Textile Waste Statistics

Europeans consume nearly 26 kg of textiles per person each year [1]

Europeans discard about 11 kg of textiles per person each year [1]

In Europe, around 87% of used textiles are incinerated or landfilled [2]

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

In 2020, EU households spent €1,300 per person on clothing and footwear [3]

Between 1996 and 2018, the amount of clothes bought in the EU increased by 40% [3]

Clothing utilization globally has fallen by 36% compared to 15 years ago [4]

The number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% compared to 15 years ago [4]

In China, some garments are worn only 7 to 10 times before being thrown away [4]

In 2015, the global annual sales of clothing were more than 100 billion units [5]

The average consumer bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000 [5]

In Germany, consumers buy 60 new garments on average per year [6]

In Germany, clothes are worn only four times on average before being discarded [6]

Germans own an average of 95 items of clothing [6]

40% of clothes in German wardrobes are rarely or never worn [6]

In the UK, consumers buy more than 1 million tonnes of clothing every year [7]

UK citizens spend about £44 billion per year on clothes [7]

The global fashion industry produces 10% of annual global carbon emissions [8]

The fashion industry consumes around 93 billion cubic metres of water annually [8]

Textile production is responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products [9]

Synthetic textiles account for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment [3]

Washing synthetic products causes 0.5 million tonnes of microfibres to shed into the ocean every year [3]

In 2018, clothing and footwear purchases in the EU generated 270 kg of CO2 emissions per person [3]

In 2018, clothing and footwear purchases in the EU used 9 cubic metres of water per person [3]

In 2018, clothing and footwear purchases in the EU used 400 square metres of land per person [3]

In 2018, clothing and footwear purchases in the EU used 391 kg of raw materials per person [3]

The use phase of clothing contributes around 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions over a garment's lifecycle [5]

Extending clothing use by an extra 9 months could reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% [7]

Producing one cotton shirt can require about 2,700 litres of water [10]

Producing a pair of jeans requires about 7,500 litres of water [10]

The global textile and clothing industry emitted 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2015 [5]

Textile production generated 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2015 [3]

Between 2% and 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to the textiles sector [11]

Producing textiles requires an estimated 215 trillion litres of water per year [11]

The textile sector is responsible for 9% of annual microplastic losses to the oceans [12]

Between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes of microplastics from textiles enter marine environments each year [12]

A typical 5 kg wash load of polyester fabrics may release 6 million microfibres [12]

Acrylic fabrics can release up to 730,000 fibres per wash [12]

Polyester-cotton blend fabrics can release around 138,000 fibres per wash [12]

Pure polyester fabrics can release around 496,000 fibres per wash [12]

The clothing footprint in the UK is estimated at 26.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year [7]

Water used to supply clothing to the UK is estimated at 8 billion cubic metres per year [7]

The fashion industry creates about 20% of global wastewater [4]

In 2020, total textile waste in the EU amounted to 6.95 million tonnes [13]

In 2020, the EU generated 16 kg of textile waste per person [13]

In 2020, only about 4.4 kg of textiles per person were separately collected in the EU [13]

Separately collected textiles represented 26% of total textile waste in the EU in 2020 [13]

In 2019, EU consumption of textiles ranked fourth for environmental and climate impacts from a life cycle perspective [1]

In 2019, EU consumption of textiles ranked third for water and land use [1]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 generated about 121 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions [1]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 used about 387,000 square kilometres of land [1]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 used 5.3 million tonnes of material resources [1]

Textile purchases in the EU in 2020 used 4.3 billion cubic metres of water [1]

In 2020, clothing, footwear and household textiles consumption in the EU was 19 kg per person [1]

Of the 16 kg of textile waste generated per person in the EU in 2020, 4.4 kg was separately collected and 11.6 kg ended up in mixed household waste [13]

In 2020, approximately 85% of all textiles discarded in the EU were not separately collected [13]

In 2020, 74% of EU textile waste was not separately collected [13]

In 2025, separate collection of textiles will become mandatory across the EU [13]

Only 22% of post-consumer textile waste was separately collected in Europe in 2020 [13]

Of separately collected textiles in Europe, around 50% are reused [13]

Of separately collected textiles in Europe, around 41% are recycled [13]

Of separately collected textiles in Europe, around 8% are incinerated and 1% landfilled [13]

In 2020, the average EU citizen consumed 15 kg of clothing, 6.1 kg of household textiles and 6.1 kg of footwear [1]

92 million tonnes of textile waste are generated globally each year [8]

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second [5]

Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015 [5]

The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago [5]

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing [5]

Globally, 87% of the total fibre input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or disposed of in landfill [5]

Only 13% of the total material input for clothing is recycled in some way after use [5]

Of the material input for clothing, less than 1% is recycled into new clothing while 12% is downcycled into lower-value applications [5]

Global fibre production reached 113 million tonnes in 2021 [14]

Polyester accounted for 54% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Recycled fibres represented only 8.9% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Less than 1% of recycled fibre input came from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles in 2021 [14]

Virgin fossil-based synthetic fibres made up 62% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Cotton represented 22% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Cellulosic fibres accounted for 6.4% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Other synthetics besides polyester accounted for 8% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Wool accounted for 1% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Down feathers represented 0.2% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

Elastane represented 1% of global fibre production in 2021 [14]

The total market value lost each year due to clothing underutilisation and lack of recycling is more than $500 billion [5]

Every second, the equivalent of one rubbish truck of textiles is landfilled or burned [11]

Only 0.3% of material used for clothing globally comes from recycled sources that are turned back into clothing [5]

Around 73% of clothing ends up in landfill or incineration at end of use [5]

More than 150 billion garments are produced each year globally [4]

In Australia, 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill each year [15]

Australians purchase an average of 27 kg of new clothing per person each year [15]

Australians discard 23 kg of clothing per person to landfill annually [15]

Australia sends approximately 6,000 kg of fashion and textile waste to landfill every 10 minutes [15]

In Australia, more than 10 million items of clothing are sent to landfill every year [16]

In Australia, the average person buys 56 new clothing items a year [16]

New Zealanders send around 220,000 tonnes of textile waste to landfill each year [17]

In New Zealand, textile waste accounts for 5% of all landfill waste [17]

Canada discards about 500 million kilograms of textiles annually [18]

Canadians throw away 37 kg of textiles per person per year [18]

In Chile’s Atacama Desert, 39,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes arrive every year [19]

In Chile, around 300 hectares of the Atacama Desert are covered by discarded clothing [19]

Ghana imports about 15 million used garments every week [11]

About 40% of used clothing imported into Ghana becomes waste [11]

The Kantamanto Market in Accra receives around 100 tonnes of used clothing every day [11]

India generated 7,793 kilotonnes of textile waste in 2019-20 [20]

In France, 3.3 billion clothing items were placed on the market in 2022 [21]

In France, 268,161 tonnes of clothing, household linen and shoes were collected in 2022 [21]

In France, 38% of clothing, household linen and shoes put on the market were collected in 2022 [21]

In France, 56.8% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were reused in 2022 [21]

In France, 32.6% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were recycled in 2022 [21]

In France, 8.5% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were used for energy recovery in 2022 [21]

In France, 2.1% of collected clothing, household linen and shoes were eliminated in 2022 [21]

UK consumers send around 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill or incineration each year [7]

The average lifetime of a garment in the UK is 2.2 years [7]

UK clothing longevity increased by 3.3% between 2013 and 2017 [22]

In 2017, 336,000 tonnes of used clothing were collected for reuse and recycling in the UK [22]

In 2017, 620,000 tonnes of post-consumer textile waste arose in the UK [22]

In 2017, 34% of used textiles collected in the UK were resold domestically [22]

In 2017, 52% of used textiles collected in the UK were exported for reuse [22]

In 2017, 14% of used textiles collected in the UK were recycled [22]

In the UK, around £140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill every year [7]

The carbon footprint of clothing in active use in the UK is 26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent [7]

Around 350,000 tonnes of used clothing go to landfill in the UK every year [23]

UK households have an estimated £30 billion worth of unworn clothes in their wardrobes [23]

Around 183 million items of outgrown baby clothing are stored away unused in UK homes [23]

In the UK, 67% of used clothing is reused or recycled [23]

Around 336,000 tonnes of clothing are collected each year by charities and collectors in the UK [23]

Around 620,000 tonnes of textiles are discarded every year in the UK [23]

In 2017, the average American threw away 81.5 pounds of clothing [24]

In 2018, the US generated 17 million tons of textile municipal solid waste [24]

In 2018, textiles accounted for 5.8% of total municipal solid waste generation in the US [24]

In 2018, 11.3 million tons of textiles were landfilled in the US [24]

In 2018, 3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the US [24]

In 2018, the US recycled 2.5 million tons of textiles [24]

The recycling rate for textiles in the US was 14.7% in 2018 [24]

In 2019, US landfills received 11.3 million tons of textiles [24]

In 2019, textiles in landfills represented 7.7% of all MSW landfilled in the US [24]

In 2019, 2.5 million tons of textiles were recycled in the US [24]

In 2019, 3.2 million tons of textiles were combusted with energy recovery in the US [24]

The generation of textile MSW in the US increased from 13.2 million tons in 2010 to 17.0 million tons in 2018 [24]

In 2018, textiles made up 6.0% of all MSW generated in the US by weight [24]

In the US, the share of textiles recycled rose from 8.7% in 1960 to 14.7% in 2018 [24]

In 2018, the per-capita generation of textile waste in the US was 103.5 pounds [24]

In New York City, residents throw away more than 200,000 tons of clothing and textiles each year [25]

Textiles represent about 6% of all residential and commercial waste in New York City [25]

California disposed of 1.2 million tons of textiles in 2021 [26]

95% of textiles can be reused or recycled [26]

Textiles in municipal solid waste in the US increased from 2.5 million tons in 1960 to 17 million tons in 2018 [24]

In 1960, textiles accounted for 2% of US municipal solid waste generation [24]

In 2018, textiles accounted for 5.8% of US municipal solid waste generation [24]

In 2018, 66.5% of textile waste generated in the US was landfilled [24]

In 2018, 18.8% of textile waste generated in the US was combusted for energy recovery [24]

In 2018, 14.7% of textile waste generated in the US was recycled [24]