Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of clothing each year
Globally, 92 million tonnes of textiles are wasted each year
Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
The average lifespan of a garment is about 3.3 years before it's discarded
In the UK, 336,000 tonnes of used clothing is thrown away every year
The U.S. generated 17 million tons of textile waste in 2018
Only 15% of textiles are recycled in the U.S.
Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000
The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% in the last 15 years
Textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally
57% of all discarded clothes end up in landfills
20% of global wastewater comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
Consumer Behavior
- The average number of times a garment is worn has decreased by 36% in the last 15 years
- The value of unused clothing in wardrobes across the UK is estimated at £30 billion
- The average consumer bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000
- Each person in the UK buys an average of 26.7kg of clothing per year
- Secondhand clothing sales could outpace fast fashion by 2030
- The fast fashion industry grew 21% globally from 2016 to 2021
- The average British household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes
- Fast fashion brands produce about 52 "micro seasons" per year
- The resale fashion market is expected to reach $77 billion by 2025
- Clothing and footwear consumption is expected to rise by 63% by 2030
- On average, U.S. consumers buy one new piece of clothing every 5.5 days
Interpretation
We're buying clothes like snacks, wearing them like disposable napkins, and hoarding wardrobes worth thousands—while the planet pays the true cost of our fast fashion fix.
Environmental Impact
- The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions
- Textile dyeing is the second-largest polluter of water globally
- 20% of global wastewater comes from fabric dyeing and treatment
- Textile recycling can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 14 million tons annually
- Textile recycling saves more than 500 million pounds of CO2 emissions annually
- A cotton t-shirt emits around 4kg of CO2 during production
- Wearing clothes just nine months longer reduces their carbon footprint by 20-30%
- Over 700,000 microfibers are released in a typical washing load of synthetic clothes
- Recycling 2 million tons of clothing is equivalent to removing 1 million cars from the road
- Fast fashion creates 12.8 million tons of carbon emissions annually in the U.S. alone
- 35% of all microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic textiles
- Each year, 500,000 tons of microfibers end up in the ocean from washing clothes
- Fashion accounts for 20-35% of microplastic flows into the ocean
- Only 8% of fashion companies can calculate their full carbon footprint
- Textile waste contributes to about 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions from landfills
- The global fashion industry emits about 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent per year
Interpretation
Fast fashion’s true cost isn’t on the price tag, but in the planet-sized carbon cloud, toxic waterways, and oceans laced with microplastics it leaves behind—making your closet one of Earth’s most underestimated polluters.
Recycling and Circular Economy
- Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments
- Only 15% of textiles are recycled in the U.S.
- Only 0.1% of recycled textiles are converted into new clothing
- Less than 11% of fashion brands implement recycling strategies
- The resale market for textiles is expected to double in five years
- Textiles have one of the lowest recycling rates of all reusable materials
- More than $500 billion of value is lost every year due to underutilization and lack of recycling in the fashion industry
- The U.S. textile recycling industry removes nearly 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textiles from the waste stream each year
Interpretation
In a world where fashion changes by the season, the real trend is waste—with less than 1% of clothes reborn as garments and over $500 billion in value lost yearly, it’s clear the industry is better at creating closet clutter than closing the loop.
Resource Usage and Production
- Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000
- 60% of garments are made of synthetic fibers derived from fossil fuels
- The fashion industry uses 79 billion cubic meters of water per year
- Producing a single cotton shirt uses 2,700 liters of water
- Over 60% of clothing materials are plastic-based
- It takes over 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for just one pair of jeans
- Globally, 60 billion kilograms of textiles are produced annually
- 120 million trees are logged every year for fabrics like rayon and viscose
- Clothing production uses more energy than aviation and shipping combined
- Fashion industry consumes 93 billion cubic meters of water annually
- In 2015, the fashion industry consumed 98 million tons of non-renewable resources
- The textile sector is the second largest economic sector in the world
- 10,000 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of cotton
Interpretation
Fashion may make you look sharp, but it’s leaving a planetary-sized stain—draping us in fossil fuels, drinking the world’s water, and chopping down forests faster than you can say “fast fashion.”
Textile Waste and Disposal
- The average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of clothing each year
- Globally, 92 million tonnes of textiles are wasted each year
- The average lifespan of a garment is about 3.3 years before it's discarded
- In the UK, 336,000 tonnes of used clothing is thrown away every year
- The U.S. generated 17 million tons of textile waste in 2018
- 57% of all discarded clothes end up in landfills
- Textile waste in New York City increased by 46% from 2005 to 2017
- Up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year
- Polyester takes more than 200 years to decompose in landfills
- Americans discard around 14 million tons of textiles annually
- Textile waste occupies nearly 5% of all landfill space
- 25 billion pounds of textiles are generated annually in the U.S.
- 90% of clothing donations to thrift stores go unsold and are often exported or landfilled
- Globally, only 13% of textile waste is recycled in some form
- One garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second globally
- 73% of clothing produced globally ends up in landfills
- Only 12% of clothing is collected for reuse or recycling
- Nearly 60% of clothing ends up in incinerators or landfills within a year of being made
- The average consumer disposes of 70 garments annually
- Around 20% of global fashion items go unsold every year
- Discarded textiles in the EU are expected to rise by 60% by 2030
- 85% of U.S. textile waste is landfilled or incinerated
- By 2030, the world is expected to discard more than 134 million tonnes of textiles a year
- Americans send 11.3 million tons of textile waste to landfills each year
Interpretation
We change our clothes more often than our habits, discarding billions of pounds of barely worn garments each year and burying our fashion fixes in landfills faster than polyester can decompose—roughly never.