The Environmental Footprint of Fast Fashion

• The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second (UNEP, 2018)

• Approximately 60% of all materials used by the fashion industry are made from plastic (UNEP, 2019)

• 500,000 tons of microfibers are released into the ocean each year from washing clothes — the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017)

• The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of humanity’s carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined (UNEP, 2018). If the fashion sector continues on its current trajectory, that share of the carbon budget could jump to 26% by 2050 (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017)

• Some 93 billion cubic metres of water – enough to meet the needs of five million people – is used by the fashion industry annually, contributing significantly to water scarcity in some regions (UNCTAD, 2020)

• Around 20% of industrial wastewater pollution worldwide originates from the fashion industry (WRI, 2017)