Apparel April 2019 Apparel April 2019 issue | Page 70

FEATURE
Fashion Waste:
A Global Epidemic
Anurima Das reports on the colossal waste that occurs in fashion and the means
being adopted by global apparel behemoths to combat this menace.
A study concluded by the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation revealed that every second, one
garbage truck of textiles gets wasted. In the
same vein, the Copenhagen Fashion Summit
reported that fashion is responsible for 92 million
tonnes of solid waste dumped in landfills each
year. Fast fashion is not christened as ‘fast’
for no reason. Whatever is fashionable today
becomes ‘not worth a try’ tomorrow. So, what
happens to the old just when the new collection
makes its way to every wardrobe? The garments
that were in trend just a few months ago then
land up in the waste.
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I APPAREL I
April 2019
WASTE THAT PROVOKES THE
THOUGHT
The fashion industry across the world is
also the second biggest consumer of water,
producing 20 per cent of waste water. Most
of the garment manufacturing processes also
generate greenhouse gases that deteriorate the
environment further. The process of manufacturing
accounts for one part of the harm, which the
industry globally is capable of causing. Along
with this, the umpteen amount of fashion waste
accounts for greater severity and contributes to a
hefty degradation of the environment.