Pantone

World wide standard colour system (ridgewell)

PAN UK

Organisation working to eliminate 'the dangers of toxic pesticides, our exposure to them, and thier pressence in the environment where we live and work'. Particularly active in the organic cotton movement internationally.
www.pan-uk.org

Paper yarn

Made by cutting and twisting. Hardwearing, flexible, breathable, can be used in garments ,was used as a substitute for jute and cotton in the ww1 in europe. Good alternative to wicker in furniture. fibre is more available and cheaper than
willow.

Paracelsus

Alchemist, Physician and Astronomer 1493-1541. pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and is often quoted for his wisdom. He understood that is the amount of a given chemical that renders it poisonous so is known as an advocate for safe use of toxic substances in the correct dilution.

Particulates

Fine airborne bodies which are released when waste is burned. Cause respiratory disorders as they pass into the respiratory system of animals and humans.

Pathogen

(www.answers .com) An agent that causes disease, especially a living micro-organism such as a bacterium or fungus.

P-dichlorobenzene

Replacement for Napthalene as moth balls, recognisable smell. Evaporates, but is not biodegradable or dissolvable in water. Carcinigenic, endocrine disrupter.

(www.seventhgen.com)

Peace Silk

Vegetarian silk, where the silk is uncoiled from the cocoon after the moth has escaped naturally. The cocoon is unrolled and reveals one long continuous thread.

Pectinase

Type of alkaline enzyme used for bio-scouring.

Perchloroethylene (also "Perc")

A chlorinated solvent used most commonly in the dry cleaning process, "perc" is implicated in 90% of all groundwater contamination. Thought to be neurotoxic and carcinogenic (observer magazine 14.1.07)

Persistent Organochlorine Pesticides (POPS)

Persistent toxic pesticides such as DDT which stay in the soil and have transferred to the human body to the extent that they are present in breast milk with consequential health issues. Can be addressed by implementation of biodynamic farming practises.

Pesticides

See Integrated Pest Management

Petrochemicals

Basic feedstock for manmade synthetic fibres including nylon, elastane, acrylic and polyester (ridgewell).

PET Polyethalene Terephalate

Polyethylene Terephthalte or ‘PET’ chemicals are terephthalic acid (TA) or dimethyl terephthalate. they are reacted with ethylene glycol. TA is purified, based on bromide controlled oxidation (Kate Flethcher quoting Lausen and
hansen 1997 p 80-92).

Petroleum products are feedstock, other fossil fuels provide energy so energy consumption implications include global warming and ozone depletion. However, water consumption is low, sometimes non-existent. air emissions include
substrates with a medium to high environmental damage if left untreated, including heavy metal cobalt, and manganese salts, sodium bromide, titanium dioxide, antimony oxide and acetaldehyde. (Kate Fletcher)

PET is also made into bottles, and can be reclaimed. The subsequent feedstock can be used, as new, for fibres which are made into thermal fleeces, which can also be indefinitely reclaimed, and upcycled again and again.

Petroleum

A thick black to yellow mixture of gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earths surface. Can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosine, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt, and is used as a raw material for many derivative products. (answers.com) This is a technical nutrient. In any environmental assessment, its use should be limited as it is a nonrenewable, and preferably recycled in a closed loop system.

Phosphates

Basic phosphates are used to reduce water hardness and to deflocculate (prevent dirt settling back into clothes while washing). Found in laundry products and many common cleaning products for example: Tetrapotassium pyrophosphate/Tetrasodium pyrophosphate.

Phosphates are a key nutrient in ecosystems, these natural minerals important to the maintenance of all life. While relatively non-irritating and non-toxic in the environment, they nonetheless contribute to significant eutrophication of
waterways and create unbalanced ecosystems by fostering dangerously explosive marine plant growth. For these reasons they are banned or restricted in many states. Products containing phosphates should be considered unacceptable. (www.seventhgen.com) The world wildlife foundation recommends phosphate content should be less than 5%, but greenpeace says we should use products without any.

Pigments

Can be added to binders (usually acrylic) and used in screenprinting. Adhere with binder to the surface, do not penetrate the fibres. Sources areancient and modern, natural and synthetic.

Pigovian tax

(wik) A tax levied to correct the negative externalities of a market activity. For instance, a tax on producers who pollute the environment to encourage them to reduce pollution, and to provide revenue which may be used to counteract the
negative effects of the pollution.

Polymer

Chains of repeating monomers or of combinations of different monomers. Poly means ‘many’. Polymers can be natural or synthetic and have a wide variety of uses. In textiles they are combined to form fibres and spun into yarns. They can be made into plastics, but when reconstituted, can be used for different purposes, so are suitable as basic building bricks for recycling, reuse, and upcycling. Natural polymers biodegrade in the correct conditions.

Polyamide

Very strong eg nylon (ridgewell)

Polycarboxylates

New, synthetic phosphate substitutes. These are found in conventional laundry detergents. Their effects on human and environmental health remain largely unknown. Tests show they are non-toxic, do not interfere with treatment plant
operation and generally settle out with the sludge during water treatment, until further study and analysis are conducted, use of this ingredient is not recommended. Further, they are not biodegradable and are petroleum based.

(www.seventhgen.com)

Polyester

The dominant man made fibre, AKA PET. Often mixed with cotton, easy to clean, wear, and care, crease-free, a product for customer convienience. Could be upcycled indefinitely but not if mixed with cotton.

Polyethelene fibre

Generic name for a man made fibre (ridgewell)

Polylactic acid (PLA)

Can be processed like most thermoplastics into fibre (for example using conventional melt spinning processes) and film, except that it is derived from corn starch and sugarcane which are renewable resources. (wik) see also Ingeo.
Bacterial fermentation is used to produce lactic acid, which is then processed into the polymers which can be spun into fibres.(wik)

Polymers

(defra) Natural or synthetic compound with large molecules made of relatively simple repeated units. Also- A large molecule made up of smaller molecules. nearly all textiles are polymers. (ridgewell) Importantly, polymers are made from
combinations of monomers which have either the same or different chemical compositions. (Techno textiles) All polymers are man made fibres.

Polynosic fibres

Similar to Rayon

Post-consumer waste

(Defra) Discarded materials from office, commercial or residential sources.

Printing

There are many methods for applying pattern images and text onto fabric. The most eco friendly methods would require minimal wastage, for example block printing and stencilling.

Digital printing is commonly held to be environmentally acceptable because there is minute wastage. The inks, if water based are less toxic too. Electricity is required and the system relies on sophisticated machinery and technology. Production, use and disposal of the machinery would need to conform to environmental design standards to further enhance environmental design credentials.

In Germany, the company CSC Schafer has developed a new press for heat transfer printing. It uses Ceran stove tops, infra-red radiation and a special glass for printing plates. Insulation is improved. This allows printing heads to remain cold, heating up only after they are brought into contact with the fabric to be printed. Suitable for small and customised businesses, the process uses 85% less energy, and the print quality is better.

(Treehuger, july 10th 2005.)

Procion dyes

ref (www.kemtex.co.uk/infosheets.) fibre reactive, work best on cellulosic fibres. (fibercrafts)

Producer Responsibility

(9AFL) The producers of any given product are in a unique position to change the way it is made. EU legislation for electronic goods now requires companies to operate ‘take-back’ systems, which logically suggest that design for disassembly to recycle and upcycle effectively is the economic imperative.


Product of consumption

A (greenblue.org) Any product that can be used and safely discarded without harming the environment. These products wouldn’t need to be recycled or ‘managed’

Product of service

(Greenblue.org) A product that is used by the customer, but owned by the manufacturer, who retains ownership of their asset for continual reuse, while the customer has no material liability. Particularly important where the materials in question are valuable, non-renewable, hazardous. This is a sensible strategy to answer the global trend towards manufacturing take-back schemes. It also creates a system to maintain economic viability, both financially in the requirement to generate wealth, and practically in providing a solution for how to share, protect, and use finite resources

Cradle to Cradle p143- a concept which does not require that ‘consumer’ purchase products, but that they rent them, for example rent a soap!..”only 5% of a standard measure of detergent is used in a normal washing cycle. The machine would be loaded with continually reusable and recoverable detergent, and returned to the manufacturer for reloading, or when the machine needed upgrading.

Product take-back

See product of service

Products plus

Products with unnecessary additives. e.g. antimony in polymerisation process is unnecessary and releases dangerous carcinogenics the air on incineration. Or toxic dyes and catalysts on shirts which leach onto sweating skin.

Progging

Traditional thrift craft of rag rug making. Strips and scarps of fabric are ‘progged’ or poked through a loosely woven backing such as hessian, or old sacks, the resulting loops form the pile (which can also be cut, which makes the rug into a
‘clippy’ rug)


Protease

Enzyme that softens wool, but weakens its protein core, so needs to be used carefully. Also used in laundry products to remove protein stains.

PVC

Polyvinyl Chloride is polymersied from vinyl chloride monomers and compounded with plasticisers and other additives. (technotextiles) It is extremely toxic and un-eco. Used for handbags and belts, oil based consuming 25 barrels per day. Non biodegradable and can emit dangerous toxins during manufacture (Ethical consumer june / july 2002 p 16)
If PVC is accidentally present ammongst other plastics durring recycling, it contaminates the whole batch. An ideal solution is to halt all PVC production because it is so poisonous, and to prevent even accidental incidents of contamination of otherwise recyclable plastics.

Pyrethoids

Used to treat parasite infections in sheep, but are 1,000 times more toxic to aquatic life than organophosphates, but less dangerous to humans, so used more frequently.

Pyrolysis

Decomposition or transformation of a compound caused by heat. The application of pyrolysis to waste management has been gaining acceptance along with other advanced waste treatment technologies. Pyrolysis also can be used as a form of thermal treatment to reduce waste volumes and produce fuel as a by-product. Low temperature pyrolysis can also be used to produce a synthetic diesel fuel from waste plastic, through systems such as thermofuel. (wik)