Fashion Waste Problem
Fashion waste is costing the global economy more than $400 BILLION every year, according to a recent industry report.
And this is just the economic impact of fashion waste.
It also leads to environmental disasters.
How much clothing is thrown away each year?
On average, consumers throw away 60% on their clothes in the first year.
In 2020 an estimated 18.6 million tones of clothing will end up in a landfill.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation has reported that if the trend continues, over 150 million tonnes of clothing waste will clog landfills by 2050.
Imagine this...
With each second that passes by, a truck worth of fabric is piled into a landfill.
An average dump truck is 76 cubic metres in diameter.
A commercial dump truck holds 10-14 cubic yards of dirt.
That means, EVERY SECOND you’re reading this article 7.6 to 10 cubic meters of fabric is being dumped.
It also means that fashion is a massive contributor to the 1.2 billion tones of greenhouse gas emissions released each year.
SHOCKING, isn’t it?
But the data released about the fashion industry doesn’t get much better upon further reading.
Fashion waste problem
Clothing manufacturing creates over half a million tonnes of microfibre pollution that ends in the ocean.
It is the equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles, each year.
We’re all aware of the plastic ocean problem!
A recent worldwide scale study has identified microplastics in commercial table salts within 16 countries on six continents.
Even worse, microplastic has been found in everyday foods such as beer, honey, and even sugar
However, the problem with fashion is BEYOND textile waste.
In one of the biggest stories surrounding luxury fashion in 2018, insight reporters disclosed that Burberry burned £40m worth of merchandise.
The brand wanted to retain brand exclusivity while keeping stock scarcity high.
Just imagine the negative impact the CO2 and other gasses emission had on the environment.
The scandal had left Burberry reconsidering their garment waste management strategy.
Now the label is using discarded and unwanted stock and upcycle them into new creations.
Fast Fashion Problem
The luxury segment isn’t solely to blame for the industry's negative impact on the environment.
The biggest problem is fast fashion.
Partly due to social influencer marketing, the fashion industry has changed dramatically.
"Right now, customers no longer shop by season; they shop by influencers," said Laurenti Arnault, CEO of Wardrobe of Tomorrow, an online marketplace dedicated exclusively to sustainable luxury brands.Read more about FASHION WASTE