Fast Fashion Pollution Statistics

The average time a garment is worn has decreased by around 36% in the last 15 years [1]

Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014 [2]

People bought 60% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000 [2]

The number of times a garment is worn before it is discarded decreased by 36% compared with 15 years ago [3]

Clothing utilization has dropped by 40% in some markets [4]

Apparel production is projected to rise by 63% by 2030 [5]

Global apparel and footwear consumption reached 62 million tonnes in 2019 and is expected to reach 102 million tonnes by 2030 [5]

Europeans bought 19 kg of clothing, footwear and household textiles per person in 2020 [6]

EU consumption in 2020 averaged 8 kg of clothing, 4 kg of footwear and 7 kg of household textiles per person [6]

The average American throws away about 81.5 pounds of clothes each year [7]

The average UK wardrobe contains 118 items [8]

Around 30% of clothes in the average UK wardrobe have not been worn for at least a year [8]

The average lifetime of a garment in the UK is 2.2 years [8]

Extending active use of clothing by just nine months could reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each [8]

Keeping clothes in active use for one extra year can reduce their environmental footprint by 24% [9]

Buying second-hand instead of new can save 3 kg CO2e, 6,000 liters of water and 0.4 kg of waste per item on average [9]

Clothing production grew from 50 billion garments in 2000 to 100 billion garments in 2014 [1]

The fashion industry sells between 80 billion and 150 billion garments each year [10]

More than half of fast fashion items are disposed of in under a year [1]

The fashion industry consumes 93 billion cubic meters of water annually and produces 20% of wastewater [11]

Global fiber production reached 113 million tonnes in 2021 [12]

Polyester accounted for 54% of global fiber production in 2021 [12]

Virgin fossil-based synthetic fibers made up 64% of global fiber production in 2021 [12]

Recycled fibers represented only 8.5% of the global fiber market in 2021 [12]

Cotton represented 22% of global fiber production in 2021 [12]

Man-made cellulosic fibers accounted for 6% of global fiber production in 2021 [12]

Global textile fiber production is projected to grow to 149 million tonnes in 2030 [12]

Less than 1% of global clothing material comes from recycled textiles into new textiles [11]

In the EU, textiles rank fourth for environmental and climate pressures from household consumption [6]

In the EU, textiles rank third for water and land use impacts from consumption [6]

In the EU, textiles rank fifth for raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions from household consumption [6]

Textiles are responsible for 10% of global biodiversity loss according to one estimate tied to land use and pollution [6]

Cotton farming uses 16% of the world’s insecticides [13]

Cotton farming uses 6% of the world’s pesticides [13]

More than 15,000 chemicals are used during textile manufacturing [6]

About 3,500 chemicals are used in textile production in Europe [6]

750 substances used in textile production have been classified as hazardous to human health [6]

440 substances used in textile production are hazardous to the environment [6]

11 substances used in textile production are both non-biodegradable and bioaccumulative [6]

PFAS have been found in 63% of school uniforms tested in one U.S. study [14]

PFAS were detected in 72% of products marketed as stain- or water-resistant in a textile study [15]

The global textiles industry uses around 43 million tonnes of chemicals every year [6]

Textile consumption in the EU caused 143 million tonnes of material extraction in 2020 [6]

EU textile consumption required 5.9 million hectares of land in 2020 [6]

Textile consumption in the EU generated a land-use footprint of 180 square meters per person in 2020 [6]

In 2020, EU textile consumption generated 1.4 million tonnes of chemical pollution indicators [6]

Viscose production has been linked to 30% sulfur emissions in some producing regions [16]

About 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make polyester fibers [17]

Synthetic fibers can take up to 200 years to decompose [2]

The textile sector uses 215 trillion liters of water and 3.5 billion kilograms of chemicals each year according to one assessment [10]

Textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing [18]

Around 20% of global wastewater is produced by the fashion industry [11]

Textiles account for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment [19]

In the EU, around 176,000 tonnes of synthetic microfibres were released in 2019 over the whole lifecycle of textiles [20]

Of the 176,000 tonnes of synthetic microfibres released in the EU in 2019, 42,000 tonnes were released after products were bought [20]

Between 18% and 46% of microplastics in the oceans may originate from synthetic textiles [20]

A single laundry load of polyester textiles can release hundreds of thousands of microfibres [20]

The textile and clothing sector is responsible for 10% of global biodiversity loss when considering life-cycle impacts in one estimate [6]

Textile production is the third largest manufacturing industry in terms of water and land use [6]

Each second, the equivalent of one rubbish truck of textiles is landfilled or burned [21]

The apparel industry’s annual profits could increase by $192 billion by 2030 through circular models [21]

The fashion industry is responsible for 2-8% of global carbon emissions [2]

The textiles sector was responsible for 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2015 [3]

Textile production generated 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2015 [22]

The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined [2]

Clothing and footwear are responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions [23]

If no action is taken, fashion emissions could rise by more than 50% by 2030 [2]

The fashion industry is on track to use more than 25% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050 [3]

In the EU, consumption of textiles generated 121 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 [6]

A single polyester shirt has a carbon footprint of 5.5 kg CO2e [24]

A cotton shirt has a carbon footprint of 2.1 kg CO2e [24]

Polyester production for textiles emitted 706 billion kg of CO2 in 2015 [3]

By 2030, apparel consumption is expected to rise by 63% from 62 million tonnes to 102 million tonnes [5]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 generated about 270 kg of CO2 emissions per person [6]

Washing, drying and ironing of textiles in the EU caused 44 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2020 [6]

The apparel sector’s emissions are projected to increase to around 2.7 billion tonnes a year by 2030 [25]

Raw material production, preparation and processing account for 38% of the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions [25]

Yarn preparation, fabric preparation and wet processing account for 36% of fashion emissions [25]

The fashion industry must cut emissions by 1.1 billion tonnes by 2030 to align with the 1.5°C pathway [25]

Polyester fiber production releases nearly three times more carbon emissions than cotton [2]

Textile production in Europe caused 654 kg of CO2 equivalent per person in 2017 [26]

The fashion sector emitted 2.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018 [27]

Fashion accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions [27]

To stay on a 1.5°C pathway, the industry must reduce emissions to 1.1 billion tonnes by 2030 [27]

Polyester manufacturing for textiles emitted more than 700 million tonnes of CO2 in 2015 [17]

Incinerating or landfilling one truckload of textiles every second releases greenhouse gases and toxic substances [3]

The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [3]

Extending the life of clothes by an extra nine months can reduce carbon footprints by 20-30% [28]

Buying one used item of clothing instead of new reduces its carbon footprint by 82% [9]

Reuse and recycling strategies could reduce the fashion industry’s emissions by 143 million tonnes by 2030 [27]

Three-quarters of fashion’s emissions come from upstream activities such as material production, preparation and processing [25]

Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are generated each year [2]

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [3]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [3]

The value of clothing lost due to underutilization and lack of recycling is more than $500 billion per year [3]

The average consumer bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment for half as long [3]

In the United States, 11.3 million tons of textiles were landfilled in 2018 [29]

Textiles made up 7.7% of municipal solid waste landfilled in the United States in 2018 [29]

The recycling rate for textiles in the United States was 14.7% in 2018 [29]

In 2018, 17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste were generated in the United States [29]

Around 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year in the United States [29]

In the EU, about 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded every year [30]

Europeans consume nearly 26 kg of textiles and discard about 11 kg of textiles per person each year [30]

Only 1% of used clothes are recycled into new clothes in Europe [30]

In 2020, each EU citizen generated 16 kg of textile waste [6]

About 4.4 kg of textile waste per person in the EU was separately collected in 2020 [6]

Textile waste generation in the EU totaled 6.95 million tonnes in 2020 [6]

Around 87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or landfilled [3]

Collection for reuse or recycling captures only 13% of the total material input of clothing [3]

Only 2% of collected clothing is recycled into equivalent or higher value applications [3]

Around 73% of clothing is landfilled or incinerated at end of life [3]

In Australia, 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill each year [31]

Australians buy an average of 27 kg of new clothing each year [31]

Australians discard 23 kg of clothing to landfill each year on average [31]

In the UK, around 336,000 tonnes of used clothing are thrown away in household bins every year [32]

Around 183 million items of children’s clothing are passed on as hand-me-downs in the UK each year [8]

UK citizens send around 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill or incineration each year [32]

Textile waste in Chile’s Atacama Desert reaches about 39,000 tonnes per year [33]

Around 59% of all clothing produced is made from synthetic fibers [3]

Between 2000 and 2015, clothing production approximately doubled [3]

The global fashion industry produces 100 billion garments every year [34]

The world now consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year [10]

The global market value lost to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling exceeds $500 billion annually [21]

Less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing globally [21]

It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton T-shirt [35]

Producing a pair of jeans requires about 7,500 liters of water [2]

The fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water [2]

Textile dyeing and treatment contribute around 20% of global industrial water pollution [2]

In 2020, EU textile consumption required 9 cubic meters of water per person [6]

EU textile consumption used 4.8 million tonnes of raw materials in 2020 [6]

Textile consumption in the EU used 391 cubic meters of water per person in 2017 [26]

Textile production uses around 93 billion cubic meters of water annually [11]

The fashion industry could use 35% more land for fiber production by 2030 if business continues as usual [3]

Cotton cultivation uses 6% of the world’s pesticides and 16% of insecticides [13]

Textile purchases in the EU caused around 4,000 cubic meters of water use per person in 2020 when considering global supply chains [6]

Around 43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production every year [6]

Wet processing in textile supply chains is responsible for 20% of industrial freshwater pollution globally [18]

One load of laundry can release up to 700,000 microplastic fibers [2]

Synthetic textiles account for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment [19]

Washing synthetic clothes causes 500,000 tonnes of microfibers to enter the ocean each year [3]

The equivalent of more than 50 billion plastic bottles is released into the ocean every year from washing synthetic textiles [3]

A polyester garment can shed more than 1,900 fibers in a single wash [36]

Global textile dyeing and finishing are responsible for about 3% of global CO2 emissions and over 20% of industrial water pollution [1]

It takes 10,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of cotton [13]

About 200 tonnes of water are used to produce one tonne of dyed fabric [37]

Textile finishing can consume up to 150 liters of water per kilogram of fabric [38]

In Europe, textiles are the fifth highest pressure category for use of primary raw materials and water [6]

More than 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles [10]

About 17-20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment [10]

A quarter of the chemicals produced in the world are used in textiles [20]

The Aral Sea lost about 90% of its volume largely due to cotton irrigation [35]

Textile washing in households accounted for 12% of microplastics found on the ocean floor in one study [20]