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We have learned that conventional industrial agriculture can produce many issues and has several negative repercussions. The promise of organic farming seems particularly promising for reducing the impact of cotton cultivation on the planet, but the transition is not easy for many farmers. In this second chapter of our cotton series, we will see what is going on in the current cotton market.
What does preferred cotton mean?
Preferred cotton alternatives, i.e., those with improved social and environmental impact according to the Textile Exchange, remain the most popular, accounting for about 30% of the total market in 2020 and 34% in 2024. Yet organic cotton production accounted for approximately 2.9% of the total supply in 2024.
Preferred cotton alternatives include regenerative, Better Cotton, organic, and organic in transition. According to the Textile Exchange, recycled cotton accounted for about 1% of the market in 2024.
Regenerative cotton
Regenerative cotton aims to restore soil health and biodiversity through specific techniques such as reduced- or no-tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, and reduced or no chemical inputs. The availability of regenerative cotton is currently limited, and there is no universally accepted definition of regenerative agriculture. Still, the many benefits associated with its approach to working with nature and its support for environmental integrity have garnered significant interest from the fashion industry.
Better Cotton
Better Cotton mainly focuses on training smallholder farmers to use more sustainable practices. It is currently grown in 15 countries and accounts for 23% of the world’s cotton supply. This cotton is widely available and easy to farm, but some issues include concerns about the mass balance system, a lack of chain-of-custody guarantees, and accusations of limited oversight at the farm level.
Organic cotton
Organic cotton improves soil health, eliminates hazardous chemicals, and respects human rights along the whole value chain. It must be GMO-free (Genetically Modified Organism). Organic cotton aims to work with nature and get rid of toxic substances, but it does not necessarily avoid other harmful agricultural practices, such as tillage, and the certification process is viewed by some as burdensome and overly complex.
Organic in transition
Organic in transition identifies conventional farms undergoing a three-year evolution towards organic practices. Being marked as organic in transition provides growers with the economic support to help ease some of the risks associated with this change.
Recycled cotton
Recycled cotton avoids sourcing virgin raw materials, thereby optimizing the use of original resources and reducing waste. There are two varieties of recycled fibers: pre- and post-consumer. The first is made of leftover material from production processes, while the second comes from old garments. Recycling methods can then be mechanical or chemical. The first is the most common in the industry and involves shredding textile waste and regenerating it into new fibers, while the second breaks down textile waste with chemicals and solvents to create an artificial cellulosic yarn, such as viscose.
How can we verify cotton claims?
Certifications are tools for verifying cotton claims, but they sometimes fail due to a lack of oversight and the complexity of the value chain. Some scandals involved false certifications of organic cotton. Sometimes, crops are just unwittingly contaminated by pesticides and GMOs, but other times the fraudulent claims are intentional. The trouble is that it is challenging to determine which situation is which, and when significant fraud is discovered, trust in the transparency of the cotton supply chain takes a big hit.
The most egregious example was revealed in India. There, GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) identified “substantial documentary evidence” that systematic fraud in the Indian government certification system had occurred. At least 20,000 metric tons of cotton were falsely certified as organic, representing 16% of the Indian production. However, according to the Textile Exchange 2021 report, India remains the world’s largest organic cotton grower, producing approximately 51% of the global supply. Despite this misstep, India remains pivotal to the growth of organic cotton.
Cotton has always been treated as a commodity, so farmers and others in the supply chain have never cared about tracing its journey from the field to the gin and, eventually, to consumers, but everything is changing. Brands and retailers are increasingly focused on sustainability and want to provide their customers with greater transparency. The risk to mills purchasing potentially fraudulently certified organic cotton is huge.