Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
The apparel industry's global emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030
Fashion production releases 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases annually
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide
It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make just one cotton shirt, enough for one person to drink for 2.5 years
Producing a single pair of jeans requires approximately 7,500 to 10,000 liters of water
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
92 million tons of textile waste is created annually worldwide
Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of the world's insecticide use
Conventional cotton cultivation uses 11% of the world's pesticides despite covering only 2.4% of arable land
Approximately 3,500 different chemical substances are used in textile production
The average consumer buys 60% more items of clothing than they did 15 years ago
Consumers keep clothing items for about half as long as they did in the year 2000
Clothing production has doubled between 2000 and 2015
Chemical Usage and Raw Materials
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of the world's insecticide use
- Conventional cotton cultivation uses 11% of the world's pesticides despite covering only 2.4% of arable land
- Approximately 3,500 different chemical substances are used in textile production
- 43 million tons of chemicals are used in textile production every year
- About 30% of the chemical substances used in fashion manufacturing are considered hazardous to human health
- Chromium IV, a toxic carcinogen, is used in 80-90% of global leather tanning
- 150 million trees are logged every year for viscose/rayon production, damaging ancient forests
- Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), toxic endocrine disruptors, have been found in clothing from major brands
- The production of nylon creates nitrous oxide, which depletes the ozone layer
- Soil degradation from intensive cotton monocropping has reduced soil fertility in major producing reigons
- Around 165 million tons of plastic are used in the production of textiles annually (mostly polyester)
- Glyphosate, a probable carcinogen, is widely used in genetically modified cotton fields
- PFAS (forever chemicals) are frequently used in stain-resistant and waterproof clothing finishes
- Viscose manufacturing releases carbon disulfide, which causes severe neurological damage to workers
- 1 kilogram of chemicals is needed to process 1 kilogram of textiles
- Antimony, a toxic heavy metal, is used as a catalyst in 80-85% of virgin PET (polyester) production
- Overgrazing by cashmere goats has turned 90% of Mongolia's grassland into desert
- The use of azo dyes in fashion, which release carcinogenic amines, is still prevalent in unrestricted markets
- Conventional cotton farming degrades soil quality, leading to a need for increased fertilizer use over time
- Formaldehyde is often applied to clothes to prevent mildew and wrinkling during shipping
Interpretation
Fashion keeps us stylish while quietly turning soils to dust, rivers into chemical soup, forests into pulp and workers into collateral damage, all fueled by mountains of pesticides, carcinogens like chromium IV, PFAS, nitrous oxide and endless plastics.
Consumer Behavior and Circularity
- The average consumer buys 60% more items of clothing than they did 15 years ago
- Consumers keep clothing items for about half as long as they did in the year 2000
- Clothing production has doubled between 2000 and 2015
- Extending the life of clothing by just 9 months would reduce carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
- 1 in 3 young women in the UK consider clothes "old" after wearing them once or twice
- The secondhand clothing market is projected to reach $64 billion by 2024
- 77% of Americans want to learn how to live more sustainably, but only 12% buy sustainable fashion
- Up to 40% of clothing in average western wardrobes is never worn
- The resale market is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail
- In the UK, the average lifetime of a garment is only 2.2 years
- 50% of people throw unwanted clothes in the trash rather than donating them
- Consumption of clothing and footwear is expected to increase by 63% by 2030
- Returning a garment doubles its environmental impact due to reverse logistics
- Over 70% of the world’s population wears secondhand clothing
- 69% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, but lack trust in brand claims
- Renting clothes instead of buying can reduce the carbon footprint of the item by 24%
- 95% of discarded clothing can be recycled or repurposed, yet it largely isn't
- The average American generates 81 pounds of textile waste each year
- Washing at 30°C instead of 40°C saves 40% energy per load
- Digital fashion (clothing worn only in virtual environments) emits 97% less CO2 than physical garment production
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned wardrobes into disposable landfills: consumers buy about 60% more clothes and keep them roughly half as long as 15 years ago while production has doubled, so wearing items just nine months longer, renting or buying secondhand, washing at 30°C and trusting real sustainability claims could cut carbon, water and waste footprints by up to a third, yet returns, convenience and mistrust leave most recyclable garments unused—making the booming resale market and even digital fashion the unlikely lifelines to stop dressing the planet to death.
Emissions and Climate Change
- The fashion industry accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
- The apparel industry's global emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030
- Fashion production releases 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases annually
- Polyester production for textiles in 2015 released about 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of 185 coal-fired power plants
- If the fashion sector continues on its current trajectory, that share of the carbon budget could jump to 26% by 2050
- One pair of running shoes generates approximately 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions
- A polyester shirt involves 5.5 kg CO2e emissions compared to 2.1 kg CO2e for a cotton shirt
- The footwear industry alone accounts for 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions
- Up to 80% of a garment’s carbon footprint occurs during the production and processing of materials
- Nylon production emits nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide
- The carbon footprint of a single pair of Levi's 501 jeans is 33.4 kg CO2e
- Organic cotton farming can reduce the global warming potential of cotton by 46% compared to conventional cotton
- Shifting from conventional polyester to recycled polyester can reduce carbon emissions by up to 32%
- By 2030, the fashion industry needs to reduce its emissions by approximately half to align with the 1.5-degree pathway
- Buying second-hand clothing can reduce a consumer's carbon footprint by 60-70% compared to buying new
- Air freight in fashion logistics produces 47 times more emissions than sea freight per ton-mile
- Ironing and washing clothes during the consumer use phase accounts for significant energy use, with tumble drying alone comprising 60% of user-phase energy
- Producing one ton of textiles generates 17 tons of CO2 equivalent
- Leather production has a high carbon footprint, with one cow hide resulting in approx 100kg of CO2e
- Online returns in the US alone create 15 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually
Interpretation
The fashion industry already racks up roughly 10% of global carbon emissions and risks consuming a quarter of our remaining carbon budget by 2050, meaning our taste for cheap polyester, air‑freighted newness and energy‑hungry laundering is making us look good while the planet pays the price, and only big shifts to recycled and organic materials, second‑hand buying and less wasteful logistics can stop the runway from becoming a climate disaster.
Waste and Microplastics
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
- Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually worldwide
- Washing clothes releases half a million tons of microfibers into the ocean every year, equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles
- Textiles account for approximately 35% of primary microplastics found in the oceans
- An estimated 15% to 20% of fabric used to produce clothing ends up as cutting floor waste
- Fast fashion items are thrown away after an average of just 7 to 10 wears
- 30% of clothes produced each year are never sold, often ending up in landfills or incinerated
- The volume of textile waste is expected to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030
- Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose in landfills
- In the US major cities, textile waste makes up nearly 6% of all municipal solid waste
- The Atacama Desert in Chile has become a dumping ground for approx 39,000 tons of unsold clothing annually
- One machine wash of polyester clothes can release 700,000 microplastic fibers
- Only 12% of the material used for clothing ends up being recycled in some form (mostly downcycled to insulation)
- Ghana’s Kantamanto market receives 15 million garments a week, 40% of which ends up as immediate waste
- 73% of the world’s clothing eventually ends up in landfills
- Microplastics from textiles have been found in the deepest parts of the ocean and in Arctic ice
- Annually, North Americans send 10 million tonnes of clothing to the landfill
- 5.8 million tons of textiles are generated in the EU annually, amounting to 11kg per person
- Incineration of clothes releases toxins and large amounts of CO2; yet millions of tons are burned annually
Interpretation
We buy cheap clothes that live shorter lives than our attention spans, and the result is horrifyingly simple: every second a garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned, less than one percent is recycled into new garments, billions of microplastic fibers from polyester washes are choking oceans and ice, and millions of tons of unsold or discarded pieces are piling up in landfills, deserts and markets while synthetic fabrics lock in toxins and carbon for centuries.
Water Consumption and Pollution
- The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide
- It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make just one cotton shirt, enough for one person to drink for 2.5 years
- Producing a single pair of jeans requires approximately 7,500 to 10,000 liters of water
- The fashion industry consumes nearly 93 billion cubic meters of water annually
- 20% of global wastewater comes from textile dyeing and treatment
- Textile mills generate one-fifth of the world's industrial water pollution
- In China, 70% of the rivers and lakes are contaminated from the textile industry’s wastewater
- One kg of cotton produced in India consumes 22,500 liters of water
- Approximately 85% of the water used in textile processing goes into dyeing the fabrics
- The Aral Sea has shrunk to 10% of its former volume largely due to cotton irrigation
- Leather tanning utilizes approximately 16,000 liters of water per kg of hide
- Around 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment
- Viscose production is highly water-intensive and associated with dumping untreated effluent in lakes
- It takes 44 trillion liters of water annually for irrigation of cotton crops
- Synthetic fiber production uses less water than cotton but significantly pollutes water through pellet leaks during production
- Conventional cotton farming is responsible for water depletion in regions facing high water stress
- 40% of clothing is made in countries that are already facing water scarcity issues
- Wool production has a high water footprint; 1kg of wool requires up to 170,000 liters of water to produce (mostly rain water for grass)
- The Citarum River in Indonesia is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world due to over 200 textile factories lining its banks
- Reducing water usage in denim finishing by using laser technology can save up to 98% of the water
Interpretation
We are literally wearing water: the fashion industry consumes thousands of liters for a single garment and about 93 billion cubic meters a year, generates roughly 20% of industrial wastewater that poisons rivers and shrinks seas, yet simple fixes like laser denim finishing could cut denim’s water use by up to 98% if the sector stopped treating water as disposable.
References
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