Fast fashion and textile waste

The fashion industry is facing increasing global scrutiny of its

environmentally polluting supply chain operations. Despite the
widely publicized environmental impacts, however, the industry
continues to grow, in part due to the rise of fast fashion, which
relies on cheap manufacturing, frequent consumption and short-
lived garment use.
Globally, 80 billion pieces of new clothing are purchased each
year, translating to $1.2 trillion annually for the global fashion
industry. The majority of these products are assembled in China
and Bangladesh while the United States consumes more clothing
and textiles than any other nation in the world.
Fast fashion is leading to a mountain of clothing being thrown away,
textile waste, each year and has a huge impact on the environment
The textile and fashion industry has a long and complex supply
chain, starting from agriculture and petrochemical production
(for fibre production) to manufacturing, logistics and retail. Each
production step has an environmental impact due to water,
material, chemical and energy use. Many chemicals used in
textile manufacturing are harmful for the environment, factory
workers and consumers. Fast fashion has increased the material
throughput in the system. Fashion brands are now producing
almost twice the amount of clothing today compared with
before the year 2000. Current fashion-consumption practices
result in large amounts of textile waste, most of which is
incinerated, landfilled or exported to developing countries.