The Consequences of Pollution from the Textile Industry

For this second part of our series of articles on textile pollution, let's revisit the ecological consequences of this sector. As the second most polluting industry in the world, it is the cause of several catastrophes, human, social, and ecological alike.

Cotton Production: Far from Eco-Friendly

As the most widely used natural fiber in clothing manufacturing, cotton accounts for 25% of global textile material production, with approximately 17.7 million tons produced in 2015. Yet, the cultivation of this fiber has disastrous environmental consequences. Cotton production requires massive exploitation of non-renewable resources; nearly 4% of the world's available drinking water is used to irrigate cotton fields. Added to this is the abusive use of chemicals, fertilizers, and especially pesticides to boost production. You can easily guess the effects on the environment. One of the most striking consequences is the drying up of the Aral Sea. We already mentioned this in a previous article which you can find here. Due to overconsumption of water during cotton cultivation, this saltwater sea located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the 4th largest lake on the planet with an area of 67,300 km², disappeared around the 1960s. This is just one ecological disaster among many others reported in recent years.

Water Pollution

Other consequences of the textile industry include the pollution of rivers, streams, and oceans due to garment dyeing (mostly jeans) and synthetic fiber residues from every wash.

"You can predict the next fashionable color by looking at the color of rivers in China."

Orsola de Castro, co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement

Did you know that chemicals are primarily used to dye our clothes?

And the use of these chemical dyes in the textile industry has significantly contributed to the pollution of Chinese rivers. Each year, nearly 40,000 to 50,000 tons of dyes are discharged into waterways.

Consequently, very high levels of cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, and copper are found in rivers. The surrounding soils are abandoned as they become highly polluted, dried out, and infertile.

But this pollution does not stop at production. During garment care after sale, all clothes lose approximately 20% of their microfibers when washed, and 500,000 tons of non-biodegradable plastic microparticles are found in the ocean each year. These wastes threaten the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem.

Garment Transportation

As we mentioned in our last article, many international brands relocate their production to factories in Asia to reduce production costs. With the development of Fast Fashion, China, India, and Bangladesh have become the main players in very low-cost fashion. Nearly 40% of jeans sold in the United States each year come from China. The problem this poses is the transportation of products. To sustain the frantic pace of collection releases in stores in Europe and the United States, more production is needed, and it must be transported as quickly as possible. The most common means of transport used is also one of the most polluting: air travel. This increases greenhouse gas emissions.

Fast Fashion and Human Rights: The Exploitation of Uyghurs in Chinese Factories

For several years, numerous voices have been raised to denounce unfair labor practices in garment manufacturing factories in Asia and other Southern countries. From untenable working hours (over 12 hours a day), indecent wages, extremely precarious working conditions for laborers exposed to toxic chemical components and accidents, to the exploitation of children and women... the human and social consequences of this industry are terrible. The Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013, with nearly 1200 deaths in a factory collapse, brought about awareness of the human impact of Fast Fashion.

In 2020, however, another scandal tainted the textile industry with the forced labor of Uyghurs in Chinese factories. A report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute stated that 83 world-renowned brands are involved in the exploitation of this people, among which 38 are in the textile sector. The Uyghurs are an ethnic group in China, predominantly Muslim. For several years, the Chinese state has been oppressing this people, who are reportedly subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse (torture, forced labor, detention in concentration camps, etc.). Between 2017 and 2019, over 80,000 were sent to factories where they produce goods for multinational corporations in textiles, technology, and automotive industries. And Fast Fashion is equally responsible for this exploitation of docile and affordable labor. Member of Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann initiated a social media campaign to compel major industry names to cease collaboration with Chinese suppliers and subcontractors practicing forced labor of Uyghurs.

It is difficult for consumers to know if they are indirectly participating in this violation of human rights. A collaborative document published by Clear Fashion nonetheless makes it possible to see the actions of clothing brands accused of participating in the exploitation of Uyghurs.

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