Fashion Industry Carbon Emissions Statistics

Consumer use phase accounts for 20% of the total environmental impact of a garment

Extending the life of a garment by 9 months reduces carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%

Washing and drying clothing generates 120 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually

Reducing washing temperature from 40°C to 30°C saves about 35% of energy and associated emissions

Skipping one laundry load a week saves almost 100kg of CO2e per year

The average number of times a garment is worn before being discarded has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago

One garbage truck of clothes is burned or landfilled every second causing methane and CO2 release

UK households discard 300000 tonnes of clothing to landfill annually

Use of tumble dryers accounts for 75% of the total energy used in the laundry process

85% of all textiles throw away in the US go to landfills or are incinerated

Ironing a shirt consumes energy equivalent to driving a car for 1 km

Buying one used item instead of new reduces its carbon footprint by 82%

If everyone bought one used item instead of new this year it would save 5.7 billion lbs of CO2e

Clothing utilization in China has decreased by 70% in the last 15 years driving faster replacement emissions

Microplastics released during washing are derived from fossil fuels and contribute to ocean carbon cycles

Dry cleaning uses hazardous chemicals and high energy resulting in higher emissions than wet cleaning

60% of consumers say they have more clothes than they need leading to wasted embodied carbon

Landfilled textiles decompose to produce methane which is 28 times more potent than CO2

Only 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothing meaning 99% of embodied carbon is lost after use

The average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of clothing per year

To stay on the 1.5°C pathway the fashion industry must reduce emissions by 50% by 2030

Circular business models could reduce industry emissions by 143 million tonnes by 2030

Switching to 100% renewable energy in Tier 2 processing could save 344 million tonnes of CO2e

The fashion industry will consume 26% of the world's carbon budget by 2050 if unchecked

Decarbonizing material production would contribute to 61% of the necessary emission reductions

If the industry fails to act emissions will rise to 2.7 billion tonnes a year by 2030

Adopting regenerative agriculture for raw materials creates a carbon sink potential

The resale market is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail reducing demand for new carbon-heavy production

Rental models can reduce carbon emissions by diverting waste but logistics emissions must be managed

Nearshoring production to reduce transport distances could lower logistics emissions by 20%

Eliminating waste in the supply chain could save 4% of total industry emissions

Digital sampling and 3D design can reduce sample-making emissions by 90%

By 2030 one in five garments needs to be traded through a circular business model to meet climate goals

45% of fashion companies have set emissions targets but only a fraction meet science-based criteria

Closed-loop recycling has the potential to reduce the industry's energy consumption by 53%

Improving energy efficiency in manufacturing by 2% annually creates massive long-term carbon savings

Government regulations on textile waste could force a 10% reduction in industry carbon output

On-demand manufacturing reduces overproduction and can lower carbon impact by 25%

60% of sustainable fashion claims by major brands were found to be unsubstantiated greenwashing slowing real progress

Achieving Net Zero by 2050 requires an investment of over $1 trillion in the fashion sector

The fashion industry is responsible for 8 to 10 percent of global carbon emissions

The fashion industry produced around 2.1 billion tonnes of GHG emissions in 2018

Fashion's emissions are more than all international flights and maritime shipping costs combined

If the fashion sector were a country it would be the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world

The apparel industry's global emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030 if current trends continue

Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year

The carbon footprint of a single cotton t-shirt is estimated at 2.1 kg of CO2e

A pair of jeans produces an average of 33.4 kg of CO2e throughout its life cycle

70% of the fashion industry's emissions come from upstream activities specifically material production

The footwear industry alone accounts for 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions

Apparel and footwear are responsible for approximately 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to some conservative estimates

The global apparel industry emits more greenhouse gases than France, Germany, and the UK combined

71% of the fashion industry's greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the Asia-Pacific region

Synthetic fibers have a higher carbon footprint per kg than natural fibers but often retain durability longer

The European Union's textile consumption has the fourth highest impact on climate change per person

Australia is the second highest consumer of textiles per person driving high per capita fashion emissions

Total greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production stands at 1.2 billion tonnes annually

The fashion industry contributes equally to the climate crisis as the entire continent of Europe

Global production of clothing has doubled since 2000 causing a parallel spike in carbon emissions

Without intervention the fashion industry's CO2 emissions are expected to rise to nearly 2.8 billion tonnes per year by 2030

Polyester production for textiles released about 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015

Making 1kg of fabric generates an average of 23kg of greenhouse gases

Synthetics account for 62% of all global fiber production heavily reliant on fossil fuel extraction

Nylon generates nitrous oxide during production a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2

Producing a single polyester shirt emits 5.5 kg of CO2 compared to 2.1 kg for a cotton shirt

38% of the fashion industry's carbon footprint comes from the production of raw materials

Wet processes like dyeing and finishing generate approximately 36% of the apparel industry's carbon impact

Leather production is linked to deforestation which accounts for significant indirect carbon emissions

Nitrogen fertilizers used in cotton farming release significant amounts of greenhouse gases

Manufacturing factories in China and India mostly rely on coal resulting in high carbon intensity for textiles

Viscose production can be high carbon if not sourced from certified sustainable forests due to logging

15% of the carbon footprint of a garment is created just by cutting and sewing the fabric

Using recycled polyester reduces carbon emissions by 37% compared to virgin polyester

Organic cotton has the potential to reduce global warming potential by 46% compared to conventional cotton

The energy used in yarn preparation contributes roughly 28% to the total textile manufacturing emissions

Production of 1 ton of leather results in 170 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions mostly from animal husbandry

Coal boilers are used in over 25% of textile mills in major production countries significantly raising emissions

Wool production generates methane from sheep contributing disproportionately to climate change per kg of fiber

Spandex or elastane production involves high energy consumption and petrochemical inputs

Textile mills use nearly 130 million tonnes of coal annually worldwide

Transport accounts for only about 3% of the fashion value chain's total emissions

Air freight creates 40 to 50 times more CO2 emissions than sea freight for garment transport

The return rate for online fashion is 30% creating double transportation emissions for millions of items

Packaging waste from fashion logistics contributes to the industry’s embodied carbon footprint

Last-mile delivery emissions are predicted to rise by 32% by 2030 largely driven by fashion e-commerce

80% of cross-border e-commerce shipments are fashion-related increasing air cargo reliance

Brands destroying unsold inventory through incineration releases stored carbon directly into the atmosphere

Replacing plastic mailers with recycled paper can reduce packaging carbon emissions by up to 50%

Shifting from air to sea transport can mitigate logistics carbon impact by over 90%

6% of industry emissions are attributed to the retail operations phase including lighting and cooling stores

Warehouse automation and energy efficiency can reduce logistics emissions by 10-20%

The carbon cost of free returns involves approximately 15 million metric tons of CO2 annually in the US alone

Deadstock fabric remaining in supply chains leads to wasted production emissions for 15% of all materials

Reverse logistics for apparel returns requires 20% more space and energy than outbound logistics

Heavy fuel oil used in maritime shipping of textiles releases black carbon affecting polar ice melt

Single-use polybags used in transit result in significant fossil fuel consumption for plastic production

Trucking creates 4 times more emissions per ton-mile than rail when moving fashion goods inland

Express delivery options increase the carbon footprint of an online fashion purchase by at least 50%

25% of garments bought online are returned doubling the emissions for that leg of the journey

Unsold stock destruction in France alone was estimated to be worth 630 million euros representing massive wasted emissions