Global Clothing Waste Statistics

Only about 20% of textile waste is collected for recycling globally [1]

In the EU, 11.0% of textile waste was separately collected in 2019 [2]

Globally, around 85% of textiles are not recycled and instead are landfilled or burned [3]

In 2019, the EU generated 2.5 million tonnes of textile waste and only 1.1 million tonnes were collected for recycling [4]

In the EU, 73% of textiles end up in landfill or incineration [4]

In the US, textiles recycling rate in 2018 was 15.2% [5]

In the US, textiles reuse rate in 2018 was 4.7% [5]

In the UK, only 24% of textiles were collected for reuse/recycling in 2019 [6]

In the UK, 56% of textile waste was landfilled or incinerated in 2019 [6]

In the EU, the separate collection of textiles for reuse/recycling increased to about 16 kg per person per year by 2020 [2]

In 2019, the EU collected 2.6 million tonnes of textiles for reuse/recycling [2]

In 2019, only about 1.4 million tonnes of collected textiles were actually recycled in the EU [2]

In 2020, EU textile recycling rates were below 1% for some streams of post-consumer textiles [4]

Globally, about 1% of textiles are recycled into new clothes [7]

In the EU, about 25% of used textiles are reused as second-hand goods [2]

In the EU, around 75% of collected textiles are landfilled or incinerated [4]

In the EU, the recycling rate for textiles was around 1% in 2017 [4]

In the EU, 63% of municipal textile waste is collected with mixed waste rather than separately [2]

In the UK, only 9% of textiles were recycled into new products in 2019 [6]

In France, only 10% of textiles are reused or recycled [8]

In Germany, the textile recycling rate was around 38% in 2018 (collection for sorting + recycling) [9]

In the Netherlands, 59% of textiles were collected for reuse/recycling in 2020 [10]

In Sweden, 45% of textile waste is collected separately for reuse/recycling [11]

In Switzerland, textiles collected for recycling reached 16 kg per person in 2020 [12]

In Japan, textile recycling rates were about 20% in 2018 [13]

In China, textile recycling capacity was reported at around 6.8 million tonnes per year in 2020 [14]

In 2019, 37% of textiles collected in the UK were suitable for reuse [15]

In the UK, 63% of collected textiles were classified as unsuitable for reuse and sent for recycling or disposal in 2019 [15]

In the US, textile reuse (donations/resale) accounted for about 8.2 million tons in 2018 [5]

In the US, textiles recovered for recycling in 2018 were about 2.5 million tons [5]

Globally, clothing and textiles account for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions (including use of materials and production) [16]

The textile sector is responsible for around 20% of global wastewater [17]

In 2017, the fashion industry generated 2.1 billion tonnes of GHG emissions per year [18]

In 2019, the US exported about 2.3 billion pounds of textiles, contributing to downstream waste [19]

Globally, polyester accounts for about 60% of new clothing fibers, which is persistent in waste streams [20]

Cotton is about 24% of global fiber use in apparel, affecting waste composition [20]

In EU, synthetic fibers are dominant in textile waste, with estimates around 64% of composition [21]

Textile production uses about 79 billion cubic meters of water annually, contributing to waste-related water impacts [22]

Textile dyeing and finishing contribute to about 20% of global industrial water pollution [23]

Microfiber shedding from synthetic textiles contributes significantly to ocean plastic pollution; estimates indicate up to 500,000 tons per year [24]

Global emissions from textile waste (incineration/landfill) are estimated at roughly 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions [20]

Life-cycle assessment results indicate that reuse can reduce GHG by up to 50% compared with disposal/virgin production [25]

Recycling textiles typically reduces GHG emissions by up to 30% vs producing new fibers (scenario-based) [25]

Landfilling textiles contributes to methane generation; municipal waste landfill methane is a major contributor to GHG [26]

Incineration of textiles releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants; energy recovery still emits CO2 [27]

The mass of clothing in the global waste stream includes microfibers and shedding; estimates suggest clothing sheds millions of fibers per wash [28]

A commonly cited estimate is that laundry releases about 700,000 microfibers per load into the wastewater [29]

Textile waste also affects land use and biodiversity via upstream cultivation; global agriculture is responsible for about 70% of freshwater withdrawals [30]

Polyester microfiber pollution potential is linked to synthetic content; synthetic textiles shed more than natural during washing [31]

In 2019, the EU’s textile strategy estimated that textiles create significant environmental impacts across the life cycle [32]

The EU’s circular economy action plan includes textiles as a priority waste stream due to high waste and pollution [33]

Bangladesh textile production and waste impacts are significant; the sector contributed to major river pollution in Dhaka’s Buriganga [34]

In India, untreated textile wastewater is a major source of river pollution; textile dyeing was reported as a major industrial pollutant [35]

In Pakistan, textile wastewater volumes can reach millions of cubic meters annually, impacting receiving waters [36]

Microfiber release estimate: 35% of plastic released to the ocean comes from shedding of synthetic textiles [37]

The global production of synthetic textiles is linked to plastic pollution sources, with estimates of 35% from textiles to microfibers in marine environments [38]

Textiles are a significant source of methane potential when disposed in landfills [26]

Incineration of municipal waste is a significant source of CO2 emissions; LCA considers textiles as part of municipal waste [27]

Global clothing waste is strongly linked to overproduction and under-use; the circular economy benchmark in textiles estimates a linear system value loss of $500 billion per year [39]

The Fashion industry is a leading driver of waste due to short product lifecycles; a circularity gap report estimates that the system is far below circularity potential [40]

In 2018, the global textile industry generated 92 million tonnes of waste, equivalent to 7.1 kg per person per year [41]

In 2020, around 92 million tonnes of textiles waste was generated globally each year [42]

In the EU, around 5.8 million tonnes of textiles were generated as waste in 2020 [2]

In the US, textile and apparel waste totaled about 17 million tons in 2018 [5]

In the US, textiles in landfills in 2018 were about 11.3 million tons [5]

In the US, textiles combusted (incinerated) in 2018 were about 5.9 million tons [5]

In the UK, 1.2 million tonnes of textiles were consumed in 2019 and 1.0 million tonnes became waste [6]

In Australia, clothing/textiles waste generation was 176,000 tonnes in 2018–19 [43]

In Canada, textiles waste in landfills in 2019 was about 10.7 million tons (including all municipal sources) [44]

Globally, the amount of textile waste expected to be generated by 2030 is projected at 134 million tonnes per year [45]

By 2030, the fashion industry is projected to double its carbon footprint and grow textile waste [46]

By 2050, the world’s textile waste could reach about 148 million tonnes per year if current trends continue [47]

The World Bank estimated that global waste will increase to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050, including major growth from textiles [48]

The UN estimates that about 2.5 million tonnes of textiles are discarded annually in Europe [49]

The EU produces about 4 million tonnes of textile waste every year [50]

In 2019, China generated about 10 million tonnes of textile waste [51]

In 2018, India generated about 5.8 million tonnes of textile waste [52]

In 2018, Japan generated about 1.5 million tonnes of textile waste [53]

In 2017, South Korea generated about 0.8 million tonnes of textile waste [54]

In 2021, global clothing and footwear purchases totaled $1.0 trillion, contributing to textile waste volumes [55]

The average consumer in the EU discards about 11 kg of textiles per year [2]

In the US, per capita textile waste generation was about 30 pounds per person per year in 2018 [5]

In the UK, per-capita textile consumption was about 26 kg in 2019 [6]

In the UK, per-capita textile waste was about 20 kg in 2019 [6]

Textile waste in landfills in the EU increased to about 2.8 million tonnes in 2018 [4]

The global market for used clothing trade reached about 2.0 million tonnes annually, affecting waste flows [56]

In 2017, the UK sent 235,000 tonnes of textiles to landfill or incineration [57]

In 2018–2019, Australian textiles sent to landfill were about 140,000 tonnes [58]

Global clothing waste can include footwear; landfill disposal remains dominant in many countries [59]

The global used clothing market is valued at around $4 billion, influencing reuse and waste outcomes [60]