Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon dioxide emissions
The fashion sector emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
In 2018 the fashion industry produced approximately 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions
Production of polyester for textiles released about 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015
Polyester requires nearly 70 million barrels of oil each year to manufacture
Producing a single polyester shirt emits 5.5 kg of CO2 compared to 2.1 kg for a cotton shirt
Doubling the useful life of clothing from one year to two years reduces emissions over the year by 24%
The carbon footprint of washing and drying clothing accounts for approx 20-25% of the garment's total lifecycle emissions
Washing clothes at 30°C instead of 40°C saves about 40% of the energy used per load
Every second the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
Fashion industry waste creates methane in landfills which is 28 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat
73% of the world’s clothing eventually ends up in landfills
Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing affecting carbon neutrality goals
A shift to circular business models could reduce the industry's emissions by 143 million tonnes by 2030
Buying a used item instead of a new one reduces its carbon footprint by 82%
Circularity & Future Projections
- Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing affecting carbon neutrality goals
- A shift to circular business models could reduce the industry's emissions by 143 million tonnes by 2030
- Buying a used item instead of a new one 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
- Increasing the share of mechanical recycling for polyester could reduce emissions by 40% compared to virgin production
- Chemical recycling technologies for cotton could reduce water intensity but currently have high energy/carbon costs
- By 2030 the resale market is projected to be twice the size of fast fashion potentially displacing carbon-heavy production
- 60% of fashion executives have already invested in closed-loop recycling to mitigate future carbon taxes
- Extending the life of a garment by 9 months reduces its carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
- Decarbonizing the material production stage alone could deliver 1 billion tonnes of emission reductions by 2030
- Fibre-to-fibre recycling must scale by 2027 to prevent the industry from exceeding the 1.5-degree pathway
- Upcycling (creative reuse) creates significantly lower emissions than both recycling and virgin production
- The EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles aims for all textile products on the market to be recyclable by 2030
- Automated sorting technologies for textiles could unlock 50% more feedstock for recycling reducing virgin carbon demand
- Peer-to-peer rental platforms are projected to save 30% of carbon emissions compared to linear consumption models
- Repair services can reduce CO2 emissions by 24% by preventing replacement purchases
- If the Secondhand market grows as predicted it will help cut fashion emissions by 15% by 2030
- Only 20% of textiles are currently collected for reuse or recycling globally indicating a massive gap in circular carbon savings
- Closed-loop recycling of cotton can reduce the Global Warming Potential by 15% compared to open-loop incineration
- Achieving 100% renewable energy in the supply chain would reduce industry emissions by 596 million tonnes
Interpretation
Fast fashion may thrive on trendy disposability, but with under 1% of materials recycled and only 20% collected, buying used items that cut footprints by 82%, extending wear to shave 20–30% off impacts, and scaling circular recycling and renewables could save hundreds of millions to a billion tonnes of CO2e by 2030 and turn a climate culprit into a climate solution.
Consumer Behavior & Usage
- Doubling the useful life of clothing from one year to two years reduces emissions over the year by 24%
- The carbon footprint of washing and drying clothing accounts for approx 20-25% of the garment's total lifecycle emissions
- Washing clothes at 30°C instead of 40°C saves about 40% of the energy used per load
- Tumble drying a load of laundry releases 1.8kg of CO2 equivalent
- Consumers in the UK have approx $40 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes representing wasted embodied carbon
- Online shopping returns in the US alone create 15 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually due to transportation
- E-commerce packaging contributes 48% of the emissions in the online shopping logistics chain
- One in three young women in the UK consider clothes 'old' after wearing them once or twice driving production demand
- The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago
- Skipping one in six washing loads saves enormous aggregate carbon roughly equivalent to taking thousands of cars off the road
- Using a tumble dryer 4 times a week generates 440kg of CO2 per year per household
- Shipping via air freight generates 40 to 50 times more CO2 than sea freight for garment transport
- Last-mile delivery vehicles account for nearly 30% of the total logistics carbon emissions for fashion retail
- Approximately 22% of the total climate impact of a garment comes from the consumer transport to and from the store
- Express shipping options for online fashion can triple the shipping carbon footprint compared to standard delivery
- Ironing a shirt creates approximately 0.1 kg of CO2 equivalent per usage
- Microplastic shedding during washing releases particles derived from fossil fuels into oceans degrading carbon sinks
- 60% of consumers admit to owning clothes they have never worn representing 0% utility for 100% carbon cost
- Renting clothes can reduce the carbon footprint by efficient use but high transport emissions can offset benefits
- The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing per year ending the usage cycle prematurely
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned our closets into a $40 billion carbon bonfire: one-and-done wears, hot washing and frequent tumble drying, air-freighted stock, returns and excessive packaging all multiply emissions and microplastic pollution, so wearing garments more times, washing at 30°C and less often, avoiding tumble dryers, favoring sea freight and standard delivery, and buying or renting more thoughtfully would dramatically shrink that footprint.
Global Industry Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon dioxide emissions
- The fashion sector emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
- In 2018 the fashion industry produced approximately 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions
- If the fashion industry were a country it would be the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world
- The global apparel and footwear industry accounts for approximately 4% of global emissions according to Global Fashion Agenda
- The textile industry's CO2 emissions are projected to increase to 2.7 billion tonnes a year by 2030
- Carbon emissions from the fashion industry are expected to rise by more than 50% by 2030 if current trends continue
- The fashion industry currently consumes 98 million tonnes of non-renewable resources annually driving carbon extraction
- Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year
- The carbon footprint of the fashion industry is larger than the footprint of the entire European Union associated with textile consumption
- Footwear manufacturing alone accounts for 700 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually
- The apparel industry's global emissions are equal to the annual greenhouse gases produced by 372 million cars
- Fast fashion brands produce 2-4 times more carbon emissions per revenue dollar than traditional luxury brands
- 70% of the fashion industry’s emissions come from upstream activities like material production and processing
- China is the world’s largest exporter of textiles causing it to hold the largest share of fashion-related production emissions
- Textile manufacturing in India generates approximately 10-12% of the total industrial manufacturing emissions of the country
- The fashion industry's greenhouse gas footprint is projected to use 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050 to keep warming under 2C
- Fast fashion consumption in the UK creates 26.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually
- Current national climate targets (NDCs) could still allow fashion emissions to double by 2030 without specific industry intervention
- Only 15% of major fashion brands have approved Science Based Targets for carbon reduction
Interpretation
Fashion now emits more CO2 than international flights and maritime shipping combined and if it were a country it would be the sixth largest emitter, so while fast fashion churns out two to four times the carbon per revenue dollar and industry emissions are set to rise more than 50 percent by 2030, potentially consuming 26 percent of the world’s carbon budget by 2050, only 15 percent of major brands have approved science based targets to stop our closets from quietly burning the planet.
Raw Materials & Production
- Production of polyester for textiles released about 706 billion kg of greenhouse gases in 2015
- Polyester requires nearly 70 million barrels of oil each year to manufacture
- Producing a single polyester shirt emits 5.5 kg of CO2 compared to 2.1 kg for a cotton shirt
- Nylon production creates nitrous oxide a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide
- Synthetic fibers predominantly polyester account for over 60% of global fiber production and its associated fossil fuel reliance
- Viscose production is responsible for 0.7 to 3.0 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of fiber depending on the manufacturing process
- Conventional cotton farming relies on nitrogen fertilizers which release significant nitrous oxide emissions
- Organic cotton farming produces 46% less greenhouse gas than conventional cotton farming
- 38% of the fashion industry’s carbon footprint relies specifically on raw material production
- Wet processing (dyeing and finishing) creates 36% of the industry’s total carbon emissions
- Coal is the primary energy source for textile manufacturing in Asia creating a high carbon intensity for production
- Producing one kilogram of cotton fabric emits between 2 and 4 kilograms of CO2 equivalent
- The production of a single pair of denim jeans results in approximately 33.4 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions
- Faux leather (often plastic-based) production releases high levels of carbon but less than cow leather which includes methane from livestock
- The dyeing and finishing phase consumes enough energy to power 15% of the total industry's impact
- Approximately 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing which degrades carbon-absorbing aquatic ecosystems
- Leather tanning is amongst the most energy-intensive stages producing 110 kg of CO2e per square meter of leather
- Energy use in textile weaving and spinning mills accounts for 15-20% of the total production carbon footprint
- Replacing virgin polyester with rPET creates 79% less carbon emissions
- Manufacturing a single t-shirt requires 2700 liters of water which entails significant energy for pumping and treatment
Interpretation
Fast fashion is a climate and water crime spree, with polyester and other synthetics now over 60 percent of global fiber production while polyester alone released roughly 706 billion kilograms of greenhouse gases in 2015 and requires nearly 70 million barrels of oil each year; a single polyester shirt emits about 5.5 kilograms of CO2 compared with 2.1 for a cotton shirt, nylon production creates nitrous oxide hundreds of times more potent than CO2, raw material production and wet processing generate roughly 38 and 36 percent of the industry's emissions respectively, coal-fired textile plants in Asia and energy use in weaving and spinning mills further inflate the carbon intensity so that a pair of jeans costs around 33.4 kilograms CO2e and leather tanning can reach about 110 kilograms CO2e per square meter, dyeing uses a large share of energy while accounting for roughly 20 percent of industrial water pollution and a single t-shirt consumes roughly 2700 liters of water; the good news is that solutions exist because organic cotton produces about 46 percent fewer greenhouse gases and replacing virgin polyester with recycled PET can cut polyester's carbon footprint by about 79 percent.
Waste & End-of-Life
- Every second the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned
- Fashion industry waste creates methane in landfills which is 28 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat
- 73% of the world’s clothing eventually ends up in landfills
- Incinerating 1 tonne of clothes releases 1.2 to 1.7 tonnes of CO2 depending on material composition
- Approximately 35% of all microplastics released into the world's oceans come from washing synthetic textiles
- 92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually globally
- The decomposition of natural fibers like wool in landfills produces methane due to anaerobic conditions
- Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose releasing greenhouse gases slowly throughout
- Deadstock burning by luxury and fast fashion brands destroys tonnes of unsold goods and releases their embodied carbon
- Global textile waste is projected to increase by 60% creating 148 million tonnes annually by 2030
- Exporting used clothing to the Global South generates transport emissions often only to have 40% immediately landfilled
- Only 12% of textile waste is downcycled into lower value applications like mattress stuffing
- In the USA only 15% of used textiles are donated or recycled while 85% go to landfills
- Textile waste in EU landfills accounts for massive carbon liabilities approximately 4 million tonnes annually
- Ghana’s Kantamanto market receives 15 million garments a week of which much is waste burned in open air
- Open burning of clothing waste releases black carbon significantly accelerating glacial melt
- Nylon fishing nets (ghost gear) and nylon fashion waste make up 10% of marine debris impacting carbon-sequestering ocean life
- 5.8 million tons of textiles were discarded by EU consumers in 2020 equating to 11 kg per person
- The Chilean Atacama desert dump contains 39000 tons of discarded clothes releasing pollutants and carbon
- Incineration of clothes accounts for a higher carbon intensity per kWh of energy recovered than burning coal
Interpretation
Fast fashion is quietly turning our wardrobes into a climate and pollution nightmare: every second the equivalent of a garbage truck of clothing is landfilled or burned, releasing methane 28 times more potent than CO2, contributing about 35% of the microplastics choking the oceans and roughly 92 million tonnes of textile waste a year that could hit 148 million by 2030 while only a sliver is downcycled or reused; unsold deadstock and open burns add black carbon and embodied emissions, exports shift pollution onto vulnerable countries, and long‑lived synthetics can persist for centuries and keep releasing greenhouse gases with incineration sometimes producing more carbon per unit of energy than coal.
References
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