Environmental Justice and Sustainable Purchasing: Clothing and Apparel

Focuses on the economic impact of textile recycling including the overconsumption and resulting recycling processes that occur globally. A micro-macro systems model, including the myriad constituents of the industry is presented that depicts the global textiles recycling processes, particularly as it pertains to apparel waste rather than manufacturing waste.

This paper reviews studies of the environmental impact of textile reuse and recycling, to provide a summary of the current knowledge and point out areas for further research.

The textile industry is one of the major industrial polluters, and water recycling is yet far from being standard practice. Wastewater generation remains a serious and growing problem, affecting ecosystems, human health and freshwater availability for other uses. India is the world’s third largest exporter of textiles and the sector directly employs 45 million people. This case study explores the socio-technical transition of Tirupur, a textile cluster dubbed as the first in India to shift to 'zero liquid discharge' (ZLD) in a systematic manner. It traces a path towards increased environmental sustainability that takes off in a time characterised by no effluent treatment, to the advanced approach to wastewater handling that was the norm in 2016.

Every year, Singaporeans throw out 80% of the clothes they buy. Jason Godfrey follows the trail of these unwanted clothes, and finds that recycling is not the answer. He needs to convince Singaporeans to throw less. Will he succeed?

Each year, we give thousands of tons of our unwanted clothes to charity. But where do they actually go? It turns out most are exported to Africa. And even though we have given them away for free, our castoffs have created a multimillion-dollar industry and some of the world's poorest people pay good money to buy them.
In this revealing film, charismatic paralympian Ade Adepitan tells the fascinating story of the afterlife of our clothes. He follows the trail to Ghana, the biggest importer of our castoffs where thousands of tons of our old clothes arrive every week. Ade meets the people who make a living from our old clothes, from wholesalers and markets traders to the importers raking in more than the average yearly wage in a single day!
But not everyone is profiting. With cheaply made western clothes flooding the market, the local textile industry has been decimated. And the deluge of our clothes isn't just destroying jobs, it has an effect on Ghanaian culture. Western outfits are fast replacing traditional garb. Prepare to open your eyes...to the secret life of your clothes.