wild Fur
Government wildlife management programs exist for a variety of reasons including:
– Species conservation and protecting endangered species from predators;
– Scientific research;
– Livestock protection;
– Human health and safety;
– Social and economic support of indigenous communities;
– Control of hyper-abundant species
– Re-introduction of species to areas where populations have decreased.
As a result of the different reasons for trapping, the entire wild fur harvest (100 percent) from North America is part of government wildlife management programs. These programs are controlled by government whether by species, by seasons, or by quotas, to name a few. Anything that is harvested outside of government wildlife management programs would be illegal and not be permitted to be sold through the two auction houses in North America, both of which are located in Canada. Wild furs are the ultimate free-range, organic and locally sourced clothing material.
4.2. Dressing and Dyeing
In April 2011, dressers and dyers from around the world agreed to cooperate in order to enhance the role of their profession within the fur trade. The result was the International Fur Dressers and Dyers Association (IFDDA). The IFDDA published its first ever sustainability report in 2015.
Dressing refers to the preservation of fur from its unprocessed state. Dyeing refers to changing the colour of the hairs of the fur. Both of these processes require industrial and chemical methods and must meet all local, national and regional requirements, legislation and regulation (e.g. REACH in Europe). Consequently, the fur sector has spent a great deal of time and effort working with these skilled professionals to find the best sustainable solutions for the customer, the product and the environment.
IFDDA certified dressers and dyers satisfy three important criteria: the highest standards of product safety; government inspection of facilities to ensure minimal emissions; declarations from the companies themselves making them culpable for any failure to uphold their commitments. As a part of new global program (FURMARK), there is also a supplementary inspection by an independent third-party professional body to ensure these declarations are correct.
4.3. Manufacturing
Manufacturers receive goods from the dressers and dyers in order that they can then be made up into fur garments, accessories or home furnishings. Manufacturers are highly skilled and individual, producing fashionable and chic garments that have a timeless appeal. The fur industry is fortunate that in some of the major centres of fur manufacturing, such as Italy, Greece, Germany, New York, Montreal and Toronto, there are some of the best craftspeople. Working with fur is a skill; craftsmen and women learn a mixture of traditional and modern techniques for hand cutting, stranding and sewing fur.
It is still the case that many skilled, independent UK furriers design and hand make their own fur coats and sell them in their own specialist boutiques or make them bespoke for clients. In the mainstream retail landscape, many designers working for larger brands apply fur to their designs as trim or accessories.
5.1 Farm-raised and wild fur
Natural fur is a long-lasting material which has inherent environmental qualities. It represents a sustainable alternative to the synthetic materials on which today’s fast fashion depends. However, fur is not unconditionally green, therefore realizing the full sustainability potential of fur has required a significant effort from the industry.
5.1.1 The sustainability of farm-raised fur
Farm-raised fur animals offer many circular economy opportunities. For example, feed is primarily produced using waste products from the food supply chain offering a new production stream and reducing the volume of waste destined to landfill.
Farm-raised fur bearing animals such as mink are used in their entirety to ensure that there is minimal waste. For example, carcasses can be used for heating. When processed into bone meal it is used as a fertilizer component. The ash from incineration is used as a component in cement, concrete and asphalt. Fat from the animal is used to produce biodiesel and oils are used in medical and cosmetic products. The fur sectors stated aim is to use 100% of the animal in its entirety and many farm-raised fur producing countries are achieving this goal.
5.1.2 The sustainability of wild fur
Wild furs are the ultimate free-range, organic and locally sourced clothing material. They represent around 20% of world fur production and close to 50% of North American
fur production.
The modern wild fur trade in North America is a sustainability success story. Thanks to strict regulations and professional, independent management, the most important North American furbearers are as plentiful today as they have ever been. All the fur used today comes from abundant species and never from endangered species.
Furbearing animals are ‘managed’ in virtually every country in the world, yet only the United States, Canada and Russia have the complex regulatory licensing and monitoring systems that can support commercial harvests by hundreds of thousands of local trappers. The experience of North America shows that a sustainable harvest of wildlife can benefit wildlife populations as a whole. Communities and governments track and monitor harvest levels and health of populations rather than using taxpayers’ money to fund and operate state run trapping programs. This is truly sustainable and utilises what nature provides with a minimal to positive environmental footprint.
5.1.3 The sustainability of dressing and dyeing
The dressing and dyeing process uses a limited number of chemical substances that are non-hazardous (e.g. sea salt, alum). Nevertheless, the process is tightly regulated by the European Union’s REACH directives[5]. In the US, the use of chemicals is regulated by the Environmental Protection Act. In Canada, the corresponding regulation is the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Fur auction houses have made it a priority to work with dressing and dyeing companies and to support trials of more environmentally friendly dyeing methods. This is one example of the cooperation across the fur value chain that is pushing the sector in a more sustainable direction.
The fur sector is also looking carefully at the global standards improving the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Several dressers and dyers have gone through a process of testing and verification with a leader in apparel certification, and this will be broadened to IFFDA members under the FURMARK program. This certification addresses key priorities including: the environmental sustainability of the factory; the chemicals used in processing, and consumer confidence in relation to absence of any negative impact on the wearer. The industry will continue to engage with this type of certification body to demonstrate that fur dressing and dyeing operates to the highest environmental standards.
5.1.4 The sustainability of natural fur manufacturing
The manufacturing of natural fur represents a clear example of the slow fashion movement, where the emphasis is on designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity, which are environmentally sustainable. Natural fur products are often handmade by craftspeople and the quality and costs of the natural fur used ensures that little material is wasted. This is in stark contrast to the industrial scale fast fashion which places greater focus on quick turnaround, low costs, and is ultimately cheap for the consumer. The UK public has expressed very strong support for the encouragement of the slow fashion sector in contrast to the little support shown for the further development of the fast fashion sector.
5.1.5 Fur’s Environmental Credentials (FEC)
Fur’s Environmental Credentials (FEC) is a flagship two- year project that started in 2017 under the guidance of the International Fur Federation (IFF) and Fur Europe. It’s designed to document the environmental impact of fur, starting from the product’s beginning on the farm to the sale in the auction room, and on through processing, production, the use as a fur garment and, finally, its disposal.
Based on academic research by independent scientists and data collected within the fur supply chain, the methodology of this study follows the standards of the European Platform of Life Cycle Assessment, ISO14040, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The project also investigates the Global Warming Potential (GWP) over the supply chain in detail.
FEC aims to create a generic model to analyse environmental practices within the fur supply chain and to continuously improve fur’s environmental performance by contributing
to statistical data of the fur value chain. The results will contribute to a greater consumer transparency about the environmental footprint of fur and to benchmarking fur against global sustainability goals, including carbon footprints. FEC will also rate fur against fibres, and other raw materials, through independent third-party stakeholders
The use of natural fur in the fashion industry has been continually challenged by animal rights groups who in turn promote fake fur as the sustainable alternative.
It is difficult to accurately quantify the size of the fake fur market but it is apparent that many UK households will have garments or products of some description that mimic real fur. However, the emerging evidence is clear that petro-chemical based fake fur harms the environment.
A study[6] commissioned in 2018 to explore the biodegradability of natural fur v fake fur mimicking closed landfill conditions revealed that natural fur biodegrades at a similar rate as other organic matter such as a willow or oak leaf. Whereas fake fur showed no signs of biodegradation over the testing period.
Consumers who purchase fake fur may believe that they are acquiring environmentally sound products when in fact these same goods will lay in landfills unable to breakdown due to their chemical composition.
The same plastic based fake fur also releases tiny micro-fibres which are known to leach into the water course and ultimately contaminating the oceans and marine life.
A 2018 literature review of microplastic pollution from textiles[7] revealed that an estimated 20-35% of all primary source microplastics in maritime are fibres from synthetic clothing and the amount is increasing. The supply and demand of fake fur is only adding to this problem.
Campaigns to drive and promote fake fur do not take into account the environmental impact of using plastic-based products.
September 2018
[1] FURMARK is a new global certification and traceability program that will be launched in 2020. It incorporates a range of welfare programs as well as the dressing and dyeing process. Further details can be found on the IFF website.
[2] https://www.wearefur.com/new-study-compares-natural-and-fake fur-biodegradability/
[3] Populus Omnibus Survey of 1,000 UK adults (August 2018)
[4] https://www.fureurope.eu/fur-policies/welfur/
[5] REGULATION (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European parliament and of the council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
[6] https://www.wearefur.com/new-study-compares-natural-and-fake fur-biodegradability/
[7] Microplastic pollution from textiles: a literature review (Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences)