Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
The fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually
The global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2027
Resale is expected to grow 11 times faster than traditional retail by 2027
The circular fashion economy is estimated to be a $5 trillion opportunity
42% of Gen Z consumers shop secondhand clothes
56% of consumers say they would pay more for sustainable products
82% of consumers say they have resold or are open to reselling clothing
Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
12% of textile fibers are recycled into other applications like insulation or stuffing
The EU aims to require all member states to establish separate collection of textile waste by 2025
60% of all clothing material is plastic (polyester, acrylic, nylon)
Production of polyester has doubled in the last 20 years
Conventional cotton farming uses 16% of the world's insecticides
Consumer Behavior & Demand
- 42% of Gen Z consumers shop secondhand clothes
- 56% of consumers say they would pay more for sustainable products
- 82% of consumers say they have resold or are open to reselling clothing
- 60% of consumers believe that buying secondhand is the most sustainable way to shop
- Over 40% of consumers determine the resale value of an item before buying it new
- 52% of women have purchased secondhand clothing in the past 12 months
- 72% of consumers said they would engage with a brand's recycling program if it were easy to do
- 1 in 3 consumers care more about wearing sustainable apparel than they did prior to the pandemic
- 48% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that offers a repair service
- 59% of luxury consumers say they have purchased pre-owned luxury items
- Search volume for "sustainable fashion" increased by 84% on Lyst in 2020
- 33% of Gen Z have sold clothes online, the highest of any generation
- 64% of consumers are willing to repair their clothes if it extends the product life
- 75% of consumers view sustainability as extremely or very important
- 43% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with a brand that lets them trade in old clothes for credit
- 69% of thrift shoppers say they buy used clothes to save money
- Mentions of "circular fashion" on social media increased by 19% year-over-year
- 90% of Gen Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues
- 54% of consumers have bought second-hand items to be more eco-friendly
- 20% of consumers plan to reduce their spending on fast fashion in the coming years
Interpretation
Taken together, these figures paint a slightly rebellious but unmistakable picture: led by Gen Z, shoppers are quietly turning fashion inside out by buying, selling and repairing more, researching resale value, and rewarding brands that make recycling, trade-ins and sustainability easy—even if it costs a little extra.
Environmental Impact & Waste
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
- Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
- The fashion industry produces 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually
- Washing synthetic clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year
- Textile dysing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- Clothing production has doubled between 2000 and 2014
- Consumers keep clothing items for about half as long as they did 15 years ago
- The fashion industry consumes 79 trillion liters of water annually
- Shoes can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in a landfill
- 35% of all microplastics released into the world's oceans come from synthetic textiles
- Extending the life of a garment by just nine months reduces carbon, waste, and water footprints by around 20-30%
- Around 30% of clothes in wardrobes in the UK have not been worn for at least a year
- Without change, the fashion industry will use up 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050
- 73% of the world's clothing eventually ends up in landfills
- Annual textile waste is expected to potentially increase by 60% by 2030
- Only 15% of consumer-used clothing is recycled in the United States
- Fashion packaging accounts for significant plastic waste, with polybags taking 1,000 years to degrade
- Up to 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment
- Textile waste has increased by 811% since 1960
Interpretation
From catwalk to catastrophe, fashion already accounts for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions, guzzles trillions of liters of water, sends a garbage-truck’s worth of textiles to landfill or incineration every second, floods oceans with microfibers and dyes, buries most garments for centuries, and if we don't make clothes last and recycle them properly it could eat a quarter of the world's carbon budget by 2050.
Market Growth & Economics
- The global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2027
- Resale is expected to grow 11 times faster than traditional retail by 2027
- The circular fashion economy is estimated to be a $5 trillion opportunity
- 500 billion USD of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling
- By 2030, circular business models could cover 23% of the global fashion market
- The clothing rental market is projected to reach $2.08 billion by 2025
- Secondhand clothing sales in the US are projected to reach $70 billion by 2027
- The refurbished clothing market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.7% from 2021 to 2031
- Resale is projected to overtake fast fashion by 2029
- 62% of Gen Z and Millennials say they look for an item secondhand before purchasing it new
- The online clothing rental market is expected to witness a CAGR of 10.6% from 2023 to 2030
- 70% of fashion executives believe circular business models will be crucial for the industry's future
- Recommerce revenue is expected to double fast fashion’s revenue by 2030
- Capture of the resale market could reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions by 143 million tonnes by 2030
- Brands embracing resale are seeing a 15-20% increase in revenue
- EU textile sorting and recycling market could create 15,000 new jobs by 2030
- 1/3 of retailers are planning to introduce resale or rental services despite economic headwinds
- The global market for recycled textiles is projected to reach $9.5 billion by 2027
- Vestiaire Collective, a resale platform, is valued at over $1.7 billion
- Circular business models could generate a net benefit of 192 billion EUR for the European Economy by 2030
Interpretation
If fashion were a ledger, resale, rental and recycling are erasing liabilities and writing huge credits worth hundreds of billions to trillions, cutting emissions, creating jobs and lifting brand revenue so the industry must either embrace circular models or be overtaken by them.
Production & Materials
- 60% of all clothing material is plastic (polyester, acrylic, nylon)
- Production of polyester has doubled in the last 20 years
- Conventional cotton farming uses 16% of the world's insecticides
- Making a pair of jeans consumes about 7,500 liters of water
- Regenerative agriculture in fashion material sourcing can sequester 10-20 tons of carbon per hectare
- 30% of clothes produced each year are never sold
- Viscose production is linked to the logging of 150 million trees annually
- Digital sampling can reduce physical sample production by 55%
- 60% of sustainability claims by fashion giants are greenwashing
- Using recycled polyester reduces carbon emissions by 37% compared to virgin polyester
- Organic cotton production emits 46% less greenhouse gas than conventional cotton
- Leather tanning utilizes over 250 different chemicals, including heavy metals like chromium
- 3D knitting technology can reduce waste in production by 35%
- On-demand manufacturing can reduce inventory waste by 40%
- Only 20% of global textile companies have committed to circularity targets
- Switching to renewable energy in the supply chain can cut emissions by 50%
- Hemp requires 50% less water to grow than cotton
- Dope dyeing techniques can reduce water consumption by 90% significantly reducing pollution
- 25% of the industry's chemical usage occurs during the textile finishing stage
- Producing one kg of cotton emits 1.8 kg of CO2e, while polyester emits 9.5 kg of CO2e
Recycling & End of Life
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- 12% of textile fibers are recycled into other applications like insulation or stuffing
- The EU aims to require all member states to establish separate collection of textile waste by 2025
- 95% of discarded textiles can be recycled or repurposed
- Less than 5% of post-consumer garments are currently collected for recycling
- Automated sorting technologies can sort up to 1 tonne of textiles per hour
- Chemical recycling could enable 18-26% of gross textile waste to be recycled by 2030
- Only 1% of cotton production is organic which is often required for high-grade recycling
- Fiber-to-fiber recycling could scale to 18 to 26 percent of total textile waste in Europe by 2030
- The challenge of blended fabrics prevents over 50% of textiles from being easily recycled
- 70% of the cost of textile recycling is attributed to manual sorting
- France has a mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles since 2007
- Current recycling technologies can recover 90% of the raw materials in polyester fabrics
- Mechanical recycling degrades fiber quality limiting the number of times it can be recycled
- Clothing collection rates in the EU are approximately 30-35% of total consumption
- Germany collects about 75% of its used textiles, the highest rate is Europe
- Investment in textile recycling technology needs to reach $100 billion to scale fully
- 50% of collected textiles in the Global North are exported to the Global South, often overwhelming local waste systems
- 40% of exported used clothing is deemed worthless upon arrival in destination countries
- Lyocell production (a closed-loop process) recycles 99.5% of the solvents used
Interpretation
We have a 95% solution sitting in our closets, yet less than 1% of clothing is turned into new garments and under 5% of post‑consumer pieces are collected, because over half of textiles are hard‑to‑recycle blends and manual sorting eats 70% of recycling costs even as automated sorters, polyester recovery at 90%, chemical and fiber‑to‑fiber recycling that could reach 18 to 26% by 2030, and closed‑loop processes like lyocell with 99.5% solvent recovery offer fixes—so unless policymakers follow France and Germany’s lead, exports that dump half of collected clothes (40% arriving worthless) are curbed, and roughly $100 billion is invested to scale technology, our wardrobes will keep being a missed resource rather than a circular economy.
References
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