A fundamental change is required to the way clothing is produced and used if the “extremely wasteful” fashion industry is to become more sustainable, a new report has found.
In the last 15 years, clothing production has almost doubled, driven by a growing middle-class population across the globe and increased per capita sales in mature economies, primarily driven by the ‘fast fashion’ phenomenon.
Yet the current system for producing, distributing, and using clothing operates on a predominantly take-make-dispose model, which a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes as “extremely wasteful and polluting.”
High volumes of non-renewable resources are extracted to produce clothes that are often used for only a short period, after which the materials are largely lost to landfill or incineration, adds the report ‘A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future,’ produced with the support of Stella McCartney and industry leaders including the C&A Foundation, H&M and Nike.
It is estimated that more than half of ‘fast fashion’ produced is disposed of in under a year. This linear system leaves economic opportunities untapped, puts pressure on resources, pollutes and degrades ecosystems, and creates significant societal impacts at local, regional and global scales.
Greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production in 2015 were higher than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined
The report found that in 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production totalled 1.2bn tonnes of CO2 equivalent, more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
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By GlobalDataIt also revealed:
- Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing, representing a loss of more than US$100bn worth of materials each year;
- The estimated cost to the UK economy of landfilling clothing and household textiles each year is around GBP82m;
- Across the industry, only 13% of the total material input is in some way recycled after clothing use;
- Across the world, one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second;
- The average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago.
The report calls for a systemic change to the way clothing is produced and used, and for the creation of a circular textile economy in order to make fashion more sustainable.
It offers four “ambitions” that the industry can begin to innovate towards: Phase out substances of concern and microfibre release; Transform the way clothes are designed, sold, and used to break free from their increasingly disposable nature; Radically improve recycling by transforming clothing design, collection, and reprocessing; and make effective use of resources and move to renewable inputs.
Cyrus Wadia, VP of sustainable business and innovation at Nike, said of its own efforts: “At Nike, we are pursuing new business models that move away from the take, make, and waste linear models of the past. Our success depends not only on the work within our own value chain, but on disruptive partnerships across a broader textile production and manufacturing ecosystem.”
While Tim Kasten, deputy director of the economy division for UN Environment, adds: “It is evident that the moment for mainstreaming circularity and changing our consumption and production system is here. There are strong signals and evidence from the science on current and future resource constraints and planetary limits, and growing political and business leadership around the opportunities it offers. This report will surely inspire many success stories, new solutions and practices from all actors which are called to transform the textile value chain.”
