BRUSSELS — The increasing demand for fast fashion among Europeans, driven largely by the convenience of online shopping platforms, is exerting significant pressure on the environment, as highlighted in a recent report from the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Rising textile consumption and waste
New statistics reveal that EU citizens are purchasing more textile products online than ever, particularly from brands that specialize in low-cost, high-volume fast fashion. In 2022, European consumers bought approximately 19 kilograms of clothing, shoes, and other textile goods each, a rise from 17 kilograms in 2019, yet they also disposed of around 16 kilograms of textiles annually.
This consumption pattern has generated an alarming 7 million metric tons of textile waste across the EU, equivalent to an entire large suitcase for every individual each year. The report indicates that a staggering 85 percent of these discarded garments are not reused or recycled and often end up incinerated or in landfills. To combat this, EU nations were mandated to establish separate collection systems for textile waste as of January, aiming to mitigate the environmental impact.
Striving for sustainability in fashion
The EU is setting ambitious goals, intending for all textile products sold within its borders to be durable, repairable, and recyclable by 2030. The EEA report emphasizes the pivotal role of online marketplaces and social media in the fast fashion boom, allowing retailers to perpetually offer consumers new styles at exceptionally low prices.
Without the ability to try items before purchasing, shoppers often buy multiple sizes of the same products and tend to return, resell, or discard those that do not fit. Alarmingly, an estimated 44 percent of returns never reach a new customer and are ultimately destroyed.
Among various consumer categories, garments and footwear rank as the fifth most resource-intensive, according to the report. The production of textiles consumed by EU households utilized 234 million metric tons of raw materials, such as cotton and fuel. While this figure reflects a decrease from 2010, indicating improved resource efficiency per clothing item, the overall environmental challenge remains substantial.
“The ease of online shopping has contributed significantly to the growth of fast fashion, leading to increased textile waste,” the EEA report asserts.