Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
87% of total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or sent to a landfill
The average American throws away about 81 pounds of clothing each year
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced each year
The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
Fast fashion brands launch new collections every week, up from two seasons per year in the past
Less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments
In the UK, over 300,000 tonnes of used clothing ends up in landfill every year
Textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined
Cotton farming uses about 2.5% of the world’s arable land but accounts for 16% of all insecticides
The global fast fashion market is expected to reach $121.52 billion by 2027
Washing synthetic textiles releases an estimated 500,000 tonnes of microfibers into the ocean each year
Consumer Behavior
- Fast fashion brands launch new collections every week, up from two seasons per year in the past
- The global fast fashion market is expected to reach $121.52 billion by 2027
- The average number of times a garment is worn decreased by 36% between 2000 and 2015
- The average garment is used seven to ten times before being discarded
- The average consumer buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago but keeps garments for half as long
- The resale market for clothing is expected to double in the next five years
- 1 in 3 young women in the UK consider clothes “old” after wearing them once or twice
- The average UK shopper owns 57 unworn items of clothing
- One-third of fashion consumers dispose of garments after fewer than five wears
- $500 billion is lost annually due to under-wearing and lack of recycling of clothes
- Clothing sales doubled between 2000 and 2014, outpacing population growth
- 75% of consumers believe sustainability is important in fashion, yet only 33% regularly buy sustainable clothes
- Fast fashion corporations are responsible for approximately 20% of global fashion sales
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned closets into landfills and style into a sprint, where consumers buy more, wear less, and waste faster—fueling a $121 billion industry that’s dressing the planet for disaster.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
- The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater
- Textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined
- Cotton farming uses about 2.5% of the world’s arable land but accounts for 16% of all insecticides
- Washing synthetic textiles releases an estimated 500,000 tonnes of microfibers into the ocean each year
- Polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose in landfills
- Clothes can release up to 700,000 microplastic fibers per wash
- An estimated 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic textiles
- In the EU, textiles are the fourth largest cause of environmental pressure after food, housing and transport
- Nearly 20% of global wastewater is attributed to textile dyeing and treatment
- It is estimated that textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally
- The fast fashion industry emits about 1.2 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent per year
- Fabric finishing processes use over 1,600 types of chemicals, many of which are harmful
- The synthetic clothes of 1.5 billion people contribute to plastic pollution through laundering
- Fashion’s share of global carbon emissions is projected to rise to 26% by 2050 if current trends continue
- Landfilled textiles produce methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than CO₂
- The average clothing item travels 3,700 kilometers before reaching the consumer
- 20% of global industrial water pollution comes from textile manufacturing
- Chemical-intensive textile dyeing often contaminates local communities' water supply
- Fashion has a higher carbon footprint than all plane and ship traffic combined
- Textile recycling technologies are still in nascent stages with minimal commercial scalability
- The carbon emissions of the apparel industry are equivalent to that of France, Germany, and the UK combined
- Clothing made of synthetic fibers contributes to ocean pollution throughout its lifetime
- Polyester production emits nearly three times more CO₂ than cotton
- Clothing is responsible for over 500,000 tons of microfibers reaching the ocean every year
- Rented clothing may produce higher emissions per use compared to keeping garments longer
Interpretation
Fast fashion may look cheap on the rack, but its environmental tab—spanning poisoned waters, plastic-choked oceans, chemically scorched fields, and a carbon footprint that could outpace planes and ships combined—proves it's the most expensive bargain we keep buying.
Labor and Employment Practices
- Workers in the fast fashion industry often earn less than $3 per day
- Approximately 1 in 6 people work in a fashion-related job globally
- Fashion industry employment is highly precarious, with 93% of workers facing unsafe conditions
Interpretation
In an industry that dresses the world, fast fashion undresses the dignity of its workers—where one in six lives depend on jobs that pay less than a cup of coffee and come with a daily side of danger.
Resource Consumption
- About 60% of clothing material is made from plastic-based fibers like polyester
- Globally, fashion consumes 93 billion cubic meters of water annually
- A pair of jeans requires about 7,500 liters of water to produce (from cotton growing to delivery)
- Over 150 billion garments are produced every year globally
- It takes up to 2,700 liters of water to produce the cotton needed to make a single t-shirt
- The fashion industry uses enough water annually to meet the needs of 5 million people
- 79 trillion liters of water are consumed by the fashion industry annually
- Producing synthetic fabrics accounts for 1.35% of global oil consumption
- Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
- Textile production is expected to reach 160 million tons by 2050
- 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make polyester for clothing
Interpretation
Fast fashion may dress us up in trendy threads, but it's undressing the planet thread by thread—spinning oil into polyester, guzzling enough water to quench nations, and churning out more clothes than closets or consciences can bear.
Waste Generation
- 87% of total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or sent to a landfill
- The average American throws away about 81 pounds of clothing each year
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
- Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced each year
- Less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments
- In the UK, over 300,000 tonnes of used clothing ends up in landfill every year
- Only 15% of consumer-used clothing in the US is recycled or donated
- Ghana receives over 15 million items of second-hand clothing each week, most of which end up in landfills
- In 2019, the US generated 17 million tons of textile waste
- Nearly 60% of all clothing produced ends up in incinerators or landfills within a year of being made
- Less than 20% of clothing donated to charities is resold in the shops
- Discarded clothes account for about 5% of all landfill space globally
- Only 12% of clothing material is recycled into lower-value applications like insulation or cleaning cloths
- More than $460 billion worth of textiles are wasted globally every year due to underutilization and lack of recycling
- In Australia, 85% of textiles purchased end up in landfill
- Faster production cycles in fast fashion result in surplus goods, with 30-40% of supply never sold
- 60% of discarded garments could be reused or repurposed
- Textile waste is expected to increase by 60% by 2030
- Clothing waste has increased by more than 800% over the past 50 years
- Secondhand clothing markets are overwhelmed, with 90% of donations in some countries ending up in landfill
- 85% of disposable accessories and clothes end up in incinerators or landfills
- 40% of clothes bought online are returned, contributing to repackaging and waste
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned our closets into conveyor belts to the landfill—where nearly every new shirt is just a pit stop on its way to becoming part of the planet's growing pile of textile regret.