Introduction
Did you know that the fashion industry consumes 93 billion cubic meters of water each year, enough to meet the needs of five million people? Even more, five hundred thousand tons of microfibers, equivalent to three million barrels of oil, are released into the ocean every year. Fast fashion is an environmental catastrophe due to its focus on producing trendy, inexpensive clothing at a startling rate.
Overconsumption and Waste
Fast fashion is characterized by its ease of accessibility in terms of the price of clothing. However, such accessibility has come with a toll on the environment. Due to the demand for inexpensively made and trendy clothes, fast fashion today is a one-handed weapon in which the fashion industry can be measured as one of the largest contributors to climate change. The shift is associated with the disposability culture, overconsumption, high emissions of greenhouse gas (“GHG”), as well as excessive use of water resources
As indicated by the World Economic Forum, the fashion industry is the third most polluting industry after the food and construction industries.[i] Further, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that the fashion industry alone contributes about 10% of the total global carbon emissions—which is even higher than the combined emissions from all international flights and maritime shipping.[ii] Moreover, it is rather important to point out that if the current trend continues, the industry’s GHG emissions will have ascended, exceeding 50% by 2030, and thus further aggravate the industry’s negative impact on the environment.[iii]
The Consequences of Fast Fashion
Unsurprisingly, consumers are buying more clothes than they ever did in previous decades. The problem with fast fashion is that it views clothes as a throwaway item, making it necessary to purchase ‘trendy’ pieces that are inexpensive but wear out easily when they become ‘out of style.’ This far-reaching mentality sees millions of tons of clothes thrown out into landfills every year, greatly compounding the effect of textile waste on the environment. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States alone accounts for 11 million tons of textiles per year that end up in landfills, with the impact of fast fashion being responsible for many of the statistics.[iv] The synthetic materials used to make many fast fashion goods, such as polyester, can take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills. As they decompose, hazardous microplastics and toxic chemicals, including methane gas, are released, thereby polluting the soil and water. Moreover, the Climate Council notes that synthetic fibers are the leading contributor to carbon emissions.”[v] Each year, 1.92 million tons of textile waste is produced, and out of the 100 billion garments produced annually, 92 million tons end up in landfills. It’s estimated that a truckload of clothes is discarded every single second.[vi] In addition to landfills, polyester not only produces more carbon emissions than cotton but is also the main source of microplastic pollution in oceans,[vii] with around 500,000 tons of microfibers—equivalent to three million barrels of oil—being dumped into the ocean yearly.[viii] This contributes significantly to environmental pollution, harming ecosystems and contributing to climate change.
Assessing the Environmental and Human Effects of Textile Manufacturing
In addition to the waste created by fast fashion, a big concern is the waste created during the textile manufacturing process. The fashion industry is notorious for its excessive water consumption, generating vast amounts of wastewater. For instance, to make a single pair of jeans, an average of 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of water is used—an amount sufficient for an average person’s drinking needs for seven years. The fashion industry consumes around 79 trillion liters of water annually, contributing to approximately 20% of global industrial wastewater.[ix]
It is further estimated that about 85% of human-made pollution along coastlines is associated with microfibers that are largely invisible in the deep ocean yet highly toxic. These microfibers are released not only during the manufacturing process but also when clothing is worn and laundered after purchase. Microfiber pollution has the potential to drastically alter the characteristics of marine ecosystems and can take hundreds of years to break down.[x] It has been proven that some fish and other animals consumed by humans contain small amounts of synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester.[xi]
The carbon impact of textile and footwear consumption jumped from 1.0 to 1.3 gigatons in the years before 2015. This rise is primarily caused by major contributors such as Brazil, China, India, and the United States. While textile production experienced a 75% increase during this same period, the relatively modest rise in emissions per garment suggests significant improvements in production efficiency.[xii] However, the environmental consequences of the fashion industry remain severe. Not only does the use of garments emit toxic air pollutants, but clothing waste discarded in landfills also leaches harmful chemicals. This leads to the production of methane—a powerful GHG. The GHG emission by the fashion industry alone is about 10% of the total emissions globally, which is equivalent to what the EU produces.[xiii] It stems from various factors, such as large-scale mass production, transportation across distances, and disposal of garments.
As if this industry wasn’t damaging enough, it also employs highly toxic chemicals for the textile production process. Many of these substances can disrupt the endocrine system and carcinogens, leading to numerous health problems worldwide, including cancer, infertility, and congenital disabilities.[xiv] The inability to access clean drinking water is estimated to kill almost 1 million people every year.[xv]
Laws regulating the Fashion Sector
Under various environmental statutes, the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) is one of the countries with a concentration on the conservation of the environment, that respect was translated in the Environmental and Natural Resources Code (“Environmental Code”), on 29 June 2023[xvi]. This code establishes monetary fines and principles that comprehensively address all aspects of environmental protection regulations relevant to the fashion sector. In the United States, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act which permits the suing of companies that breach compliance in relation to waste and hazardous chemical management statutes[xvii], thereby ensuring a way to comply with the environmental standards. Similarly, the EU has implemented regulations such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Act, which seeks to protect human health and the environment from certain chemical substances.[xviii] These regulatory frameworks in a certain respect have motivated the further realization of environmental protection principles in the fashion business across different jurisdictions.
Conclusion
It must be pointed out that the very idea of a conscientious consumer becomes crucial in the attempts to escape the vicious circles of being trendsetters in the fast fashion industry so that the future of the fashion industry is more rational and sustainable. The government ought to put laws into place that encourage eco-friendly material usage and sustainable fashion sector practices. Reducing the fashion consumption desire can only be improved by the promotion of individual and collective responsible fashion consumer behaviors. Sustainability is also within the reach of every citizen, not just large corporations, all have a part to play so that the fashion business of the next generation is conscious and responsible. At the same time, what the consumers spend their money on defines what the industry shall be, and such spending shall usher in a better tomorrow.
[i] World Economic Forum, Net Zero Challenge: The Supply Chain Opportunity (2021), https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Net_Zero_Challenge_The_Supply_Chain_Opportunity_2021.pdf.
[ii] United Nations Environment Programme, 10 Ways You Can Help Fight the Climate Crisis, U.N. Env’t Programme (Dec. 16, 2021).
[iii] United Nations Environment Programme, Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain: A Global Roadmap (2023).
[iv] Martina Igini, Statistics About Fast Fashion Waste, Earth.Org (Aug. 21, 2023); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Facts and Figures About Materials, Waste and Recycling: Textiles – Material-Specific Data, U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency (Nov. 8, 2024),
[v] Climate Council, Fast Fashion and Climate Change, Climate Council (Dec. 13, 2024),
[vi] Igini, Statistics About Fast Fashion Waste, Earth.Org (2023).
[vii] Christine Gaylarde, Jose Antonio Baptista-Neto & Estefan Monteiro da Fonseca, Plastic Microfibre Pollution: How Important Is Clothes’ Laundering?, Heliyon, vol. 7, issue 5, 2021,
[viii] United Nations, UN Launches Drive to Highlight Environmental Cost of Staying Fashionable, U.N. News (Mar. 22, 2019),
[ix] Id.
[x] Mark Anthony Browne et al., Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Worldwide: Sources and Sinks, Envtl. Sci. & Tech., vol. 45, 2011,
[xi] Jianli Liu et al., Microfiber Pollution: An Ongoing Major Environmental Issue Related to the Sustainable Development of Textile and Clothing Industry, Envt. Dev. & Sustainability, vol. 23, 2021.
[xii] Greg Peters, Mengyu Li & Manfred Lenzen, The Need to Decelerate Fast Fashion in a Hot Climate—A Global Sustainability Perspective on the Garment Industry, J. Cleaner Prod., vol. 295, 2021.
[xiii] European Parliament, The Impact of Textile Production and Waste on the Environment (Infographics), Eur. Parl. (Dec. 2024).
[xiv] International Labour Organization, The Future of Work in Textiles, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear, ILO (2021), https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_dialogue/@lab_admin/documents/publication/wcms_795460.pdf.
[xv] World Health Organization, Drinking Water, WHO (Sep. 13, 2023).
[xvi] Kingdom of Cambodia, Royal Kram No. 0623/007 on Environment and Natural Resources Code, promulgated June 29, 2023, translated by the Ministry of Environment of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
[xvii] 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq. (1976).
[xviii] Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).