Textile Waste – An Environmental Crisis?

One of the largest polluters in the world is considered the fashion industry
as it is vastly contributing to environmental waste and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Lately, textile waste had become a serious concern as the amount of discarded textiles and clothing increases fast.

The global amount of textile waste has been estimated to 92 million tons
each year and is expected to increase by 60% by 2030.
Environmental Impact of Textile Waste
Regarding the environmental impact of textile waste, textile production
requires large amounts of energy, water, and other resources that
contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and the degradation of the
environment. Besides, it may take almost 200 years to decompose the
textile waste disposed of in landfills. During such a process, pollutants and
harmful chemicals are being released into the water, soil, and air,
contaminating the environment, posing health risks to people, and
harming wildlife.
Moreover, textile waste can have a crucial economic and social impact.
Most of the discarded clothes end up in developing countries, where it is
further used for raw materials or sold as second-hand clothes. Such
practice has led to workers’ exploitation and the local textile industry
collapse, as the market is being flooded by low-quality products.
Causes of Textile Waste
The main cause of textile waste is considered the fast fashion industry.
Fast fashion involves the production of low-quality, cheap clothing, that is
designed to be worn for short time before being discarded. The business
model of fast fashion encourages consumers to buy more clothes than
needed, which leads to creating a culture of waste and overconsumption.
Additionally, it became difficult to track the way how the clothes are made
and therefore, how they impact the environment specifically due to the
lack of transparency in the supply chain.
Besides, lack of reuse and recycling can be considered another cause of
textile waste. Only a low percentage of discarded clothes are repurposed
or recycled. Most of the clothes end up in incinerators or landfills. That is
mainly due to the high cost of specialised processes and technologies

used for textile recycling making the large-scale implementation of
recycling extremely challenging.
Measures to Reduce Textile Waste
Considering measures to reduce textile waste, one of the most effective
ways is the encouragement of consumers to buy less and focus on
sustainable clothes. This may be achieved through targeted campaigns
and educating consumers, ethical fashion initiatives, and labelling
schemes. Further, by adopting sustainable production practices including
the use of recycled and organic materials, waste reduction and
implementing models of circular economy, companies can contribute to
their impact reduction.
In addition, reuse and recycling increase can likewise support textile
waste reduction. For that, there is a necessity of investing in textile
recycling infrastructure and technologies and promoting clothing swaps
and second-hand clothes markets. Besides, the use of innovative
materials such as compostable and biodegradable textiles could support
textile waste as well.
What Turtle Boots do differently?
In Turtle Boots, we focus on waste management and operating
responsibly towards the customers, suppliers, and especially the
ecosystem. In terms of supply chain transparency, we only source leather
from tanneries that are approved by the Leather Working Group, to
ensure that all aspects of our supply chain are upholding the values of our
organisation. Further, to support recycling, customers can return their
used boots to us, and we will actively recycle the PU rubber outsole and
the steel and reuse these materials throughout our New Zealand partner
network, reducing the amount of rubber and steel that goes to landfills.
For more information on how sustainable we are, check our website!

References:
Bailey, K., Basu, A., & Sharma, S. (2022). The Environmental Impacts of
Fast Fashion on Water Quality: A Systematic Review. Water,  14(7), 1073.
Beall, A. (2020, July 13). Why clothes are so hard to recycle. BBC.
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-
are-so-hard-to-recycle
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017). A new textiles economy: Redesigning
fashion’s future. Retrieved from https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-
new-textiles-economy
Greenpeace. (2022). A Greenpeace Germany Report. Retrieved from
https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/
2022/04/9f50d3de-greenpeace-germany-poisoned-fast-fashion-briefing-
factsheet-april-2022.pdf
Juanga-Labayen, J. P., Labayen, I. V., & Yuan, Q. (2022). A review on
textile recycling practices and challenges. Textiles,  2(1), 174-188.
Mason, M. C., Pauluzzo, R., & Umar, R. M. (2022). Recycling habits and
environmental responses to fast-fashion consumption: Enhancing the
theory of planned behavior to predict Generation Y consumers’ purchase
decisions. Waste Management,  139(1), 146-157.
Sahimaa, O., Miller, E. M., Halme, M., Niinimäki, K., Tanner, H., Mäkelä, M.,
… & Hummel, M. (2023). The only way to fix fast fashion is to end
it. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 4(2023), 137-138.
TurtleBoots. (2023). Safety Footwear designed and tested for NZ
conditions. Retrieved from https://turtleboots.co.nz
United Nations Environment Programme. (2018). Waste &  Resources:
Sustainable fashion. Retrieved from
https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource