Sustainable Cotton Supply Chain by Life Cycle Assessment

New Teaching Module in AMDT 430 Softgoods Supply Chain Management

 

A series of new lectures were developed to cover the following topics: cotton life cycle assessment (LCA) method and results (2 lectures); major phases of cotton supply chain (1 lecture); and identification and quantification of the environmental impact of major contributors in the phases of cotton agricultural production, textile manufacturing, cotton garment production, consumer use, and end-of-life disposal (2 lectures).  Two activities added are 1. search sustainable cotton information in CottonWorks.com; and 2. cotton sustainability debate.  Two assignments included are 1. Discussing the evolution of cotton sustainability; and 2. marketing sustainable and innovative cotton products with accurate and scientific data.

A two-phase group project was developed to help students understand, develop, and market innovative and sustainable cotton products based on the LCA information.  Phase one of the project is the development of innovative and sustainable cotton products and phase two is business opportunity analysis and marketing plan for the proposed innovative and sustainable cotton products.  Each group, consisting of 4-5 students, submitted a report and orally presented their findings at the end of each phase of the project.

The achieved student learning outcomes include 1. comprehended LCA method and its application on cotton products; 2. applied the LCA results in cotton product supply chain analysis; 3. proficient in finding needed information in CottonWorks.com and major cotton websites including cottoninc.com, cottonleads.org and cottontoday.com; 4. articulated cotton sustainability based on accurate and scientific data; 5. applied cotton sustainability knowledge to a business setting in a realistic way; and 6. developed an viable marketing plan to promote innovative and sustainable cotton products.

AMDT 430 Group Project Guideline

  1. Introduction
    • The purposes of this study
    • understand the cotton sustainability based on the outcomes of cotton and cotton textile lifecycle assessment (LCA) and the information from CottonWorks.com
    • identify two (2) potential business opportunities for sustainable cotton products
      • identified business opportunities for proposed sustainable cotton products should be economically sound, technically feasible, and performance appealing
    • the outcome of group project 1 will be used to further develop a marketing and promotion plan in group project 2.
  1. Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and Cotton Sustainability
    • 2.1 A brief discussion of cotton and cotton textile LCA and its main findings
    • 2.2 A brief discussion of cotton sustainability [based on the outcomes of cotton and cotton textile lifecycle assessment (LCA) and the information from CottonWorks.com]
  1. Business Opportunities for Sustainable Cotton Products
    • 3.1 Business Opportunity 1
      • 3.1.1 Describe your sustainable cotton product 1
        • Use LCA information
        • USE CottonWorks.com information
      • 3.1.2 Justify the identified business opportunity for your sustainable cotton product 1
        • economically sound
        • technically feasible, and
        • performance appealing
    • 3.2 Business Opportunity 2
      • 3.2.1 Describe your sustainable cotton product 2
        • Use LCA information
        • USE CottonWorks.com information
      • 3.2.2 Justify the identified business opportunity for your sustainable cotton product 2
        • economically sound
        • technically feasible, and
        • performance appealing

Project Example