what is the weight of textiles and fast fashion in pollution?

Christophe Béchu brings together the sustainable fashion ecosystem on Monday morning, while the textile sector represents 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Several legislative proposals are under discussion to reduce its environmental impact.

The Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, brings together textile manufacturers on Monday March 4 to discuss the challenges of sustainable fashion. There is an urgent need to counter fast fashion because fast has become ultra-fast fashion with even more ephemeral collections, even more aggressive marketing and low-cost collections that arrive from Asia by plane. The clothing site Shein, for example, offers 900 times more references each year than a traditional clothing brand, which follows the cycle of the seasons. An ecological and economic aberration.

Today the textile sector accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the impact of air flights and maritime traffic combined. At this rate, the textile sector represented 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. This is incompatible with climate objectives. The lifespan of our clothes therefore has nothing to do with that of 15 years ago and it is not just a problem of CO2 emissions.

The lifespan of our clothes has decreased by a third in the space of 15 years, each French person throws away on average 12 kg of clothes per year. These are all resources that are wasted. Cotton cultivation is one of the most pesticide-intensive in the world. It is also the third most water-consuming crop, after rice and wheat. To produce a simple T-shirt, you need the water equivalent of 70 showers. Globally, 20% of the world’s water pollution is attributable to textile dyeing and processing.

An ecological penalty envisaged for certain platforms

The text of the law, carried by Horizon MP Anne-Cécile Violland, which will be examined this week in committee, proposes to regulate advertising for fast fashion brands, in particular videos from influencers who encourage impulsive purchases. It also envisages an ecological penalty, of up to 10 euros per item for platforms whose low-priced collections are renewed too quickly. The difficulty will be knowing where to place the cursor to define this “too quickly”.

Another bill from the Republicans puts forward a financial penalty from a threshold of 1,000 new models per day. However, several environmental associations believe that to put an end to fast fashion in France, the penalties should concern all brands which market more than 5,000 new models of clothing per year.