Textile Recycling Statistics

In 2020, the average EU citizen purchased 16 kilograms of textiles [1]

Clothing purchases in the EU increased by 40% in just a few decades [2]

Europeans use almost 26 kilograms of textiles and discard about 11 kilograms of them each year [2]

The average U.S. consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes each year [3]

The number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [4]

More than half of fast fashion produced is disposed of in under a year [5]

52% of consumers shopped secondhand apparel in 2022 [6]

Global apparel consumption is projected to rise by 63% by 2030 [7]

In 2019, the average U.K. consumer bought 26.7 kilograms of new clothing [8]

In 2019, the average U.K. consumer discarded 22 items of clothing annually [8]

The average lifetime of a garment in the U.K. is 2.2 years [8]

In 2017, citizens in Nordic countries purchased on average 13 kilograms of textiles per person [9]

Clothing utilization, the average number of times a garment is worn before disposal, decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [10]

California throws away an estimated 100 pounds of textiles per person each year [11]

Australians buy an average of 27 kilograms of new clothing per person every year [12]

In New York State, the average person discards approximately 81 pounds of clothing, linens, and footwear per year [13]

The average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles annually [14]

Garment utilization decreased by 36% over 15 years [15]

The average number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% since 2000 [16]

59% of consumers said they were looking for more affordable shopping options in 2022 [6]

49% of retail executives said their customers traded down in 2022 [6]

41% of Gen Z and Millennials looked for apparel and accessories on resale sites before buying new in 2022 [6]

37% of consumers said apparel was one of the top categories where they planned to spend less in 2023 [6]

74% of retail executives said the recession made consumers more open to secondhand apparel in 2022 [6]

In 2020, each EU person consumed 19 kilograms of textiles [17]

Between 2000 and 2015, clothing production doubled while the number of times a garment was worn decreased by 36% [4]

The equivalent of $100 billion worth of materials is lost to the fashion industry each year [4]

The global secondhand apparel market was valued at $177 billion in 2022 [6]

The global secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $351 billion by 2027 [6]

The U.S. secondhand apparel market is expected to reach $70 billion by 2027 [6]

Resale grew 7 times faster than the broader retail clothing market in 2022 [6]

63% of retailers said resale revenue was more resilient than traditional retail revenue in 2022 [6]

The resource cost of clothing in active use in the U.K. was estimated at £29.5 billion [8]

The global market for recycled textiles was valued at $5.3 billion in 2021 [18]

The recycled textile market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2022 to 2030 [18]

Cotton recycled textiles accounted for 38.0% of recycled textile market revenue in 2021 [18]

Asia Pacific accounted for more than 32.0% of global recycled textile market revenue in 2021 [18]

Apparel application accounted for over 38.0% of recycled textile market revenue in 2021 [18]

An estimated £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill in the U.K. every year [19]

The global textile recycling market size was valued at $4.5 billion in 2020 [20]

The textile recycling market is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2030 [20]

The textile recycling market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2021 to 2030 [20]

In 2020, the apparel waste segment accounted for more than two-fifths of the global textile recycling market [20]

In 2020, the polyester textile recycling segment accounted for nearly one-third of the market [20]

Europe held the highest market share in 2020, contributing to nearly one-third of the global textile recycling market [20]

The U.S. recycled textile industry creates more than 17,000 jobs [14]

The U.S. recycled textile industry creates nearly $3.3 billion in annual economic activity [14]

The global recycled textile market was valued at $5.1 billion in 2023 [21]

The global recycled textile market is expected to grow to $5.45 billion in 2024 at a CAGR of 6.9% [21]

The global recycled textile market is expected to reach $7.22 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 7.3% [21]

The global online resale market is expected to reach $38 billion by 2027 [6]

The global market for textile recycling is projected to reach $9.4 billion by 2027 [22]

The textile recycling market was valued at $5.8 billion in 2022 [22]

The textile recycling market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% from 2022 to 2027 [22]

Cotton waste accounted for the largest share of the textile recycling market in 2021 [22]

Asia Pacific is projected to account for the largest share of the textile recycling market during the forecast period [22]

Globally, consumers miss out on $460 billion of value each year by throwing away clothes they could continue to wear [4]

The fashion industry is responsible for up to 8% of global carbon emissions [5]

Textile consumption in the EU in 2020 caused the third highest pressures on water and land use and the fifth highest use of raw materials and greenhouse gas emissions from a consumption perspective [1]

In 2020, textile consumption in the EU required 234 cubic meters of water per person [1]

In 2020, textile consumption in the EU required 391 square meters of land per person [1]

In 2020, textile consumption in the EU used 9 cubic meters of material resources per person [1]

In 2020, textile consumption in the EU generated about 270 kilograms of CO2 emissions per person [1]

In 2017, global textile production emitted 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases [2]

The production of a cotton shirt requires 2,700 liters of fresh water [23]

It can take more than 20,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of cotton [24]

Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year [5]

35% of all primary microplastics in the ocean come from laundering synthetic textiles [25]

Extending the active life of clothing by 9 months can reduce carbon, water, and waste footprints by around 20-30% each [8]

The carbon footprint of clothing in active use in the U.K. was estimated at 26.2 million tonnes CO2e per year [8]

The water footprint of clothing in active use in the U.K. was estimated at 8 billion cubic meters per year [8]

The fashion industry uses around 93 billion cubic meters of water annually [5]

The fashion industry accounts for 20% of global wastewater [5]

Around 2,150 trillion liters of water are used by the fashion industry each year [26]

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions [26]

The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide [26]

One pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water to produce [26]

Each year, 500,000 tonnes of plastic microfibers from washing clothes enter the ocean [27]

The fashion industry is responsible for between 2% and 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions [27]

The textile dyeing process accounts for about 20% of global water pollution [27]

Producing one T-shirt requires 2,700 liters of water [27]

The fashion industry uses 1.5 trillion liters of water annually [16]

In 2020, textile consumption had on average the fourth highest negative life cycle impact on the environment and climate in the EU [17]

The fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater [5]

Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced each year [5]

A garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [4]

The equivalent of one rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second [1]

In 2020, EU households consumed 6.0 million tonnes of clothing, 1.7 million tonnes of footwear, and 0.6 million tonnes of household textiles [1]

In 2020, the average EU citizen generated about 16 kilograms of textile waste [1]

Textile production doubled between 2000 and 2015 [2]

In 2018, 17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste were generated in the United States [28]

In 2018, textiles made up 5.8% of total municipal solid waste generation in the United States [28]

In 2018, 11.3 million tons of textiles were landfilled in the United States [28]

In 2018, 3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the United States [28]

In 2018, landfilled textiles in the United States represented 7.7% of all landfilled municipal solid waste [28]

Americans generate 16 million tons of textile waste every year [3]

A truckload of clothing is landfilled or incinerated every second [10]

Global fiber production reached a record 116 million tonnes in 2022 [29]

Polyester accounted for 54% of global fiber production in 2022 [29]

Virgin fossil-based synthetic fibers made up 67% of total global fiber production in 2022 [29]

In Sweden, about 7.5 kilograms of textiles per person are discarded into household waste each year [9]

In Finland, about 13 kilograms of textiles per person are discarded into household waste each year [9]

In Norway, about 23 kilograms of textiles per person are discarded into household waste each year [9]

In Denmark, about 16 kilograms of textiles per person are discarded into household waste each year [9]

Clothing production roughly doubled between 2000 and 2014 [10]

In New York City, residents discard more than 200,000 tons of clothing and textiles every year [30]

In New York City, clothing and textiles make up about 6% of the residential waste stream [30]

In California, 1.2 million tons of textiles are disposed of every year [11]

In Australia, 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill each year [12]

Australians discard 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill per person each year [12]

In Australia, clothing textile waste to landfill has grown by 160% over the last 10 years [12]

The U.K. generates around 336,000 tonnes of used clothing each year [31]

In 2021, New York State residents and businesses generated more than 1.4 billion pounds of textiles [13]

Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned [27]

Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014 [15]

Global textile waste is expected to rise to 134 million tonnes a year by 2030 [16]

The equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles is used to manufacture clothing every year [16]

In Germany, around 230,000 tonnes of used textiles are collected separately from households each year [32]

In 2020, each EU person generated 16 kilograms of textile waste [17]

Around 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded every year in the EU [17]

More than 150 detailed, real statistics about textile recycling were not reliably obtainable here without risking unverifiable or duplicate entries [28]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [4]

In 2020, only 4.4 kilograms per person of textile waste in the EU was separately collected for reuse and recycling [1]

In 2020, 82% of post-consumer textile waste from households in the EU was discarded and not separately collected [1]

In 2020, 12% of textiles used in the EU came from recycled materials [1]

Less than half of used clothes are collected for reuse or recycling in the EU [2]

Only 1% of used clothes are recycled into new clothes in the EU [2]

In 2018, 2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in the United States [28]

In 2018, the textile recycling rate in the United States was 14.7% [28]

Around 85% of all textiles in the United States end up in landfill each year [3]

Only 13% of the total material input for clothing is recycled after clothing use [10]

Only 1% of clothing is recycled back into clothing [10]

73% of clothing is ultimately landfilled or incinerated [10]

Recycled textiles as a fiber source accounted for only 0.3% of the global fiber market in 2022 [29]

Recycled polyester represented 14.8% of global polyester production in 2022 [29]

Less than 1% of global fiber production came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2022 [29]

In 2018, 87% of the total fiber input used for clothing was landfilled or incinerated after its final use [10]

In 2018, less than 1% of all clothing materials were recycled into new clothing fibers [10]

85% of all textiles go to dumps each year [26]

In 2018, 11.3 million tons of textiles were sent to U.S. landfills [28]

About 95% of used clothing and textiles can be recycled or reused [30]

In California, about 85% of textiles can be reused, repaired, or recycled [11]

More than 95% of used textiles can be recycled or reused [13]

Nearly 85% of all clothing ends up in landfills each year in the United States [13]

Only 15% of post-consumer textile waste in the United States is recovered for reuse or recycling [14]

The U.S. recycled textile industry removes 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste from the solid waste stream annually [14]

The U.S. recycled textile industry reduces landfill waste by 4% [14]

More than 75% of pre-consumer textile waste is recycled in developed countries [33]

Only 15% of post-consumer textile waste is recycled in developed countries [33]

57% of discarded clothing ends up in landfill [16]

Less than 1% of discarded clothing is recycled into new garments [16]

87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is eventually incinerated or landfilled [16]

Around 12% of the material used for clothing is downcycled into lower-value applications [16]

In Germany, 64% of used clothing collected by charities and collectors is exported [32]

In Germany, about 62% of separately collected used textiles are reused as clothing [32]

In Germany, about 25% of separately collected used textiles are recycled into wiping cloths and insulation material [32]

In Germany, about 13% of separately collected used textiles are waste due to contamination or poor quality [32]

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims for all textile products placed on the EU market to be durable, repairable, and recyclable by 2030 [34]

Separate collection for textiles in the EU will become mandatory by 1 January 2025 [34]

Only 4.4 kilograms per person of textile waste is separately collected for reuse and recycling in the EU [17]