In an interview with Vogue Business, Patagonia's Vice President of product impact and innovation, Matt Dwyer, agrees that there is a lot of greenwashing in fashion and that recycled polyester is not a perfect solution. Patagonia, a well-known outdoor clothing brand, mentioned that synthetic textiles are needed in technical apparel because they perform better. ![]() "They're not willing to change their dirty habits, so they're trying to greenwash their way out of this crisis," -Urska Trunk, campaign manager at the Changing Markets Foundation. Another research by The Ellen Macarthur Foundation points out that "less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing". The vast majority of recycled polyester in the textile sector comes not from recycled garments but from polyethene terephthalate (PET) bottles. ![]() Yet despite a mountain of clothes being thrown away every year, there is still a lack of investment in scaling fibre-to-fibre recycling technology. Inditex Group, owner of Zara, is among a handful of retailers reportedly investing €3 million in funding tech innovations to explore textile recycling solutions, including MIT - Spain Inditex Circularity Seed Fund - although this represents just 0.08% of the company's 2019 net profit.įurthermore, most brands try to solve the fossil fashion problem by replacing virgin polyester with downcycled single-use plastic bottles - a false solution as this is a one-way street to landfill or incineration. Globally, about one garbage truck of clothes ends up in a landfill every second. Brands often use these fibres (even) in their recycled collections, which they tout as "sustainable" and "responsible." While some brands commit to no longer using virgin polyester fibres, they make no such commitments regarding synthetic fibres in general. The solution is not to replace one type of fibre with another, but to radically slow down fashion - a main cause of untenable volumes of waste, harmful microfibers, and widespread pollution.Īccording to experts, the use of mixed synthetic fibres has the same impact on the environment as the use of pure synthetic fibres. While all textile materials are associated with negative environmental and social impacts, today's unsustainable fast fashion business model is deeply rooted in the fashion industry's fast-growing reliance on synthetic fibres. ![]() FAST FASHION AND THE RISE OF THE PLASTIC & POLYESTER CRISIS Experts say these fibres have about the same impact on the environment as new synthetic fibres. Further, concerns about the use of synthetic fibres extend to their recycled versions, which are becoming more common in brands that position themselves as sustainable. H&M and Zalando were also found to have more, or almost as much, synthetics in their 'sustainable' collections as their main collections. In addition, the report also demonstrates that the use of rampant greenwashing and misleading practises are rife - 91% of green claims made by H&M, ASOS and M&S were found to be unsubstantiated. The analysis of 50 major fashion brands - from high street to luxury - including Zara, H&M, Burberry and Louis Vuitton, shows that some renowned brands score very poorly on their sustainability commitment and lack of transparency. The report shows how the industry still depends on synthetic fibres made from fossil fuels, leading to plastic pollution and contributing to the climate crisis - with some brands saying it is inevitable.
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