Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
Around 20% of global wastewater comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
The fashion industry produces over 92 million tons of waste per year
Nearly 60% of all clothing material is made from plastic
Washing synthetic clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles
One in three young women considers clothes worn once or twice to be old, fueling fast fashion consumption
Producing one pair of jeans emits around 33.4 kg of CO2
Making one cotton shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters of water
Textiles account for 7% of global industrial water usage
Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, with people buying 60% more garments
73% of all clothing ends up in landfills or is incinerated
Only 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments
Consumer Behavior
- One in three young women considers clothes worn once or twice to be old, fueling fast fashion consumption
- Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, with people buying 60% more garments
- The average garment is worn only 7 to 10 times before being discarded
- Up to 40% of purchased clothing is rarely or never worn
- On average, each person buys 60% more clothes and keeps them for half as long compared to 15 years ago
- The average consumer throws away 60% of their clothing in the first year
- More than 500 billion dollars of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling
Interpretation
In a world where outfits are old by their second selfie, fast fashion has turned our closets into landfills and our wallets into unwitting accomplices in a $500 billion cycle of waste.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
- Around 20% of global wastewater comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
- Washing synthetic clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles
- Producing one pair of jeans emits around 33.4 kg of CO2
- Fast fashion produces 1.2 billion tons of CO2 annually, more than international flights and maritime shipping combined
- 35% of microplastics in oceans come from synthetic textiles through laundering
- The tanning process to make leather creates high levels of chromium pollution
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- Polyester production for textiles released 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015 alone
- Up to 20% of industrial water pollution is attributable to apparel manufacturing
- The carbon footprint of a single T-shirt is about 2.6 kg of CO2
- Plastic-based clothing can take up to 200 years to decompose
- Every time synthetic garments are washed, they release up to 700,000 plastic microfibers
- Global apparel and footwear industries account for 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions
- Cotton farming uses 24% of the world's insecticides and 11% of pesticides
- Leather production accounts for nearly 600 million tons of CO2 emissions every year
- It takes approximately 12-24 months for a fast fashion item to degrade in landfill if made of natural fibers, and much longer for synthetics
- Clothing and footwear production contributes 5% of global industrial water pollution
- A landfill can take up to 200 years to decompose polyester clothing, emitting methane in the process
- Clothing accounts for over 1.5 trillion liters of water pollution annually
- 17-20% of industrial pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment
- The global clothing and textile industry is worth over $2.5 trillion annually but is one of the least sustainable
- The Asian textile industry could release 20 million tons of wastewater in rivers annually
- More than 70 toxic chemicals have been identified in the wastewater from textile dyeing
- Textile incineration contributes to toxic air emissions including dioxins and furans
- Nearly 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean yearly — a part from textile microfibers
Interpretation
While the fashion industry dresses the world in style, it's simultaneously undressing the planet’s health—one carbon-emitting, microfiber-shedding, water-poisoning garment at a time.
Production and Manufacturing
- 100 billion garments are produced yearly worldwide
- 20,000 people die every year from cancer and miscarriages linked to chemicals used in textile production in developing countries
- Garment workers in developing countries often handle hazardous chemicals without proper protection
- Textile production is projected to increase by 63% by 2030, reaching 102 million tons annually
- 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used in various textile processes, many of which are harmful or toxic
- China produces about 65% of the world’s textiles, contributing significantly to emissions and water pollution
Interpretation
We’re drowning in fast fashion’s deadly threads—where 100 billion garments a year come stitched with toxic chemicals, human suffering, and an environmental bill our planet can’t afford.
Resource Consumption
- Nearly 60% of all clothing material is made from plastic
- Making one cotton shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters of water
- Textiles account for 7% of global industrial water usage
- The textile industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water annually, about 4% of total global freshwater withdrawal
- Up to 200 tons of water is used to dye just one ton of fabric
- Nearly 5 trillion liters of water are used each year for textile dyeing alone
- More than 60% of fabric fibers are now synthetics, derived from fossil fuels
- Producing 1 kg of cotton fabric uses 10,000–20,000 liters of water
- 70 million barrels of oil are used every year to produce polyester
- It takes 3,781 liters of water to make a single pair of jeans
- In the EU, textile consumption is the fourth highest pressure category for use of primary raw materials and water
- The dyeing process consumes about 5 trillion liters of water annually, contributing significantly to global water pollution
- 1 kg of textile production consumes 100–150 liters of non-renewable resources
- Clothing is the third-largest user of water and land after food and housing
- The clothing industry uses about 79 billion cubic meters of water annually
- 16% of pesticides and 7% of herbicides globally are used for cotton cultivation
Interpretation
Fashion may strut down the runway in style, but behind the scenes it's guzzling freshwater like a supermodel on a salt binge and shedding plastic like glitter at a New Year's party—proving that looking good can cost the Earth, quite literally.
Waste Generation
- 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- The fashion industry produces over 92 million tons of waste per year
- 73% of all clothing ends up in landfills or is incinerated
- Only 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments
- The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing per year
- 95% of the clothes thrown away each year could be recycled or reused
- Around 300,000 tonnes of clothing are dumped in UK landfills each year
- Only 15% of textile waste is recycled in the United States
- An estimated 400 billion square meters of textiles are produced annually, but 60 billion square meters become cutting floor waste
- One garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second
- 87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or disposed of in landfills
- Fast fashion produces 92 million tons of waste annually, projected to reach 134 million tons a year by 2030
- 2.2 billion tons of wastewater are generated by the global textile industry each year
- An estimated 9.5 million tons of textiles ended up in U.S. landfills in 2018
- Textiles make up nearly 7.7% of total landfill waste
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing at end of life
- Only 12% of garments are collected for recycling globally
- EU citizens consume nearly 26 kg of textiles per person per year and discard about 11 kg
- 20% of garments produced globally remain unsold
Interpretation
We're drowning in yesterday’s trends, as mountains of barely-worn fast fashion clog our landfills, wasting resources, polluting the planet, and proving that style without sustainability is just landfill in disguise.