Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions
Textile production generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
If current trends continue the fashion industry could use more than 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
It takes about 2700 liters of water to make just one t-shirt
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide
Textile dyeing and finishing are responsible for approximately 20% of global industrial water pollution
92 million tonnes of textile waste are created annually
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
Textiles are the largest source of primary microplastics accounting for 34.8% of global microplastic pollution
Approximately 500000 tonnes of plastic microfibers form textiles are released into the ocean annually
This annual release of microfibers is equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles
Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
The average consumer buys 60% more items of clothing compared to 15 years ago
Clothing is kept for half as long as it was 15 years ago
Consumption & Trends
- Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
- The average consumer buys 60% more items of clothing compared to 15 years ago
- Clothing is kept for half as long as it was 15 years ago
- Consumers in the UK have an estimated $46.7 billion worth of unworn clothes in their closets
- The number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% in 15 years
- Fast fashion brands produce about 52 micro-seasons a year instead of the traditional two
- The global apparel market is valued at 1.5 trillion dollars and is projected to reach 2.25 trillion by 2025 driving pollution volume
- 100 billion garments are produced globally every single year
- In the USA the average garment is worn only 7 times before being discarded
- 40% of clothes bought online are returned and many are not resold but landfilled
- Global consumption of apparel and footwear represents 62 million tons which will reach 102 million tons by 2030
- 1 in 3 young women in the UK consider clothes to be 'old' after wearing them once or twice
- Ultra-fast fashion retailer Shein adds up to 6000 new items to its website every day
- 11% of consumers throw clothes away simply because they don't like them anymore not because they are damaged
- Only 15% of heavy clothing users are aware of the environmental impact of their habits
- The resale market is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail
- The average lifecycle of a fast fashion garment is less than 35 days
- 20% of unsold clothes typically remain at retailers at the end of the season despite discounts
- Europe's textile consumption has the fourth highest impact on the environment after food housing and transport
- Global fibre production has more than doubled in the last 20 years reaching a record 109 million tonnes in 2020
Interpretation
We're treating clothes like disposable tissue: with 100 billion garments made each year, shrinking wear-times, $46.7 billion of unworn clothes in UK closets, mountains of returns and unsold stock, and retailers churning out thousands of micro-season items daily, fashion has become a runaway pollution machine that resale and awareness are only beginning to slow.
Emissions & Energy
- The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions
- Textile production generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined
- If current trends continue the fashion industry could use more than 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
- The production of polyester releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
- Buying a polyester shirt has a carbon footprint of approximately 5.5 kg CO2e
- Every year the fashion industry consumes 98 million tonnes of non-renewable resources
- A single pair of denim jeans produces 33.4 kilograms of CO2 equivalent during its lifecycle
- The apparel industry global emissions are projected to increase by 50% by 2030
- Organic cotton farming produces 46% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional cotton
- Making 1 kg of fabric generates an average of 23 kg of greenhouse gases
- Processing leather impacts climate change with a carbon footprint of 17.0 kg CO2e per square meter
- Nylon manufacturing creates nitrous oxide a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide
- Switching to renewable energy in the supply chain could reduce emissions by 37%
- Upstream production activities (spinning and dyeing) account for 61% of total industry emissions
- Extending the life of a garment by just nine months reduces its carbon footprint by 20-30%
- Independent brands using on-demand manufacturing can reduce carbon emissions by 50-90% compared to traditional inventory models
- Without change the industry's CO2 emissions are projected to reach 2.7 billion tons slightly less than India's current total emissions by 2030
- Laundry alone accounts for approximately 120 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent yearly
- Ironing a shirt contributes roughly 150g of CO2 emissions based on energy usage
- Air freight in fashion logistics has 100 times the emissions impact of sea freight
Interpretation
Fashion is quietly turning our wardrobes into a climate crisis, already responsible for 8 to 10 percent of global carbon emissions and producing more greenhouse gases than all international flights and shipping combined, threatening to consume more than 26 percent of the carbon budget by 2050 while guzzling 98 million tonnes of nonrenewable resources a year and leaving a polyester shirt with roughly 5.5 kg CO2e and a pair of jeans with about 33.4 kg CO2e, yet switching to renewable energy in supply chains, extending wear by nine months and moving to manufacturing on demand could slash emissions by large, measurable margins.
Microplastics & Synthetics
- Textiles are the largest source of primary microplastics accounting for 34.8% of global microplastic pollution
- Approximately 500000 tonnes of plastic microfibers form textiles are released into the ocean annually
- This annual release of microfibers is equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles
- Synthetic fibers like polyester now make up 69% of all fiber production globally
- Production of synthetic fibers for textiles is highly reliant on fossil fuels using approx 342 million barrels of oil every year
- 73% of microplastics found in the Arctic were polyester fibers
- Over 8000 chemicals are used in the transformation of raw materials into textiles including carcinogens
- A single wash of acrylic clothing can release over 700000 microfibers
- Microplastics from textiles have been found in the human placenta
- 4000 chemicals are currently used in textile finishing alone
- Viscose manufacturing requires Carbon Disulfide which is linked to coronary heart disease and birth defects
- 165 million tons of plastic pollution in the ocean will be attributed to textiles by 2050 at current rates
- 2.2 million tons of microplastics enter the ocean every year from the fashion industry
- 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are made from plastic
- Brominated flame retardants used in textiles are persistent organic pollutants that bioaccumulate in humans
- Perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) termed 'forever chemicals' are widely used in water-resistant clothing and do not break down
- 25% of commercial chemical products globally are used for textiles
- Nonylphenol ethoxylates used in textile washing are endocrine disruptors banned in the EU but common in imports
- Synthetic microfiber pollution has increased by 450% in the last 60 years
- 99% of rPET (recycled polyester) used in fashion comes from plastic bottles not old clothes reducing circularity potential
Interpretation
We're literally wearing the problem: textiles now account for 34.8% of primary microplastics and release roughly 500,000 tonnes of microfibers into the ocean every year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles, while synthetic fibers like polyester make up 69% of production and consume about 342 million barrels of oil annually, the industry uses thousands of toxic chemicals including carcinogens, PFAS and endocrine disruptors, polyester fibers are found in Arctic ice and even the human placenta, recycled polyester mostly comes from bottles not old clothes, and at current rates fashion will be responsible for about 165 million tons of ocean plastic by 2050.
Waste & Recycling
- 92 million tonnes of textile waste are created annually
- The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
- Less than 1% of materials used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing
- Total textile waste is expected to surge by 60% creating 148 million tonnes annually by 2030
- In the USA 85% of all textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated
- The average American throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes every year
- Fashion waste generates 4% of the world's solid waste
- Approximately 15% of fabric intended for clothing ends up on the cutting room floor as waste
- In the UK 300000 tonnes of used clothes are burned or buried in landfill each year
- The Atacama Desert in Chile acts as a dump for at least 39000 tons of unsold clothing yearly
- In Europe the average amount of textile waste is 11 kg per person per year
- Only 12% of the material used for clothing remains in the recycling pipeline globally to being used for lower-value applications like insulation
- It can take 200+ years for synthetic textiles to decompose in a landfill
- 30% of clothes produced each season are never sold and often destroyed
- Ghana's Kantamanto market receives 15 million used garments weekly 40% of which immediately become waste
- 57% of discarded clothes end up in landfills while only 25% are reused
- Burning clothing releases toxins and methane gas contributing to air pollution
- France is the only country in the world with Extended Producer Responsibility legislation specifically for textiles
- 73% of the world’s clothing eventually ends up in landfills
- Reusing clothing saves roughly 20 to 30 times the energy needed to make new clothes
Interpretation
We're literally sewing the planet a landfill-sized wardrobe: the fashion industry churns out about 92 million tonnes of textile waste a year, roughly a truckload burned or buried every second, with under one percent of materials turned into new clothes and synthetics taking more than two hundred years to decompose, while waste is set to jump sixty percent to 148 million tonnes by 2030 and countries and markets from the United States and the United Kingdom to Ghana and the Atacama Desert are drowning in cast-off garments even though reuse could save twenty to thirty times the energy of making new clothes and only France currently forces producers to take responsibility.
Water Impact & Dyeing
- It takes about 2700 liters of water to make just one t-shirt
- The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide
- Textile dyeing and finishing are responsible for approximately 20% of global industrial water pollution
- It takes 3781 liters of water to create a single pair of jeans
- 93 billion cubic meters of water are used by the fashion industry annually enough for 5 million people
- In China 70% of the rivers and lakes are contaminated by the 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater produced by the textile industry
- Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides used globally impacting water tables
- The Aral Sea has effectively vanished largely due to cotton irrigation diversion
- Conventional textile dyeing uses over 8000 chemicals per process many of which end up in freshwater
- Approximately 200 tonnes of water are required to dye one tonne of fabric
- 17-20% of all industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment
- Leather tanning utilizes heavily toxic chemicals like chromium strictly polluting local water supplies in developing nations
- The Citarum River in Indonesia is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world due to over 200 textile factories lining its banks
- Only 5% of the water used in textile factories in Bangladesh is treated before discharge
- Producing one kilogram of cotton takes between 10000 and 20000 liters of water
- Viscose production is linked to the dumping of untreated toxic wastewater into lakes causing dead zones
- Water consumption in fashion is expected to increase by 50% by 2030
- One wash load of polyester clothes can release 700000 microplastic fibers into the water system
- Around 85% of the water used in textile processing creates wastewater that is strictly regulated in the EU but often not elsewhere
- Recycled cotton saves 2500 gallons of water for every pound compared to conventional cotton
Interpretation
Using roughly 2700 liters for a single T‑shirt and 3781 liters for a pair of jeans, while the fashion industry guzzles 93 billion cubic meters a year, dyes with thousands of toxic chemicals, dumps untreated wastewater and microplastics into rivers and seas, and even helps dry up places like the Aral Sea, our wardrobes have quietly become thirsty, polluting machines that bankrupt ecosystems and the communities downstream.
References
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