What we throw away / 02
Clothing
Fast fashion, shoes, synthetic fabrics and short-lived trends. Clothes are now produced faster, worn fewer times and discarded sooner than at any point in human history.
Wear it longer.
Verified Numbers
92 Million Tonnes
Textile waste generated globally every year.
Approximately 92 million tonnes of textile waste are generated globally every year.
Source: UNEP 2024United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — Unsustainable fashion and textiles in focus for International Day of Zero Waste(opens in a new tab)2x
Global clothing production versus two decades ago
~1%
Clothing recycled back into new clothing
+9 mo
Wearing a garment longer measurably cuts its footprint
Unsourced figures are indicative orders of magnitude. Sourced figures link directly to the original research — see the research library.
What's happening
The pattern
- Micro-trend cycles turn clothing into a weekly purchase.
- Synthetic blends shed microfibres and cannot be cleanly separated.
- Low prices hide the true cost of labour, water and dye.
- Donated clothing is often exported and dumped elsewhere.
- Shoes and mixed-material items are effectively unrecyclable.
What helps
Do this instead
- Wear what you own longer — the single highest-impact choice.
- Learn three repairs: button, hem, seam.
- Buy secondhand first; buy quality when you buy new.
- Choose single-fibre fabrics that can actually be recycled.
- Swap, resell, or hand down instead of binning.