That impact is complex and seeking to understand it can be overwhelming. We’ve looked to simplify the impact of what we buy with some key points from research but it’s not perfect.
The fashion industry has an impact on our land, our air and our water. It uses energy and it uses chemicals.
Its impact is dependent on what the material is, where it comes from, how it is grown or made. It matters how it is coloured, how much pollution and waste is created across the whole process and how far it travels. And importantly how long it stays in our system and what happens to it at the end of life.
of used textiles go to landfill or incineration in the UK every year, 336 million kg of this is used clothing. 620 million additional kg of used textiles are processed in the UK with 31% of this being re-sold domestically and 60% being exported overseas.