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Nearly half of every T-shirt goes to waste before you even buy it
The global consumption of clothing is enormous. But a large portion of textile fibres is lost before clothes even reach the market.
“When we talk about textile waste, the debate often focuses on the clothes we throw away. But the problem starts much earlier,” says Rakib Ahmed.
He is a former NTNU master’s student who now works as a researcher at SINTEF Industry.
The EU has introduced several initiatives aimed at collecting used clothing and managing the waste once garments are no longer in use.
“But much of the material used to make the clothes is lost before the garments even reach the consumer. This aspect gets far less attention,” he says.
Ahmed has written an article that examines what percentage of textile fibres is lost in the process of making a finished garment.
100 billion garments a year?
It is impossible to know exactly how many clothes we buy, and estimates vary widely. However, one thing we do know is that the environmental impact is enormous.
A common estimate is that the fashion industry accounts for approximately 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than air travel.
Large amounts of land are used to grow natural materials for clothing. But synthetic materials are far more common.
In many countries, used textiles end up in landfill sites, where they take decades to decompose. In some places, the situation is even worse – they are simply discarded in the natural environment.
However, clothing consumption is a complex issue, and establishing exactly how much each of us actually consumes is very difficult.
“Many life cycle analyses of garments and material flows are based on the assumption that a garment is only used in one cycle and that the materials are not recycled. Focus is also placed on the situation in each individual country, rather than on a global scale. That makes it difficult to get a realistic picture of how much of the fibres we can recycle and reuse,” explains Ahmed.
Investigated a typical example
“We took a closer look at what happens to the fibres in a cotton T-shirt over the course of two consecutive life cycles. We combined a material flow model with a life cycle assessment,” says Ahmed.
The researchers assessed five types of environmental impact:
Global warming
Water eutrophication (excess nutrients)
The release of pollutants and toxic substances into freshwater
Water consumption
Land use
In the example, production was assumed to take place in Bangladesh. It was used and disposed of in Norway. This scenario is considered a typical example.
Not all materials can be easily recycled
Fortunately, it is common for clothes to be reused by other people, but sooner or later they are no longer worn.
In practice, less than 1 per cent of used clothing is recycled into new textiles globally. Not all materials can easily be recycled.
“The results are quite clear. As things currently stand, we are able to recycle and reuse a maximum of 17 per cent of the original fibres in a new T-shirt,” says Ahmed.
Must facilitate textile collection
It is also important to bear in mind that this is for garments that are perhaps the easiest to recycle into new fibres. You might be surprised to learn where most of the material is lost.
“Most of the loss occurs at an early stage in the value chain. Approximately 44 per cent of the material is lost as early as the production stages,” says Ahmed.
European countries have increased their focus on the collection of used clothing.
“Since last year, Norwegian municipalities have been required to provide facilities for the collection of used textiles,” says Johan Berg Pettersen.
He is a researcher at NTNU.
“Here we can clearly see that if measures are going to be effective, they must also take the production process into account. There are significant environmental benefits to be gained by making production more efficient,” he adds.
More efficient production can reduce textile consumption
Better production processes, less waste accumulation, and more recycling of materials could make a major difference.
This applies particularly to yarn production, but also to the processing of raw materials into finished textiles and to the production of clothing.
With improved methods, 44 per cent of the materials could be suitable for recycling instead of just 17 per cent.
The researchers believe this could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 10 per cent and other environmental impacts by 20 to 25 per cent.
The conclusion is therefore straightforward.
Efforts must move further up the value chain
Improving systems for handling clothes after they have been used is not enough.
“If the EU is to succeed in recycling a larger proportion of textiles, countries will have to shift their effort further up the value chain. This would lead to less waste and better use of resources in production,” says Christina Meskers.
To achieve this, government authorities, brands, and manufacturers will have to collaborate. This applies to every step, from raw materials to the finished garment.
Reference:
Ahmed et al. The Journey of a Norwegian T-shirt: A Case Study of Fibre Material in the Clothing System, Journal of Circular Economy, 2026. DOI: 10.55845/joce-2026-41250
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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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