Textile manufacturing generates 92,000 tonnes of microfibre pollution every year, with 63%, over 58,000 tonnes, leaking into the environment, new research finds.
The report, ‘From Shedding to Solutions’, provides a global baseline of microfibre losses and leakage during textile manufacturing.
Microfibres are microscopic particles, often made of plastic, that clothing sheds during production, wear, and laundering.
Once released into the environment, they are extremely difficult to remove. They are also increasingly recognised as one of the most common forms of microplastic pollution.
The report found that, even after treatment, the majority still escape into the environment, with existing infrastructure preventing only 34,000 tonnes (37%) of leakage each year.
Global losses during production are concentrated in major textile-producing countries, Earth Action says, with 54% occurring in Bangladesh (25%), Pakistan (17%) and China (12%).
However, high production losses do not automatically translate into the highest levels of environmental leakage, the report says.
Commenting on the research, Sarah Perreard, Co-Founder, Earth Action, said: “This is the first time the full system has been mapped at this scale, and it won’t be the last. Each new phase will sharpen the picture further. But the evidence is already strong enough to act on now.”
“Microfibres don’t stay where they’re shed. They travel through rivers and oceans, into the food we eat and, increasingly, into our own bodies.”
“The longer we wait, the harder and more expensive this pollution becomes to undo. Brands and regulators don’t need to wait for a complete picture. They need the will to use what we already know.”
The report found that combining improved wastewater treatment, controlled sludge disposal and cleaner manufacturing processes could reduce microfibre leakage in the production phase by approximately 95% by 2032.
Kyle Blakely, Under Armour, commented: “This report reinforces that the industry has reached an inflexion point – measurement alone is no longer sufficient.”
“The greatest opportunity lies upstream: treating low-shedding construction as an engineering parameter embedded in design decisions from day one, not a metric measured at the end.”