The fast fashion industry was worth an estimated $210 billion in 2021, and it is expected to grow to $260 billion by 2028.

Brands like H&M and Zara are at the heart of the fast fashion industry, supplying markets with cheaply made clothing at affordable prices.

The rise of fast fashion began in the late 1990s and early 2000s when faster manufacturing and supply chains and a trend towards updating one’s wardrobe every season altered the way consumers purchased clothing.

There has been a recent media focus on fast fashion’s environmental footprint, as it has markedly increased global plastic pollution.

Fast fashion contributes to the microplastic pollution problem plaguing marine habitats. This is because, despite people’s tendency to donate clothes in the hope that they will be reused, many items end up as waste.

The Changing Markets Foundation recently released a report entitled “Trashion: the stealth export of waste plastic clothes to Kenya,” which focused on how clothing donations to Global South nations such as Kenya are exacerbating plastic pollution.

The research showed how fast fashion’s influence on corporate and consumer cultures, as well as the ability to donate plastics in the form of fibres such as polyester, contribute significantly to global plastic pollution.

Since the 1980s, polyester, a fibre made from oil that cannot be recycled, has been the fastest-growing clothing fibre used by fashion brands. The report references research conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which found that 35% of ocean microplastics originate from synthetic textiles.

Researchers followed the supply chain of clothing being sent from the EU and the UK to Kenya. The report states, “In 2021, over 900 million items of used clothing are estimated to have been exported to Kenya. Of these, up to 458 million used clothing items are estimated to [be] have been waste.”

OUT NOW 📺@ChangingMarkets #Trashion investigation and documentary reveals how 300m items of junk plastic clothing are dumped on Kenya per year, creating major health & environmental issues for vulnerable communities.

Watch the full video at https://t.co/QsgyBYOSjk pic.twitter.com/ImtlLVb2jc

— Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) February 17, 2023

The EU is a signatory to the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. This Convention aims to prevent the export of hazardous waste to developing countries for disposal. The Convention was amended in 2019 to include plastic waste; however, the Trashion report mentions that plastic fibres are not covered by the Convention.

A variety of organizations claiming to ethically recycle clothing often ship it to Global South nations for resale. However, between 20-50% of what is sent to Kenya, a major importer of used textiles, is stained, soiled, poor quality, or inappropriate given the country’s warm climate, and subsequently ends up as waste. This waste is dumped, incinerated, or used as fuel, damaging waterways, and releasing harmful toxins into the air.

The inhalation of smoke from burning plastics has been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, and birth defects. The report stated, “Locals reported breathing issues such as asthma, and the river here was still and stagnant, principally choked with plastic, which had effectively dammed it at one end. However, there was also clothing visible woven down through the riverbanks.” Interviewers for the project witnessed peanut roasters burning pieces of unsellable textiles on-site to use as fuel.

The report suggests policies to tackle the problem of fibre plastic pollution in Global South countries. The recommendations include encouraging the use of non-toxic materials in textile manufacturing and creating an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme that would make ‘polluter pays’ fees high enough to drive businesses to change their product designs. The latter recommendation also suggests a focus on closed-loop recycling rather than downcycling clothing.

Tackling the fast fashion industry and its resultant plastic pollution requires concerted efforts by governments and businesses to seek changes to the paradigm around consumption patterns and waste. Corporations are not often held responsible for the full lifespan of their products and do not offer recycling options, particularly not for cheaply made goods.

The Trashion report is vital to understanding how even organisations seeking to ethically dispose of clothing are contributing to the plastic pollution problem in the Global South. There are movements encouraging people to mend their clothes, buy used clothes, only wear natural fabrics, and not purchase from fast fashion brands.

However, until there is a shift in corporate practices and a circular fashion industry that addresses the lifespan of the product is created, microplastic pollution from textiles will continue to be a problem, particularly for nations in the Global South.

(Photo credit: Ivan Radic/Flickr Commons)

Sarah Sakeena Marshall,
American University’s School of Intl Service & The Muslim News Environmental Columnist