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Research Outline
Prepared for Johan | Delivered September 11, 2019
Waste in clothing industries
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Goals
To obtain statistics on waste in the clothing industry (fast fashion and in general) for a zero waste marketing campaign.
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Early Findings
Fashion industry statistics on waste
Fashion brand Burberry admits to destroying unsold clothes, accessories, and perfume rather than sell it cheaply to protect its brand identity and value. It had reportedly burned
£30m ($40m)
worth of stocks in July 2018.
The
2017 Pulse of the Fashion
Industry report (GFA and the Boston Consulting Group), states that in 2015, the global textiles and clothing industry was responsible for
92 million tons
of waste and is predicted to increase by at least
50% by 2030
.
According to The New York Times,
85% of textile waste
in the U.S goes to landfill or is incinerated. More than
60% of fabric fibers
are synthetics, derived from fossil fuels. If such clothing items eventually go to landfills, it will not decay.
According to Edge-Fashion Intelligence,
second to oil
, the clothing and textile industry is the largest polluter in the world. Nearly
20%
of global waste is produced by the fashion industry.
According to Research Gate,
15% of fabric
that is intended to be used for clothing ends up on the cutting room floor and this waste has been tolerated in the industry for decades.
Research Gate reports that European Union consumers discard
5.8 million tonnes
of textiles annually and only
26%
is recycled.
According to the Sage Journals, the amount of textile waste that goes to landfill in the UK and US are estimated to be
350,000 tons
and
9.5 million tons
respectively. In China, the annual rate is
20 million
.
CS Monitor states that according to the city's Environmental Protection Department, more than
340 tons
of textile waste is dumped into the city's overflowing landfills
daily
in Hong Kong. This amounts to
100,000 tons
annually.
Other findings
The Guardian has reported that the fashion industry contributes more to climate change than the aeronautical and shipping industries combined. The fashion industry is expected to account for a
quarter
of the world's carbon budget by
2050
.
According to
M
c
k
i
n
s
e
y
, across every apparel category, consumers are keeping clothing items only half as long as they did
15 years ago
. According to estimates, consumers treat the lowest priced clothing items as disposable and discards them after wearing them
seven to eight times.
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