Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
Experts predict the fashion industry will be responsible for 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new clothing
Consumers bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000
Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
Clothing keeps are kept for about half as long as they were 15 years ago
Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides used globally
70 million barrels of oil are used every year to make polyester fibers
Carbon Emissions & Energy
- The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
- Experts predict the fashion industry will be responsible for 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
- The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
- Nitrous oxide, emitted during nylon production, is 300 times more potent than CO2
- Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year
- Extending the life of a garment by 9 months reduces carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
- Buying one used item reduces its carbon footprint by 82%
- A polyester shirt has a carbon footprint of approximately 5.5 kg CO2e
- Carbon emissions from the apparel industry are projected to increase by 63% by 2030
- The carbon footprint of a cotton t-shirt is estimated at 2.1 kg CO2e
- Carbon emissions from textile production are 1.2 billion tonnes annually
- The fashion industry accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions
- Using recycled polyester lowers carbon emissions by 37% compared to virgin polyester
- The Higg Index shows leather has a high impact on global warming due to methane from livestock
- Producing 1kg of fabric generates an average of 23kg of greenhouse gases
- Ironing and washing clothes accounts for 35% of the total energy use in a garment's life
- Air freight of clothing creates 10 to 20 times more emissions than sea freight
- The textile industry is responsible for 10% of global industrial electricity consumption
- The apparel industry's CO2 emissions are expected to increase to 2.8 billion tonnes by 2030
- A generic pair of jeans produces 33.4 kg of CO2 during its lifespan
Interpretation
If fashion were a country it would be a climate heavyweight, already responsible for about 10% of global emissions and more CO2 than international flights and shipping combined, with textile production belching roughly 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year and forecast to surge toward 2.8 billion tonnes by 2030 and to consume up to 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050, while potent pollutants like nitrous oxide from nylon and methane from leather make some fabrics far more damaging per kilogram, yet surprisingly simple choices such as keeping clothes nine months longer, buying a used item, choosing recycled fibres, favoring sea freight and washing less can shrink a garment's footprint by roughly 20 to 82 percent.
Consumer Behavior & Production
- Consumers bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000
- Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
- Clothing keeps are kept for about half as long as they were 15 years ago
- 100 billion garments are produced globally each year
- Some garments are worn only seven to ten times before being discarded
- 30% of clothes in UK wardrobes have not been worn for at least a year
- One in three young women in the UK consider clothes "old" after wearing them once or twice
- The average French citizen discards 12 kg of clothing per year
- Ultra-fast fashion brands can release up to 6,000 new styles per day
- The number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% in 15 years
- The average UK household owns £4,000 worth of clothes
- Online return rates for clothing can be as high as 40%
- Fast fashion brands have increased production speed to 52 micro-seasons per year
- Over 70% of the world's population uses second-hand clothes
- The average consumer buys 68 garments a year
- 400% more clothes are produced now compared to 20 years ago
- The average lifespan of a piece of clothing in the UK is only 2.2 years
- Fast fashion retailers have shortened production cycles to as little as 2 weeks
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned our wardrobes into fast-food trays, churning out roughly 100 billion garments a year and quadrupling production in two decades while launching thousands of new styles and 52 micro-seasons, which convinces people to buy more, keep items half as long, wear them far fewer times, return many online purchases, and ultimately leave homes bloated with barely worn clothes as the planet quietly foots the bill.
Material Impact & Chemicals
- Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides used globally
- 70 million barrels of oil are used every year to make polyester fibers
- 60% of all clothing materials are plastic (synthetics)
- 11% of the world's pesticides are used in cotton cultivation
- 43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production annually
- Nearly 70 million trees are cut down each year to make fabrics like viscose and rayon
- Conventional cotton consumes 16% of all insecticides sold globally
- 342 million barrels of oil are used each year to produce plastic-based fibers
- Chromium VI used in leather tanning is highly toxic and carcinogenic to workers
- Fertilizers for cotton production release high levels of nitrous oxide
- Heavy metals like lead and mercury are commonly found in textile wastewater
- 8000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles
- Leather tanning prevents biodegradation of the natural skin
- Phthalates used in printing on clothes are endocrine disruptors
- Aldehydes and ammonias are frequently released during textile pre-treatment
- Non-organic cotton crops degrade soil quality drastically over time
- Formaldehyde is used in textiles to prevent wrinkling and is a known carcinogen
- Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) used for stain resistance persist in the environment practically forever
- 65% of all new fabrics contain fossil fuel-based synthetics
- 80% of workers in the garment industry are women often working in hazardous chemical environments
Interpretation
Fast fashion may be cheap at checkout, but it is a toxic bargain for people and the planet, built on oil and plastics that pump out huge carbon emissions, clear forests for viscose, drown cotton in pesticides and fertilizers, and run production and tanning through thousands of toxic chemicals and heavy metals that expose predominantly female garment workers to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors—costs no price tag reveals.
Waste & Landfill
- 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
- Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new clothing
- 92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually
- The average American throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes every year
- The Atacama Desert in Chile receives 39,000 tons of discarded clothes annually
- Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose
- Returns of bought clothing result in 5 billion pounds of landfill waste annually in the US
- 15 million used garments arrive in Accra, Ghana, every week
- 40% of the used clothing imported to Kantamanto Market in Ghana leaves as waste
- 5.2% of the waste in US landfills is textiles
- Textile waste is estimated to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030
- Apparel and footwear release 4 million tons of waste per year in Europe
- Only 13% of the total material input for clothing is recycled in some way after use
- One garbage truck full of clothes is burned or landfilled every second
- 59,000 tonnes of clothing arrive at the port of Iquique, Chile annually
- 57% of discarded clothes end up in landfills
- 80% of discarded textiles globally are incinerated or landfilled
- The average US citizen generates 37kg of textile waste per year
- Only 0.1% of all clothing collected by take-back schemes is recycled into new textile fibers
- 2.6 million tonnes of returned clothes ended up in US landfills in 2020
- 4% of global solid waste is comprised of textile waste
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned clothing into a global pollution machine: every second a garbage truck of textiles is burned or buried, 92 million tonnes pile up each year while less than one percent are remade into new clothes and synthetic fibers can linger for up to 200 years, leaving deserts, ports, markets and landfills awash in our throwaway habits.
Water Usage & Contamination
- The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
- Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
- Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
- It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
- 35% of all primary microplastics in the ocean come from laundering synthetic textiles
- Producing a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water
- Approximately 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile treatment and dyeing
- 3,781 liters of water are required for the full lifecycle of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans
- 190,000 tons of textile microplastics enter the marine environment annually
- Fashion industry water consumption is projected to increase by 50% by 2030
- The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water annually
- Washing synthetic clothes releases 700,000 microfibers per wash cycle
- 20,000 liters of water are needed to produce 1kg of cotton
- The Citarum River in Indonesia is one of the most polluted rivers due to 200 textile factories
- Groundwater levels in Dhaka have dropped 60 meters due to textile industry extraction
- The fashion industry contributes 20% to global wastewater
- A single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibers
- 1.5 trillion liters of water are used by the fashion industry annually
- The volume of water used for cotton in India could provide 85% of the country's population with 100 liters daily
Interpretation
Fast fashion is literally laundering the planet—guzzling vast amounts of freshwater, draining aquifers and fouling rivers with dyes and wastewater while shedding an oceanful of microfibers, so we’ll soon have endless outfits but nowhere clean to wear them if we don’t change.
References
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