The global study analysed textile waste in Western cities, which has prompted experts to call for a “fashion waste shake-up” after researchers discovered donated clothes were either exported or thrown away.

The study examined what happened to unwanted clothes and textiles in cities across the world including Melbourne, Manchester, Amsterdam, Austin, Berlin, Geneva, Luxembourg, Oslo and Toronto.

Researchers found the same pattern of textile waste existed in most of the cities which resulted in clothes being exported, going to landfill or being dumped in the environment.

Currently, global textile waste amounts to about 92 million tonnes each year which experts say could double by 2030.

A new study has found large amounts of clothing donated to charity shops were poor quality and had little financial benefit, so they traded valuable items and discarded or exported the rest.

While charity shops handled a large amount of used clothes, many garments were poor quality and had little financial benefit, so they sold valuable items and discarded or exported the rest.

In Melbourne, charities exported high-quality, vintage, second-hand clothes to Europe, which forced the city’s independent resale businesses to import similar items back from Europe or the US.

RMIT School of Fashion researcher Yassie Samie was a co-author of the study and said Australians were used to charities doing the heavy lifting, but they had been unable to handle the volume of donated clothes for a long time.

RMIT School of Fashion researcher Dr Yassie Samie was a co-author of the study which recommended local governments and charities needed to co-ordinate more to manage textile waste so it didn’t end up in landfill.

Dr Samie said local governments and charities needed to co-ordinate more to manage textile waste.

“Charities are ill-equipped to deal with the volume of used textiles that need to be reused and recycled,” she said.

“Given the role of charities within communities, it’s essential they expand beyond direct resale in second-hand shops and explore other business models such as swapping and repair centres.”

She said charities had been part of the textile waste solution for more than 100 years, which had worked for several decades, but then the market was hit by fast fashion and over consumption.

“Because we have so much volume, op shops are not working, so as a result of that they engage in exporting and have to landfill,” she said.

“In a country like Australia managing waste is very expensive because charity organisations have to collect all these textiles then go through the process of sorting, which is a very expensive and time consuming process.

“This is where the local governments can step in and support them with collection, sorting and tackling the financial barriers by sharing their assets, knowledge, and workforce.”

The study found overconsumption and oversupply were the main drivers of textile waste, which resulted in 33 per cent of unwanted clothes exported in Australia and 97 per cent in Norway.

Australia and the US were the biggest discarders of unwanted clothes per capita but neither country had regulations to manage textile unlike Europe.

Authorities in Amsterdam collected and sorted unwanted clothes and encouraged collection of all textiles including non-reusable ones; from January members of the European Union must establish collection systems for used textiles.

Researchers found most local governments in the cities that were studied did not get involved in textile waste beyond providing public spaces and licences for charity bins and resellers.

In cities like Melbourne, local governments sent dumped textiles to landfill instead of diverting them to recycling or reuse facilities or other local alternatives.

Dr Samie said this indicated the lack of mechanism and incentives in place to drive real systemic change.

Fast fashion is one of the reasons for the explosion in textile waste.

Seamless is an Australian clothing stewardship scheme funded by fashion brands that advocates for fashion and clothing brands to be responsible for their items throughout the entire lifespan.

The organisation found in 2023 Australians bought 53 items of clothing each, and more than 220,000 tonnes of clothing was sent to landfill.

It also found 592 million items of clothing were reused, sold, swapped or shared in Australia and therefore worn by another person.

Seamless chief executive officer Ainsley Simpson said clothing waste in Australia continued to be a critical challenge.

“While individual organisations are making inroads, system-wide change is critical to transform the way Australians choose, enjoy and recycle their clothing,” she said.

“If we see these positive changes with organisations working on their own, imagine what’s possible when we join together to achieve a common goal of a circular clothing economy in Australia by 2030.

“We all need to collaborate to establish an appropriate and sustainable national collection, sorting and recycling system.”

The 10 Essential Fast Fashion Statistics

Fast fashion is both an economic and sociological phenomenon that has grown to epic proportions. What we cut in costs for garments is borne twice over by the planet, and it is absolutely crucial that we change our regulations and behaviours. We believe in empowering people with knowledge, so here is our list of the 10 most essential fast fashion statistics that will help you understand the detrimental impact of this industry on the environment. 

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1 – 2. Clothing production has doubled –  Garment usage lifetime has decreased

These two statistics are the embodiment of fast fashion. Clothing sales doubled from 100 to 200 billion units a year, while the average number of times an item was worn decreased by 36% overall.

3. Fast fashion generated more CO2 than aviation and shipping combined

The fashion industry is the second-largest industrial polluter, accounting for about 10% of global pollution, ranking higher than emissions from air travel and maritime transport combined.

4. More than $500 billion are lost every year due to lack of recycling and clothing utilisation

Garments given up early and thrown out instead of recycled combine to produce massive wastage, estimated at around $500 billion every year. A large portion occurs on the consumer’s side, but retail stores are just as guilty, often spotted tossing or burning unsold stock.

You might also like: How Can the Fast Fashion Industry Reduce Textile Waste?

5. Fashion habits around the world vary

The previous statistics gave a global snapshot of the situation, but fast fashion is more or less prominent depending on where you live.

 

6. 20% of global wastewater comes from textile dyeing

The fashion industry consumes a monstrous amount of water, around 93 billion cubic metres, leaving much of it contaminated by toxic chemicals. According to the UN Environment Programme, 20% of global wastewater comes from textile dyeing. Because the bulk of the production is in countries with less regulation, the wastewater often finds its way to rivers and seas where it can wreak havoc.

You might also like: Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

7. We discard 92 million tons of clothes-related waste each year

This next figure on our list of fast fashion statistics can be difficult to grasp, so let us reframe it.

8. Produces half a million tons of microplastics

You’ve surely heard of the plague of microplastics, now seemingly ubiquitous on Earth. They are found everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest, to within the very air we breathe. The oceans are riddled with them, routinely ingested by fish, which are then eaten in turn as the plastic works its way up the food chain.

Garments are a huge source of microplastics because so many are now made of nylon or polyester, both durable and cheap. Each wash and dry cycle, especially the latter, sheds microfilaments that move through our sewage systems and end up in waterways. We estimate that half a million tons of these contaminants reach the ocean each year.

9. Returns of items bought online exceed the amount of all purchased goods

As more and more online retailers, big and small, offer the option to send back goods easily and often for free, return rates, especially of fashion items, have skyrocketed, exceeding 30% of all purchased goods.

10. You can easily help cut consumer emissions by more than half

It has been shown that by skipping one in six washing loads, washing half loads at below 30 degrees, and substituting every sixth dryer usage with open-air drying, we would reduce consumer emissions by more than half.

That may seem like a complicated set of instructions, but the message is that small cuts or changes of behaviour here and there make a big difference. You can be part of that.