Fashion Waste Statistics

73% of clothing is landfilled or incinerated at end of life [1]

87% of total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or disposed of in landfill [1]

In 2018, 11.3 million tons of textiles were landfilled in the United States [2]

In 2018, 3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the United States [2]

The U.S. landfilling rate for textiles was 66.5% in 2018 [2]

The U.S. combustion with energy recovery rate for textiles was 18.7% in 2018 [2]

85% of all textiles in the United States end up in landfills or are incinerated [3]

Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned [4]

87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is burned or buried in landfill [4]

About 11 kg of textiles per person were discarded in the EU in 2020 [5]

About 82% of textile waste from households in Europe is discarded with mixed waste [5]

The average UK consumer disposes of 22 items of clothing annually [6]

Around 300,000 tonnes of clothing end up in household black bins in the UK every year [6]

The UK sends £140 million worth of used clothing to landfill every year [6]

Around 350,000 tonnes of used clothing go to landfill in the UK every year [6]

An estimated 630,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles were not captured for reuse or recycling in the UK in 2017 [7]

336,000 tonnes of sorted used textiles were exported from the UK in 2017 [7]

73,000 tonnes of unsorted used textiles were exported from the UK in 2017 [7]

More than 45% of textiles in U.S. landfills are recyclable [8]

The average item of clothing is worn just 7 times before being thrown away [9]

The equivalent of one rubbish truck full of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill every second [9]

10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every 5 minutes in the UK [9]

300,000 tonnes of clothing go to landfill or incineration in the UK each year [9]

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

Australians discard an average of 23 kg of clothing to landfill per person each year [9]

6000 kilograms of clothes are discarded every 10 minutes in Australia [9]

Some garments are thrown away after being worn only 7 to 10 times [3]

In the UK, consumers keep clothes for only 2.2 years on average [3]

It takes 200 years for polyester to decompose [3]

10% of global carbon emissions are generated by the fashion industry [10]

20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry [10]

35% of all primary microplastic pollution in the ocean comes from laundering synthetic textiles [11]

500,000 tonnes of plastic microfibres are released into the ocean every year from washing clothes [1]

2,700 liters of water are required to make one cotton T-shirt [12]

Fashion is responsible for 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions [4]

The fashion industry consumes around 93 billion cubic meters of water annually [4]

Half a million tons of plastic microfibers are dumped into the ocean annually from washing textiles [4]

The equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles enters the ocean each year from textile washing [4]

It takes more than 7,500 liters of water to make a pair of jeans [4]

In 2020, clothing, footwear and household textiles consumption in the EU caused the fifth highest negative environmental and climate pressures [5]

EU textile consumption required 9 cubic meters of water per person in 2020 [5]

EU textile consumption required 400 square meters of land per person in 2020 [5]

EU textile consumption used 391 kilograms of raw materials per person in 2020 [5]

EU textile consumption generated a carbon footprint of 270 kilograms CO2 equivalent per person in 2020 [5]

The fashion industry produces 4% of global greenhouse-gas emissions [13]

The fashion industry emitted about 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2018 [13]

More than 70% of fashion emissions come from upstream activities [13]

To align with a 1.5-degree pathway, the fashion industry must reduce emissions by 1.1 billion tons by 2030 [13]

The fashion industry is responsible for around 20% of global industrial water pollution [14]

Around 190,000 tons of textile microplastic fibers enter marine ecosystems annually [14]

The apparel sector produced 1.025 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2019 [15]

The fashion sector used 20.3 trillion liters of water in 2019 [15]

Clothing production contributes 10% of annual global carbon emissions [9]

It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt [9]

Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions [3]

Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year [3]

Producing one cotton shirt requires about 2,700 liters of water [3]

10% of the microplastics dispersed into the ocean each year come from textiles [3]

The UK clothing industry causes around 26.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually [6]

The UK clothing industry uses around 8 billion cubic meters of water annually [6]

Around 10% of global carbon emissions are associated with the fashion sector [16]

Around 4% of global freshwater withdrawal is used by the fashion industry [16]

79 trillion liters of water are consumed by the textile industry each year [16]

92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced globally each year [10]

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [1]

Global clothing production roughly doubled between 2000 and 2015 [1]

The average number of times a garment is worn decreased by 36% compared with 15 years ago [1]

In 2018, 17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste were generated in the United States [2]

Textiles represented 5.8% of total municipal solid waste generation in the United States in 2018 [2]

Americans throw away about 81.5 pounds of clothes per person each year [3]

The average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year [8]

The average U.S. consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes annually [9]

Clothing production doubled in the 15 years leading up to 2014 [4]

People bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000 [4]

Clothing utilization has declined by 36% compared to 15 years ago [4]

Textile consumption in the EU was 26 kg per person in 2020 [5]

Around 4.4 million tonnes of textiles were put on the EU market in 2020 [5]

The EU generated 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste in 2020 [5]

Between 2000 and 2015, global clothing production doubled while the average utilization rate fell by 36% [17]

The average UK consumer buys 26.7 kg of new clothing each year [6]

UK citizens have around £30 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes [6]

The UK generated 1,130,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2017 [7]

The apparel sector generated 92 million tonnes of waste in 2019 [15]

The average consumer bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000 [15]

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

The average U.S. citizen throws away 37 kg of clothes every year [18]

The average person in Denmark throws away 16 kg of textiles per year [18]

The average person in Italy throws away 14 kg of textiles per year [18]

The average person in Germany throws away 13 kg of textiles per year [18]

The average person in the UK throws away 12 kg of textiles per year [18]

The average person in China throws away 4 kg of textiles per year [18]

The average person in India throws away 2 kg of textiles per year [18]

13 million tonnes of textiles are discarded in the United States each year [8]

20% of clothing in wardrobes is never worn [9]

Consumers now purchase 60% more items of clothing than they did 20 years ago [9]

Nearly four in 10 shoppers admit they have bought clothes they never wear [9]

Australians buy an average of 27 kg of new clothing per person each year [9]

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

Australians consume more clothing per person than any other country except the United States [9]

40 million tons of textile waste are generated every year in China [10]

Consumers in the UK purchased 1.13 million tonnes of clothing in 2016 [6]

92 million tonnes of waste are generated annually by the fashion industry value chain [16]

12% of material in the fashion industry is lost during production [16]

About 70% of emissions in the apparel sector stem from material production, preparation, and processing [13]

58% of fashion industry emissions are linked to energy-intensive upstream activities [13]

Polyester production for textiles emitted 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015 [14]

Global fibre production reached 113 million tonnes in 2021 [19]

Polyester accounted for 54% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Virgin fossil-based synthetics made up 62% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Cotton accounted for 22% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Cellulosic fibres accounted for 6% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Polyamide accounted for 5% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Wool accounted for 1% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Other fibres accounted for 2% of global fibre production in 2021 [19]

Global fibre production is projected to rise to 149 million tonnes in 2030 if current trends continue [19]

The apparel industry is expected to grow by 63% by 2030 [15]

Global apparel consumption is expected to rise from 62 million tonnes to 102 million tonnes by 2030 [15]

20% of global wastewater comes from textile dyeing and treatment [9]

Fashion dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, with 20% of wastewater worldwide coming from fabric dyeing and treatment [3]

More than 100 billion garments are produced each year [3]

The UK clothing industry generates around 1.5 million tonnes of waste annually across the supply chain [6]

97% of clothing is made from new materials [16]

The textile sector is expected to use 35% more land by 2030 [16]

The textile sector is projected to increase water use by 50% by 2030 [16]

The textile sector is projected to increase carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 [16]

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

More than $500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling [1]

2% of textile waste is recycled into the same or similar quality applications [5]

In 2018, 2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in the United States [2]

The recycling rate for textiles in the United States was 14.7% in 2018 [2]

Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments [4]

In Europe, only 22% of post-consumer textile waste is collected separately for reuse or recycling [5]

Extending the active life of clothing by 9 months could reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% [6]

Clothing reuse in the UK saves an estimated 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year [6]

620,000 tonnes of textiles were collected for reuse and recycling in the UK in 2017 [7]

In 2017, 336,000 tonnes of clothing were collected for resale in the UK [7]

In 2017, 336,000 tonnes of non-clothing textiles were collected in the UK [7]

In 2017, 206,000 tonnes of textiles were collected by local authorities in the UK [7]

In 2017, 169,000 tonnes of textiles were collected by bring banks in the UK [7]

In 2017, 149,000 tonnes of textiles were collected by charities in the UK [7]

In 2017, 96,000 tonnes of textiles were collected by merchants and collectors in the UK [7]

UK collection of post-consumer textiles was 620,000 tonnes in 2017 [7]

The UK post-consumer textile collection rate was 57% in 2017 [7]

Recycled polyester represented 14.8% of total polyester production in 2021 [19]

Less than 1% of the global fibre market came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2021 [19]

Only 15% of textile waste in the United States is recovered for reuse or recycling [8]

95% of used clothing and textiles can be recycled or reused [8]

Recycling 1 million tons of textiles creates 3,500 jobs [8]

The U.S. textile recycling industry removes 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles annually from the waste stream [8]

The U.S. textile recycling industry recycles about 3.8 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste each year [8]

Less than 1% of material used to make clothing is recycled into new clothing [9]

Less than 1% of clothes produced are recycled into new clothes [3]

The global secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $350 billion by 2028 [20]

The secondhand market grew 18% in 2023 [20]

The global secondhand market is projected to grow 3 times faster than the global apparel market overall [20]

33% of younger consumers bought secondhand apparel in 2023 [20]

52% of consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2023 [20]

59% of consumers say they look for apparel and accessories secondhand first when shopping on a budget [20]

69% of retail executives say resale will be important to their business by 2026 [20]

27% of retail executives say their customers are already participating in trade-in programs [20]

42% of retail executives say resale shoppers spend more with their brand than shoppers who don’t buy secondhand [20]

47% of consumers say inflation has pushed them to consider secondhand apparel [20]

65% of consumers say they are seeking more affordable ways to shop [20]

55% of consumers say they would choose a retailer that offers secondhand alongside new items over one that does not [20]

Around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent could be saved per year if active clothing life were extended by 9 months [6]

Less than 15% of textiles are collected for recycling globally [16]

Only 3% of clothing material comes from recycled sources [16]