Fast Fashion Waste

Shoppers are buying more clothes and discarding them faster than ever. The growth of fast-fashion has flooded the world with affordable clothing that is worn just a few times. France is the only country to hold textile producers responsible for recycling or disposal.

Globally, the number of garments purchased annually by the average consumer jumped 60% from 2000 to 2014, according to McKinsey &Co. The number of times an item is worn before it is discarded dropped 36% between 2002 and 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a U.K.-based nonprofit organization focused on cutting waste says.

An avalanche of worn clothes is landing in landfills as the use of mixed fibers and a lack of recycling technology mean only 1% of clothing is being turned into new garments. The technology to recycle old textiles into fiber to make new ones has remained embryonic, meaning clothes eventually end up in the dump or incinerator. Textiles in American landfills jumped 67.7% by weight from 2000 to 2015, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Garments that are recycled are mostly turned into lower-value products like wiping cloths and insulation, which ultimately hit the landfill. Clothing that does include recycled material typically uses plastic bottles rather than old textiles

So far, companies have focused on improving collection of used clothes which are then sold as secondhand clothing, largely to emerging markets. But some countries, like Rwanda, have raised taxes on secondhand clothing imports to help domestic-textile production, which has floundered in the wake of a flood of used clothing from countries like the U.S. 

The environmental impact of clothing is set to keep growing. Global consumption of apparel and footwear is estimated to rise 63% between 2015 and 2030 to 102 million tons, according to Boston Consulting Group. Studies show the growing popularity of synthetic clothing like fleece jackets and gym leggings is also releasing more tiny plastic particles into the ocean when the garments are washed. 

Proponents of so-called closed-loop recycling say making new clothes from old would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and the consumption of oil, which is used to make synthetic fibers; fertilizers and water, used to grow cotton; and chemicals used to produce, dye and finish fibers.