Monash Business School students partner with industry to tackle textile waste
27 September 2022
Our accounting students are helping divert up to two tonnes of textiles from landfill or offshore dumps, with the help of one of Australia's circular fashion movement leaders.
Undergraduates studying the Accounting for Sustainability unit are asking Monash staff and students to drop off preloved textiles to the university’s Clayton Campus on Tuesday, October 4.
A Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) report has found an estimated six tonnes of textiles and clothing are dumped in Australian landfills every 10 minutes, with just one per cent of garments collected by overwhelmed charities being recycled.
Lecturer Dr Annemarie Conrath-Hargreaves said her students were concentrating on how sustainability accounting can combat such textile waste.
As part of October 4’s Textile Waste Day the students have partnered with Upparel, a recovery and recycling company that gives unwanted textiles to charitable organisations or recycles them into super-fine fibre material for products such as pillows and insulation.
Dr Conrath-Hargreaves said Upparel, which boasts a B Corporation Certification for meeting the highest verified social and environmental standards, stood out as a partner as it aided charities “without making financial gains”.
The fact that Upparel doesn’t ship any waste offshore was another huge plus, she said, while the partnership also gave students the chance to see how companies could enhance sustainability while remaining viable.
She says students are learning about the sustainability impact of fast fashion and the benefits of a circular textile economy through real-life examples, activities and their unit assessments.
Student Thomas Janetzki, who is helping promote the event, said the project was “different from anything I’ve done”.
“We found some really professional footage of what textile waste is doing to the environment and its impact on society as a whole,” Mr Janetzki says.
“There is a lot more of a grey area (compared to accounting theory) – just with sustainability generally, it has been interesting to try and find a specific answer to it.”
"The idea is that we get students to take the integrated approach that's really needed in organisations to solve the problems of our time."
While learning about sustainable business, students are also experiencing the benefits of team integration.
The event is student-led, with 28 groups organising everything from promotion, photography, food and entertainment to first aid, risk assessment and insurance.
Accounting for Sustainability students work in groups to organise Textile Waste Day.
Dr Conrath-Hargreaves said the project is aimed to move students away from “silo thinking in business”.
“The idea is that we get them to take the integrated approach that's really needed in organisations to solve the problems of our time,” she says.
“That won't be achieved if we have accountants thinking separately from human resource managers, thinking separately from marketing managers.”
Student Briana Dias, a member of the team helping organise venue hire, said she had learnt there needed to be a “big interconnection between all the groups and the roles”.
“Normally with events you just rock up at the scene,” she says.
“But seeing all the processes involved behind the scenes going into it has been really interesting.”
Not just counting numbers: The ‘real life impact’ of accounting
Accounting for Sustainability Lecturer, Dr Annemarie Conrath-Hargreaves.
Of course, you can’t spell “sustainable accounting” without “accounting”, which is why students have also been tasked with creating a sustainability report for Upparel.
Dr Conrath-Hargreaves said the best group would be given the opportunity to have their work forwarded on to the company.
“Upparel currently reports on its sustainability more informally,” she says.
“The idea here is to give the students the opportunity to have real life impact and create a ‘portfolio’ for their later employment applications in the field of sustainability.”
Student Amy Tiet says the unit is also arming her with the skills to convince others that sustainable business can work.
“In accounting I guess people don't really tie in sustainability very much,” she says.
“Personally for me, it's just (about) entwining it and carrying that awareness in (my) communication.”
Dr Conrath-Hargreaves said she chose Upparel as a partner for the event as the company values aligned with the Monash Impact 2030 strategic plan.
She said the project was supported by a Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant from the Department of Accounting, with Upparel providing practical input and appearing as guest speakers.