CONSUMED GLOBALLY EACH YEAR BY TEXTILE INDUSTRY
Water is a heavily used resource in the fashion industry. Estimates indicate that producing a single cotton T-shirt requires 2,700 liters of freshwater, an amount equivalent to what a person would drink over two and a half years.
DISCARD IN MIXED WASTE STREAMS ONLY WITHIN WASTE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES
The way people dispose of clothing has also changed, with many garments being thrown away rather than donated. Between 2000 and 2015, clothing production doubled, while usage decreased by 36%, leading to a shorter lifecycle for textile products. European citizens consume nearly 26 kg of textiles per year and discard about 11 kg. Used clothing can be exported outside the EU, but most is incinerated or sent to landfill (87%).
IN EMISSIONS GENERATED BY TEXTILE PRODUCTS CONSUMED IN THE EU
Over 70% of emissions generated by the fashion industry come from upstream activities, particularly the production, preparation, and processing of high-energy-intensity raw materials. The remaining 30% is generated by downstream activities, such as transportation, packaging, retail operations, usage, and end-of-life disposal.