MICHIGAN – Discarded textiles and clothing in the United States are outpacing the growth of every other major waste stream category according to a new paper. The paper records how, between 2000 and 2017, textile waste in the USA increased 54 per cent per person, on a per capita basis, while overall waste generation actually decreased by five per cent.
The huge growth of textile waste, less then 3 per cent of which is being diverted from landfill in the US – which has notoriously poor recycling rates – has gone hand in hand with the growth of the fast fashion industry according to the researchers. “Once viewed as lasting goods, clothing and home textiles are now viewed as disposable,” says the paper. “The growth in textile waste over the past two decades can be partly or mostly attributed to a shifting consumer mindset about the durability of clothing.”
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