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Clothes, footwear and household textiles are responsible for water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and landfill.
In 2020, textile consumption in the EU caused on average the third highest pressures on water and land use and the fifth highest use of raw materials and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that per average person in the EU, textile consumption required 9 m³ of water, 400 m² of land, 391 kg of raw materials, and caused a carbon footprint of about 270 kg. The release of microfibers and microplastics into the environment from washing synthetics is also a concern. The EU Commissions has issued an EU Strategy on Sustainable and Circular Textiles.
For more information, please see :
- Textiles and the environment: The role of design in Europe’s circular economy
- Investigating Europe′s secondary raw material markets
- Microplastics from textiles: towards a circular economy for textiles in Europe