Textile Waste Facts
The world produces 92 million tons of textile waste every year. Old clothes make up most of this trash, but it also includes other textiles such as towels, curtains, tablecloths, and carpets. Billions of new clothing items are designed, created, and sold annually yet many are also chucked out.
Lots of textile waste comes from consumers and households getting rid of old clothes. Businesses also throw away all sorts of textiles – from stores with clothes they can’t sell to hotels getting rid of old towels. Some of this is recycled but only 12% of textiles are recycled globally.
Fast fashion has propelled the amount of textile trash we generate, and the recycling infrastructure and processes haven’t kept up. Unravel more wasteful facts about the fashion industry with these textile waste facts and statistics.
How much textile waste
is produced each year?
The world produces 92 million tons of textile waste each year. It’s estimated that at the current rate this could increase to 134 million tons of textile waste being generated globally by 2030. Around 100 billion new clothing items are created every year, which adds to waste levels.
The countries that produce the most textile waste annually are:
- China creates 20 million tons
- USA generates 17 million tons
- India produces 8 million tons
- Italy creates 465,000 tons
- Germany generates 390,000 tons
How much fashion waste
goes to landfill?
The amount of fashion waste disposed of in landfills varies across different countries around the world. However, it’s estimated that about 57% of clothing goes to landfills globally and around 25% of fashion waste is incinerated. This means millions of tons of old textiles aren’t recycled and take up valuable landfill space.
In the USA, just over 11 million tons of textile waste go to landfills every year. About one million tons of fashion trash are sent to landfills in India, while the UK gets rid of more than 300,000 tons of old clothes in landfill sites.
Fast fashion facts
Fast fashion has changed how many of us approach clothes. It has created a greater demand to buy garments more often and introduced a throwaway culture around clothing. Over the past 20 years or more the amount of clothes Americans buy and chuck out has doubled. The fast fashion industry has had a big impact on waste and the environment.
Slow down and dive into these fast fashion facts and statistics:
- 60% of fast fashion items contain plastic-based fabrics (made from fossil fuels)
- 24 million tons of cotton are produced every year to make clothes
- Fewer than 11% of fashion brands have recycling strategies for the items they produce
- Only 12% of fashion companies disclose how many items they produce annually
- It’s estimated that 60% of new clothing items end up in landfills within a year after being sold
- The fast fashion market is worth an estimated $40 billion
- It’s estimated that global fashion consumption has grown by 400% over the past 20 years
- By 2030 it’s estimated the fashion industry will be responsible for 1.24 billion tons of carbon dioxide
Fast fashion pollution statistics
The environmental impact of fast fashion is huge. Producing lots more clothing requires an incredible amount of energy and resources that release more CO2 emissions. Then there’s the effect of managing all the fast fashion waste. Even recycling fashion waste requires fuel for transport and energy to process it.
Understand the industry’s environmental impact with these fast fashion pollution statistics:
- The fast fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global CO2 consumption
- Fast fashion companies create more pollution than the aviation and shipping sectors combined
- Textiles and fabric waste accounts for nearly 10% of municipal solid waste in the US
- 93 billion cubic meters of water are consumed annually by the fast fashion industry to create clothes
- Textile waste contributes 9% of microplastic pollution to the world’s oceans
- It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton T-shirt
- Fast fashion is responsible for 20% of global wastewater – mainly due to dyeing textiles
- Producing polyester requires around 70 million barrels of oil every year
Clothing waste statistics
The bulk of textile waste in the world is old and damaged clothes thrown away by people and businesses. Statistics about clothing waste vary between countries as consumption levels differ based on factors such as income and culture. One thing that’s common is that most places across the world generate high levels of clothing waste and have low recycling rates.
These clothing waste statistics highlight how many garments we chuck out:
- 25% of clothes waste is incinerated around the world
- Only 8% of old clothes are reused globally
- In the US, 700,000 items of used clothing are exported overseas
- The USA’s clothing and footwear recycling rate is 13%
- An average of 14 clothing items per person on the planet are created each year
- The average American throws away 81 pounds of clothes annually
- Clothing production is the third biggest manufacturing industry worldwide – after the automotive and technology sectors
- 5 million garments of clothing are recycled in the USA every year
- Failure to recycle and fully use clothing means around $500 billion in value is lost globally each year
- Switching to renewable energy could reduce the clothing industry’s carbon footprint by 63%
Sustainable fashion facts
Many consumers and businesses are starting to realize the importance of reducing fashion waste and striving for more sustainable practices. This could be in the manufacturing of new clothes, the management of waste, or finding ways to upcycle and reuse garments. These sustainable fashion facts show change could hopefully be on the way.
Here are some more promising sustainable fashion statistics:
- The global sustainable fashion market is valued at nearly $8 billion – and could exceed $30 billion by 2030
- The global ethical fashion market is growing at a rate of more than 8% each year
- 95% of clothes thrown away are recyclable
- Sales of clothing items marked as sustainable are estimated to increase by five times in the coming years
- Creating clothes with sustainable fibers saves 20% of CO2 emissions
- 60% of consumers claim sustainability is important when buying new clothes
- Around 43% of Americans say they’d pay more for a sustainable item of clothing
- The Asia Pacific region is responsible for more than a third of the world’s global ethical fashion market
Textile waste statistics
It’s not just clothes that make up textile waste around the world. Many other fabric materials are types of textiles thrown out by businesses and households. Old rugs, sheets, towels, curtains, and upholstery are also recycled and disposed of in landfills.
Get greater insight into textile trash with these textile waste statistics:
- Textile and clothing waste takes up at least 7% of space in landfills around the world
- Only 20% of textiles thrown away are collected for recycling and recovery
- It can take more than 200 years for textiles to decompose in landfills
- The recycling rate for textiles in the US is almost 15%
- More than three million tons of textiles are combusted in the US every year
- The textile industry is responsible for between 10 and 20% of global pesticide use
- About 4% of waste within the EU is textile waste
Reduce and recycle textile waste
If your company creates lots of textile waste – whether it’s old clothing, damaged towels, sheets, or carpets – then we can help. At Business Waste we provide textile waste collection and recycling services for organizations in all industries and of any size. Find out more about our commercial textile waste collection services.
Get started with a free no-obligation quote for textile waste collection and recycling. We keep all old clothes and fabrics away from landfills with a range of recycling and recovery solutions for a sustainable solution. Call 888 584 2118 or contact us online today for your free bespoke quote.
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