20 Truths about the Textile Industry

The textile industry which includes clothing, footwear, and household textiles is among the largest in the world and has a major impact on the environment. Production and consumption of textiles cause significant loss of water and energy, use of the chemical substances, water, and air pollution, waste production and eventually micro-plastic generation.

Environmental Impact

6. Clothing, footwear and household textiles is the 4th worst ranked – pressure category for use of raw materials and water (after food, housing and transport). It is the 2nd highest for land use (after food) and the 5th highest for greenhouse gas emissions;

7. It takes over 11,000 liters of fresh water to grow 1 kg of cotton;

8. A single T-shirt takes 2,700 liters of water to make. The same amount of water an average person drinks over 2.5 years;

9. The volume of water consumed by apparel production each year is currently the equivalent to 32 million Olympic swimming pools;

10. Reselling a cotton T-shirt second-hand - versus throwing it away - reduces it's carbon impact by 14%;

11. If everyone bought one used item instead of new in the year, the carbon savings would be equivalent to half a million cars taken off the road for a year;

Waste

Plastic

16. Several studies have recently also shown that one load of laundry of polyester clothes can discharge 700 000 micro-plastic fibers, which release toxins into the environment and can end up in human food chain;

17. Today, 60 % of textile fibers are synthetic. Polyester is a plastic and the most commonly used fiber, produced from carbon-intensive processes requiring more than 70 million barrels of oil each year;

18. Garments made from oil-based synthetic fibers can take up to 200 years to decompose;

Toxins

19. It is estimated that about 20 % of global water pollution is caused by dyeing and finishing textile products, affecting the health of workers and local communities. “Farmers in China close to garment factories ‘joke’ about being able to tell what color will be ‘in’ next season by looking at the shade of their rivers.”;

20. About 3 500 of different chemicals are used in textile production. Of these, 750 have been classified as hazardous for human health and 440 as hazardous for the environment.

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