China has been a welcome leader in the clean energy sphere, but a new report highlights the staggering amount of textile waste it is generating, including from the fast fashion sector.
What's happening?
As reported by the Associated Press, more than 26 million tons of clothes are thrown away in China annually, per government statistics, with most of the waste making its way to landfills. Complicating matters is the fact that many of the items were cheaply produced with unrecyclable synthetic materials that leach harmful chemicals into the environment.
According to Sheng Lu, a University of Delaware professor of fashion and apparel studies, many consumers in China are reluctant to pay more for clothes that contain recycled materials. Because of this, Lu believes sustainable fashion has an uphill battle to succeed on a broad scale in the nation.
"Companies do not have the financial incentive," Lu told the AP of a potential shift to more eco-friendly production practices in China.
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Why is this concerning?
With China being the largest textile producer and consumer, per the AP, and the second-most populous country in the world, its practices have a significant impact on the health of our planet.
When clothes end up in landfills, they generate potent gases such as methane, which is 28 times more powerful at warming the planet on a pound-for-pound basis than carbon dioxide. Rising global temperatures have caused extreme weather to become more intense and frequent and contributed to food shortages and price increases, among other things.
The fashion sector is far from the only environmentally damaging industry, but it is a major part of the problem. According to Earth.org, the number of times people wear garments has declined by roughly 36% over the past 15 years. Now, the fast fashion sector is manufacturing twice as much clothes as it did just two decades ago.
What is China doing about textile waste?
The country has taken bold action with its pollution-reduction goals, with its electric transit system and electric vehicle production among the promising steps toward a cleaner tomorrow, but it still has a long way to go in the textile industry, as reported by the AP.
However, Lu believes that "more clear signals from the very top" could revolutionize the textile sector, similar to how the EV industry in China has taken off.
And while fast fashion brands such as Shein (based in China) have come under intense scrutiny for their environmentally damaging practices, as well as human rights abuse allegations, some designers are focusing on more sustainable practices.
Fashion label Reclothing Bank, for example, sells fashionable items made from plastic waste, such as fishing lines and bottles, among other things.
"When I touched the clothes in detail, I had absolutely no idea that they would have this very comfortable feel," college student Bao Yang told the AP after visiting the company's Shanghai location.
Educating yourself about greenwashing is one way to ensure you are supporting brands that are actually aligned with sustainability goals, whether they are based at home or abroad. If you choose to forgo fast fashion, it is still possible to look great on a budget. People have discovered all sorts of high-quality treasures from a thriving and growing secondhand market.
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