It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Dina Bekkevold Lingås

Textile Destruction / EU Overview

5 March 2024

4 minutes

The destruction of customer returns and unsold textiles have direct environmental and climate impacts. These arise from the processes of handling returns and unsold textiles, and the destruction itself. Importantly, there are also indirect impacts from their original production, even if they are never used.

Almost 9% of Textile Products Destroyed in Europe, Finds Study

Even as the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles seeks to stop the destruction of unsold and returned textiles, a new study has found that the volume of textiles and textile products destroyed in Europe can be as high as 594,000 tones every year, with lower range estimates pegged at 264,000 tonnes.

By

Staff Writer

Young India Fashion Survey 2025

Textile Recycling Expo

ITF Intertex Portugal 2025

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Labour Issues / New Trade Disorder / III Commentary

Reports have been gradually trickling in about orders being slashed and hiring frozen. There are fears—not entirely unfounded—that factories would be forced to either downsize or shut shop entirely.

If Deals Don't Work out, Garment Workers in Manufacturing Hubs Face a Bleak Future

Subir Ghosh

9 April 2025

Tariffs and Seconds / SMART View Interview

If unfair trade barriers persist, there's the risk of seeing mountains of usable clothing pile up in the US, while markets abroad fill the gap with cheap, low-quality fast fashion that often results in more waste, not less. Keeping the second-hand clothing trade flowing freely is in everyone’s best interest: economically, socially, and environmentally. This is a moment to build smarter, fairer, and more circular global systems, not to shut them down.

Trade Barriers on Second-Hand Clothing Disrupt a Globally Significant Reverse Supply Chain

Subir Ghosh

24 April 2025