Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The average person buys 60% more clothing now than they did 15 years ago
Fast fashion companies release 52 “micro-seasons” of clothing per year
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
One garbage truck of clothes is burned or sent to landfill every second
It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
Only 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments
92 million tons of textile waste are produced each year
The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothes each year
Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
Clothes are now kept only half as long as they were 15 years ago
Textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally
Consumer Behavior
- The average person buys 60% more clothing now than they did 15 years ago
- Clothes are now kept only half as long as they were 15 years ago
- The average consumer wears a garment only 7 to 10 times before discarding it
- People are buying 400% more clothes than 20 years ago
- Fast fashion retail sales are projected to reach $211.9 billion by 2030
- 60% of garments are disposed of within a year of production
- The average garment is worn only seven times before being discarded
- Fashion consumers keep clothing items about half as long as they did in 2002
- Around 60% of new clothes are discarded within a year
- Clothing prices dropped 36% from 1994 to 2020 due to fast fashion
- The average American purchases 68 garments per year
- The global fashion industry is worth over $2.5 trillion
- Nearly 40% of young women consider garments worn once or twice to be old
- Americans spend an average of $1,700 on clothing annually
- In 2019, Australians bought an average of 27 kilograms of new clothing per person
- Clothing consumption is expected to rise by 63% by 2030
- Over 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed globally each year
- 1 in 3 young women consider clothing worn once or twice to be old
- Each household in the UK owns around £4,000 worth of clothes
- Consumers miss out on $460 billion annually by throwing away clothes that could still be worn
- The average lifetime of a garment in the UK is estimated at only 2.2 years
Interpretation
We’re dressing faster, discarding sooner, and shopping like our closets have black holes—turning fashion from a statement into a staggering cycle of waste worth trillions.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions
- One garbage truck of clothes is burned or sent to landfill every second
- It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
- The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
- Textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally
- Up to 35% of microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic textiles
- Clothing production emits approximately 1.2 billion tons of CO2 per year
- The global fashion industry could consume 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050
- Polyester, found in 60% of garments, produces two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
- Fashion accounts for 4% of global freshwater withdrawal
- The fashion industry uses more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined
- One pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water to produce
- 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make polyester clothing
- Fashion is the world's second highest user of water, after agriculture
- Every year, 500,000 tons of microfibers are released into the ocean from washing clothes
- It takes over 200 years for synthetic fabrics to decompose
- 20% of global industrial water pollution is from the fashion industry
- An estimated 93 billion cubic meters of water are used annually by the fashion industry
- Fast fashion items are designed to last fewer than 10 washes
- Nearly 200 tons of freshwater are used annually to dye textiles globally
Interpretation
Fast fashion may dress us in the latest trends, but behind the seams lies an industry guzzling water, spewing carbon, and shedding microplastics like glitter at a toxic party set to outlast us by centuries.
Production and Supply Chain
- Fast fashion companies release 52 “micro-seasons” of clothing per year
- Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
- In 2018, H&M reported $4.3 billion of unsold clothes
- Zara produces 450 million items of clothing annually
- The fashion industry creates 53 million tons of fiber annually
- It is estimated that over 100 billion items of clothing are produced annually
- Clothing production has increased by 400% in the last two decades
- SHEIN uploads up to 10,000 new items to its site daily
- China produces over 60% of the world's textiles
- 98 million tons of oil are used yearly by the fashion industry
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned clothing into a disposable commodity, churning out billions of garments and mountains of waste at breakneck speed—all in the name of style, while quietly draining the planet stitch by stitch.
Secondhand and Resale Market
- Only 20% of clothing donated to charities is resold in stores
- Secondhand clothing sales are projected to double to $77 billion by 2025
- The U.S. clothing resale market grew 21% in 2021
- The global secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 127% by 2026
Interpretation
While our closets overflow with fast fashion castoffs—80% of which won’t make it back onto a charity store rack—the booming resale market suggests our discarded style mistakes are finding second lives, just not the sustainable one we hoped for.
Waste and Recycling
- 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- Only 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments
- 92 million tons of textile waste are produced each year
- The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothes each year
- Only 15% of consumer-used clothing is recycled
- Clothing waste is expected to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030
- By 2030, fashion waste is projected to reach 148 million tons annually
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing are recycled into new garments
- In the UK, 350,000 tons of clothing are sent to landfill every year
- In 2019, textiles made up 7.7% of landfilled municipal solid waste in the U.S.
- One-third of the fashion industry’s unsold products are destroyed or burned
- 73% of clothes end up in landfills or incinerated
- Zhangjiagang in China receives 26,000 tons of clothing waste per year from the U.S. alone
- In 2018, 17 million tons of textile waste were generated in the U.S.
- Up to 95% of clothing thrown away could be recycled or reused
Interpretation
Fast fashion is dressing the planet in disposable trends, but underneath the stylish surface lies a landfill overflowing with last season’s regret—95% recyclable, 100% ignored.