The carbon cost of clothing

What is the carbon footprint of clothing? 

Clothing has a significant carbon footprint, with the sector responsible for somewhere between 2% and 10% of overall global emissions, according to various estimates. 

Each year, the combined textile consumption of everyone in Europe creates around 120 million tons of emissions – equivalent to driving around the world over 11 million times. 

Curbing emissions from the fashion industry will therefore be vital to limiting catastrophic climate breakdown. 

According to the sustainability research institute, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, if the fashion industry continues on its current path, by 2050 it could use more than a quarter of the carbon budget, the allowable amount of global emissions, for 2 degrees of warming – a vital threshold agreed by world leaders for limiting global heating. 
 

Where are the emissions coming from?

Emissions are generated at every stage of an item’s lifecycle, from the production of fibres for fabrics, right through to clothing’s disposal, usually in landfill. 

The majority of emissions come from manufacturing (as opposed for example to transportation or use). 

One study in 2018 found that the sources of these emissions were as follows: 

• 1% distribution
• 7% assembly
• 12% fabric production e.g. weaving
• 15% fibre production 
• 28% yarn production e.g. spinning
• 36% dyeing and finishing (source of figures)

Many of these processes require large amounts of energy – particularly dyeing, which involves heating big quantities of water. 

In the future, these processes could rely on renewable energy. However, emissions from clothing are currently high because many of the countries with large textile industries rely heavily on fossil fuels. For example, China exports over 30% of all clothing in the world. In 2021, 60% of China's energy came from coal, an extremely emissions intensive fuel. While the country is slowly moving towards renewables, its coal dependence isn’t likely to change any time soon. 

Carbon emissions of different fabrics

The carbon footprint of an item of clothing varies depending on the type of fabric chosen.

Few studies provide up-to-date, like-for-like comparisons for different fabric types. However, in 2012, an analysis by waste action charity WRAP provided the figures in the table below for CO2e per kg of fabric produced. This takes into account the emissions released during all parts of the lifecycle.

Wool is unsurprisingly the highest emitter. Sheep belch and fart large amounts of methane – a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20 year period. 

We explain more about why sheep have such a high impact in our article on the climate impacts of different diets.

Globally, though, polyester and cotton are the biggest concern, because they are so widely used. Almost 80% of all fibres are made from polyester or cotton. Estimates of the emissions per kilo of the two fabrics vary greatly, making it unclear which has the highest carbon impact. 

But it is clear that we will have to slash the footprint from both, and rapidly, to meet international climate goals.

How can fashion companies cut emissions?

Clothing emissions could be cut a long way reasonably easily.

In 2021, the World Economic Forum analysed various sectors and found that clothing was one of the cheapest to decarbonise. Cutting emissions, it said, could increase the cost of a €40 pair of jeans by just €1. 

Emissions could be slashed by making the following changes:

• 45% by switching to renewable energy
• 20% by switching to renewable sources for heat (e.g. for dyeing)
• 15% by increasing the efficiency of manufacturing, by upgrading to more energy efficient machinery for sewing, spinning, weaving and knitting
• 10% by switching from wet to dry production processes
• 10% through ‘nature-based solutions’ e.g. growing cotton more sustainably
• 2% from recycling
• 2% through low-carbon transport

But manufacturers would have to make almost all of these changes – and they are at the other end of the supply chain from the public facing big brands. And fashion retailers are experts at distancing themselves from the factories they fund and depend upon.  

How do fashion brands rate when it comes to cutting emissions?

As part of our climate rating, we look at whether companies are reporting on emissions, whether they have credible climate action plans, and whether their targets are in line with vital international climate goals, agreed by world leaders. We also look for third-party criticisms for greenwashing or highly polluting practices. (Note, in our ratings, smaller brands (the ethical clothing ones) which are doing good things and discuss how they are reducing their emissions do not have to report on so many figures.)

In our ethical clothing and high street clothing guides companies were rated as follows:

Secondhand sellers scored highly by default in our shopping guides: Preworn, Rokit, Thrifted, and We Are Cow. They are included in the shopping guide to ethical clothing brands.

Which fashion brands are doing the least to address climate concerns?

Unfortunately there are a lot of fashion brands which are doing very little to address climate issues and scored poorly in our climate rating.

What can consumers do to tackle emissions from clothing? 

As well as telling fashion brands why you're avoiding shopping with them, there are some other actions (or non actions!) consumers can do to help reduce the climate burden from clothing. 

Here are a few of our tips, but do let us know if you have other ways to reduce the climate impact from clothing.

1) Use what you already own (buy less new stuff)

Extending the life of your clothing is the single biggest way you can cut the emissions of your wardrobe.

Waste action charity Wrap has found that the average person owns 118 items of clothing – a quarter of which have not been worn in at least a year. Making use of what you own is the most obvious way to cut your carbon footprint and avoid funding a polluting sector.

Great ways to do this include giving clothing to friends or taking them to a clothes swap, as well as caring for and repairing your clothes to give them a longer life. We have tips on clothing reuse and repair in a separate article.

They can also be upcycled into other things once they've reached the end of their wearable life.

2) Buy pre-loved secondhand clothing

As most of the emissions from clothing arise during manufacturing, buying secondhand clothes is a great way to cut carbon. There are lots of options for buying secondhand, and we have a dedicated article to help you navigate them.

We also look at the rise of charity shops and secondhand clothing and assess which charity shops are the most ethical.

3) Avoid fast fashion brands

The rise of fast fashion has had devastating consequences, from its reliance on plastic fabrics and its enormous carbon footprint to its erosion of workers’ rights. Brands like Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing put out hundreds of new styles a day at impossibly low prices, encouraging us to buy poor quality items worn only a handful of times.

Avoiding these kinds of brands, and opting for slower ethical fashion when buying new will help to cut emissions and ensure your money goes to a company trying to do something different. 

We have 10 tips to help you ditch fast fashion in a separate article.

4) Wash clothes at a lower temperature and do not tumble dry

According to the Guardian, “Washing and drying a load every two days creates around 440kg of CO2e each year, which is equivalent to flying from London to Glasgow and back with 15-mile taxi rides to and from the airports.”

How often you wash your clothes, and what temperature you choose, can therefore have a significant impact.

Tumble drying is the worst culprit. A 40 degree wash combined with a tumble dry will generate 3.5 times the emissions than if the clothes are air dried.

Additional research by Josie Wexler.