Clothing Waste Statistics

The average American throws away about 81.5 pounds of clothes each year [1]

The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [2]

The average lifespan for a garment in the UK is 2.2 years [3]

Extending the active life of clothing by nine months can reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% each [4]

Clothing longevity fell by 36% in active use compared with 15 years earlier [4]

In Europe, the average person buys nearly 26 kg of textiles and discards about 11 kg of them every year [5]

The average U.S. consumer throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year [6]

In New York City, residents discard more than 200,000 tons of clothing, towels, sheets and shoes each year [7]

More than 80 pounds of clothing per person are thrown away each year in New York City [7]

Australians buy an average of 27 kg of new clothing each year [8]

The average Australian buys 56 new clothing items a year [9]

In Hong Kong, 45% of disposed textiles are less than four years old [10]

In Hong Kong, 59% of consumers buy clothes at least once a month [10]

The average person in Germany buys 60 new clothing items a year [11]

In the Netherlands, consumers buy an average of 46 new garments every year [12]

Canadians throw away about 37 kilograms of textiles per person each year [13]

In Sweden, 7.5 kilograms of textiles per person are thrown away in household waste each year [14]

Over 50% of fast fashion items are disposed of in under a year [15]

The average U.S. consumer bought 68 new clothing items in 2018 [16]

Americans bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000 [16]

The average garment was kept half as long in 2014 as in 2000 [16]

Clothing utilization globally has declined by 36% compared to 15 years ago [17]

In the U.S., the average lifespan of a garment is estimated at 5.4 years [18]

40% of garments in the average American closet are rarely or never worn [18]

The average UK adult has 118 items of clothing in their wardrobe [19]

UK adults wear only 44% of the clothes they own regularly [19]

Australians consume an average of 27 kg of clothing per person each year [20]

Between 2000 and 2015, clothing production doubled while the number of times a garment was worn decreased by 36% [21]

The average American discards 81 pounds of clothing every year [22]

The average person buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago [23]

The average person keeps each garment half as long as 15 years ago [23]

Consumers bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000 [24]

The average garment is kept for half as long as it was 15 years ago [24]

The average U.S. consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes annually [25]

The average item of clothing is worn just 7 to 10 times before being thrown away [26]

More than USD 500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilisation and the lack of recycling [2]

More than $100 billion worth of materials are lost each year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling [27]

In the UK, an estimated £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill every year [28]

In the UK, £140 million worth of clothing ends up in landfill each year [3]

The average UK household owns £4,000 worth of clothes [4]

UK consumers have around £30 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes [4]

Across the fashion industry, 30% of clothes produced are never sold [15]

An estimated $460 billion worth of unsold clothes are discarded or destroyed every year [15]

The average American consumer spends $1,430 on clothing each year [18]

One in five items in the average UK wardrobe has not been worn in the past year [19]

The unworn clothes in UK wardrobes are worth an estimated £30 billion [19]

Over $400 billion in value is lost every year because clothing is barely worn and rarely recycled [21]

40% of clothes purchased in some countries are never used [23]

The equivalent of £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year [26]

In 2018, landfills received 11.3 million tons of textiles in the United States [29]

In 2018, textiles accounted for 7.7% of all municipal solid waste landfilled in the United States [29]

In 2018, 3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the United States [29]

The amount of textiles landfilled in the United States increased from 2.5 million tons in 1960 to 11.3 million tons in 2018 [29]

Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned [2]

The equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up in landfill every second worldwide [15]

87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or disposed of in a landfill [30]

UK households send around 336,000 tonnes of used clothing to landfill every year [28]

Around 350,000 tonnes of used clothing are sent to landfill in the UK every year [3]

Around 300,000 tonnes of clothing goes to landfill or incineration in the UK each year [4]

About 11.6 kg of textile waste per person in the EU in 2020 ended up in mixed household waste [31]

In Australia, more than 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill each year [8]

Australians discard an average of 23 kg of clothing to landfill each year [8]

Australians discard 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill each year on average [9]

In Australia, over 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill each year [9]

More than 10 million tonnes of clothing are sent to landfill every year globally [32]

Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or buried in a landfill [32]

In Hong Kong, 392 tonnes of textiles are disposed of in landfills every day [10]

Dutch consumers throw away 70% of discarded textiles in residual waste [12]

Of the 305 million kilograms of textiles put on the Dutch market annually, 45% is incinerated after use [12]

In 2021, 6.95 million tons of textile waste were landfilled in the United States [33]

In 2021, 3.82 million tons of textile waste were incinerated in the United States [34]

About 85% of discarded textiles in Canada end up in landfills [13]

In France, 8.6% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were used for energy recovery in 2022 [35]

In France, 3.4% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were disposed of in 2022 [35]

In Sweden, around 90,000 tonnes of textiles are thrown away in household waste every year [14]

In the EU, 78% of post-consumer textile waste is not separately collected and goes to mixed household waste [36]

In New South Wales, Australians throw away more than 6,000 kg of fashion and textile waste every 10 minutes [37]

More than 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in Australian landfill every year [37]

In the UK, around 336,000 tonnes of used clothing are discarded to landfill annually [38]

73% of clothing globally ends up in landfill or incineration [2]

UK adults send 11 million garments to landfill every week [19]

57% of discarded clothing in Australia ends up in landfill [20]

Australians send 23 kg of clothing per person to landfill each year [20]

200,000 tonnes of clothing are sent to Australian landfill each year [20]

New Zealanders send more than 220,000 tonnes of textile waste to landfill each year [39]

In New Zealand, textile waste makes up 5% of landfill waste volume [39]

In California, 1.2 million tons of textiles are sent to landfill each year [40]

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is wasted every second globally [21]

Globally, 87% of fibers used for clothing are burned or landfilled after use [21]

Around 85% of textiles thrown away in the U.S. end up in landfills or incinerators [22]

One garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [41]

87% of the fibers used for clothing production are incinerated or end up in landfills [41]

85% of all textiles go to the dump each year [24]

85% of clothes in the U.S. end up in landfills or incinerators [25]

A truckload of clothing is either incinerated or sent to landfill every second [26]

In 2018, only 2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in the United States [29]

The recycling rate for textiles in the United States was 14.7% in 2018 [29]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [2]

Around 31% of used clothing in the UK is collected for reuse and recycling [28]

Around 620,000 tonnes of textiles were collected separately in the EU-27 in 2019 [42]

Of the 16 kg of textile waste generated per person in the EU in 2020, 4.4 kg was separately collected for reuse and recycling [31]

Globally, less than 1% of all textiles are recycled into new textiles [5]

In 2017, 15.1% of textile waste was recycled in the United States [43]

95% of used textiles can be recycled or repurposed [44]

Around 230,000 tonnes of used textiles are collected by charities and other collectors in Germany each year [11]

In the Netherlands, 35% of post-consumer textiles are collected separately [12]

In 2021, 1.93 million tons of textile waste were recycled in the United States [45]

In France, 268,161 tonnes of clothing, household linen and shoes were collected in 2022 [35]

In France, 38% of marketed clothing, household linen and shoes were collected in 2022 [35]

In France, 56% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were reused in 2022 [35]

In France, 32% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were recycled in 2022 [35]

In Sweden, 3 kilograms of textiles per person are collected separately each year [14]

In Sweden, around 30,000 tonnes of textiles are collected separately each year [14]

In the EU, only 22% of post-consumer textile waste is separately collected for reuse or recycling [36]

Only 13% of total material input for clothing is recycled in some way after clothing use [17]

Just 1% of clothing is recycled back into clothing [17]

Only 12% of material used for clothing is recycled [2]

Resale displaces 8 billion new clothing purchases annually [18]

The secondhand market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2028 [18]

Australia exports around 100,000 tonnes of used clothing every year [20]

95% of textiles can be reused or recycled [40]

Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [21]

Americans recycle or donate only 15% of their used clothing [22]

95% of the clothes thrown away each year could be reused or recycled [22]

The U.S. textile recycling industry removes 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles from the waste stream annually [44]

The U.S. textile recycling industry reduces landfill use by 3.8 billion pounds per year [44]

Recycling 100 percent of textiles would annually divert 20 billion pounds from landfills [44]

Less than 1% of clothing materials are recycled back into clothing [23]

Less than 1% of used clothes are recycled into new garments [41]

Only 15% of discarded textiles are recycled or donated in the United States [25]

95% of discarded textiles can be recycled or reused [25]

Less than 1% of material used for clothing is recycled into new clothing [26]

In 2018, 17.0 million tons of textile municipal solid waste were generated in the United States [29]

Between 2000 and 2014, clothing production approximately doubled [2]

The textiles industry emits 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases annually [2]

Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced each year [15]

The fashion industry wastes around 13 million tonnes of fabric annually [15]

In the UK, 1.7 million tonnes of clothing are purchased every year [3]

Textile consumption in the EU in 2020 generated about 16 kg of waste per person [31]

EU consumption of textiles in 2020 required on average 391 m2 of land per person [31]

EU consumption of textiles in 2020 used on average 9 m3 of water per person [31]

EU consumption of textiles in 2020 used 400 kg of raw materials per person [31]

In Europe, textile purchases in 2020 generated about 270 kg of CO2 emissions per person [31]

Around 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded every year in the EU [5]

This equals about 11 kg of textiles discarded per person per year in the EU [5]

Americans generated 17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste in 2018 [46]

In 2018, 66.2 pounds of textile waste per person were generated in the United States [47]

The volume of textile waste in the U.S. increased by 811% from 1960 to 2018 [48]

Clothing and household textiles make up about 6% of New York City’s waste stream [7]

Hong Kongers discard 140,000 tonnes of textiles annually [10]

Around 1 million tonnes of used textiles are generated every year in Germany [11]

In the Netherlands, 305 million kilograms of new textiles are put on the market annually [12]

The global fashion industry produced 97 million tonnes of waste in 2023 [49]

In Canada, about 500 million kilograms of textiles are discarded annually [13]

In France, 3.3 billion items of clothing, household linen and shoes were placed on the market in 2022 [35]

EU households consumed 13 million tonnes of textile products in 2020 [36]

In the EU, about 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded every year [36]

Zara reportedly produces 450 million items a year [15]

H&M reportedly produces 3 billion garments a year [15]

On average, 35% of all materials in the fashion supply chain become waste before a garment reaches the consumer [27]

More than 15,000 chemicals are used in textile manufacturing [27]

Clothing has the fourth-largest environmental impact among household purchases in the EU [36]

Global clothing sales are expected to reach 160 million tonnes in 2050 if current trends continue [2]

New Zealanders buy around 100,000 tonnes of new clothing annually [39]

In California, textile material makes up 3% of disposed waste [40]

Americans throw away more than 34 billion pounds of used textiles annually [22]

In 2015, global annual textile fiber production reached 100 million tonnes [23]

The fashion industry creates 92 million tons of waste annually [41]

The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater [41]

One truckload of textile waste is created every second worldwide [24]

Washing clothes releases 500,000 tonnes of microfibres into the ocean each year [24]

Between 4% and 9% of all municipal solid waste disposed in California is textiles [40]

In 2018, Americans generated 17 million tons of textile waste, up from 2 million tons in 1960 [25]

35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic textiles [26]