73 per cent of waste clothing goes to landfill, report finds

The textile industry’s impact on the climate has sparked a drive for significant overhaul and sustainable change within the sector. Overproduction and unnecessarily high demand are causing significant amounts of waste and emissions within the sector, but what can be done to curb this trend?

What’s the problem? 

At present, the textile industry is estimated to be responsible for 5 – 10 per cent of global emissions (as much as the combined impact of international shipping and aviation), and 20 per cent of industrial water pollution. The issue is that the fashion and textile industries are constantly growing and experiencing surges in demand.  
 
PwC’s latest report suggests that global clothing sales have more than doubled in the past 20 years and continues to grow faster than gross domestic product. The excess demand is met with fast fashion solutions and quickfire production, meaning as much as 40 per cent of manufactured clothing is never sold or worn. 
 
According to research from the European Clothing Action Plan, the UK is Europe’s biggest fast-fashion offender. The average UK citizen buys an average of 26.7kgs of clothing per year, nearly twice the consumption of Europe’s second biggest offender, Germany.  
 
Further to this, some of the fashion industry’s biggest culprits, including Primark and Zara, are placing the emphasis of their sustainability policies on recyclability and recycling, which doesn’t address the problem at its source: overproduction and demand. For example, Primark have pledged to use 100 per cent recycled and sustainably sourced materials by 2030, while Zara have committed to just 40 per cent recycled content in its clothing by 2030.  

What’s the solution?  

PwC’s research found that reusing clothing is almost always better than recycling it in terms of the environment. By comparison, the carbon footprint of a reused cotton t-shirt is around 60 times smaller than that of a new one.  
 
Reuse models include third-party reselling, such as charity shops and thrift stores, peer-to-peer, referring to apps like Vinted, Depop and eBay, and trade-in schemes like those run by Patagonia. While reuse models may seem like more effort and resources for textile companies, PwC suggest they are profitable if managed effectively.