From a disposable to a sustainable fashion industry: A review of the shameful trade flows of used textiles and the need to address fast fashion

Abstract

While waste production can contribute to a variety of environmental issues, including greenhouse gas emissions, the production of waste from fast fashion is no exception. Spanning across various sectors such as agriculture, petrochemical production, manufacturing, logistics, and retail, the clothing and textiles industry is considered one of the most polluting industries globally (Bailey et al., 2022). It is responsible for approximately 8 to 10 per cent of total carbon emissions and 20 per cent of global wastewater. In 2021, Chile, for instance, emerged as the fourth-largest importer of used textiles, and the first in Latin America. Currently, imports have surpassed 126,000 million tons per year, with China, the United States, and the Republic of Korea accounting for the majority of imports (Pérez et al., 2022). Drawing on a systematic literature review, the paper aims to shed light on the adverse environmental impacts of fast fashion as a new business approach. By doing so, the paper stresses the need for immediate legal action to halt the current practices of dumping low-quality second-hand clothing in regions of the Global South that lack the infrastructure to effectively handle such hazardous materials. On the whole, the paper concludes that textile waste, similar to plastic waste, is clearly hazardous and, unfortunately, rather obscurely regulated.