The top three sustainability impact areas in the fashion industry

It’s the turn of a new season here in the UK, from winter to spring (finally!)….which for many means sprucing up wardrobes and indulging in some online shopping. Me included! Spring is exciting – the colours, florals and lighter jackets, a shopping spree is enticing! But having studied and worked in sustainability now for almost 7 years, I’m far too aware of the devastating effects of the fashion industry, and the impact we can all have through our purchasing decisions. 

So, what’s the problem with the fashion industry? There are a whole host of different issues within the industry, but for now let’s focus on three key areas: waste, carbon, and modern slavery. 

1. Waste

Unfortunately, in the UK, 73% of the clothes we buy end up being burnt or sent to landfill. That’s roughly 300,000 tonnes of used clothing that ends up in landfill every year. Consumerism has reached an all-time high. Clothes are cheaper than they have ever been (read the section on modern slavery below to find out how), meaning the consumer can generally afford to be more wasteful and buy more. If demographic and lifestyle patterns continue as they are now, global consumption of apparel will rise from 62 million metric tons in 2019 to 102 million tons in 10 years. This throwaway culture has reduced the amount of time an item is worn by about 40%. The average UK adult has 118 items of clothing in their wardrobes of which one quarter (26% – 31 items) were unworn for at least a year. 

The consumer is not the only one at fault though. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fabric are wasted at each stage of production before it even reaches the consumer. This is called pre-consumer waste.  An estimated 700 tonnes of waste were generated by wholesale and retail in London. This could be surplus material from cutting patters, surplus stock (brands over order by around 3-10% to avoid running out of stock, or even burn stock) or faulty items from printing/weaving mistakes. And it’s not just fabric. Around 20% of wastewater worldwide come from fabric dyeing and treatment. 

2. Carbon

All this waste comes with a carbon cost. The fashion industry is responsible for 5-10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030. 

According to figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it takes 3,781 litres of water to make a pair of jeans, from the production of the cotton to the delivery of the final product to the store. That‘s equivalent to around 33.4 kilograms of carbon equivalent. 

In one month alone, the carbon footprint of new clothes bought in the UK was greater than flying a plane around the world 900 times. This is the same amount of carbon emissions the nation could save if we all took part in Second Hand September. Second Hand September was set up by Oxfam to  promote donating, reusing, rewearing and restyling your clothes during September – and beyond! If you want to reduce your carbon footprint associated with your clothes, the best thing you can do is buy second hand clothes, or even better wear what’s already in your wardrobe. The most sustainable clothes are the ones you already own. 

3. Modern Slavery

Waste and carbon are important, but as always, we can’t forget the people behind the clothes. Have you ever asked yourself, who made my clothes? The likely answer to that question is a woman of colour, in a low-income country e.g. Bangladesh, employed under seriously poor working conditions. A Bangladeshi worker would need to be paid 4.5 times more than the current minimum wage to afford a decent living standard and almost 9x more to support a family.  Unfortunately, garments are the second highest at-risk product category for modern slavery.  

In 2023 Labour Behind the Label published evidence exposing garment factories in Pakistan paying over a third of workers surveyed less than the minimum wage, equivalent to £68 a month, while nearly two thirds of workers weren’t being paid the agreed rate for enforced overtime.  

This enables big, high-street brands to continue to grow profits and keep retail prices low. 

There are steps in place to try and prevent modern slavery in the fashion industry, such as the UK Modern Slavery Act. But the reality is that supply chains are complex and visibility beyond the first tier is difficult.  

The best thing we can do as consumers in the UK, is not only use our privilege and power to make wise purchasing decisions, but educate others on the far from glamorous side of industry.  

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