London buys and discards clothing at a rate that is—simply put—both wasteful and unsustainable.
- In 2019, London consumed a humongous 154,600 tonnes of clothing and got rid of as much as 142,700 tonnes. In other words, as many as 48 items of new clothing on average were acquired per person per year, and as many as 44 were thrown away.
- The numbers are from the just-published report titled London’s fashion footprint: An analysis of clothing material flows, emissions and levers for climate action.
- This was the outcome of research conducted between January 2022 and May 2023 by the University College London (UCL), ReLondon and Circle Economy. The project was funded through the UKRI Circular Economy Hub (CE-Hub) Flexible Fund.
The Highlights: The report—which examined the material flows and consumption-based emissions of London’s fashion supply chain, and also suggested levers for action across London’s fashion supply chain—is a gold mine of information:
- Clothing production: An overwhelming 92% was made elsewhere and imported into the city.
- Overall emissions: Londoners’ consumption of clothing resulted in the production of 2,009,300 tonnes C02eq, around 0.23 tonnes CO2eq per person. Clothing represents 17% of all emissions associated with the consumption of goods within London.
- Emission break-up: As much as 87% of the total consumption-based emissions produced by London’s fashion supply chain are linked to imports. On the other hand, 12% of emissions associated with clothing come from what is manufactured within London. Just 1% comes from emissions linked to post-consumer waste management.
- Clothing disposal: Fibre, fabric and clothing are discarded at various points—from scraps of excess material within factories to unsold clothing stock within retail.
- Consumer waste: A large proportion is thrown away by consumers. Of the 142,700 tonnes of clothing discarded by Londoners in 2019 (around 44 items of clothing per person), over 40% ended up in the waste bin where 90% is lost to energy from waste/incineration and 10% goes to landfill.
- Captured clothing: About 60% is collected by charities, local authorities and textile merchants. But even these 82,100 tonnes come with social and environmental impacts. Roughly 10% is reused within London, but two-thirds are exported overseas either due to a lack of quality, lack of domestic demand, or excess volume, with the rest being discarded or downcycled due to damage and contamination.
