 The used clothing donated to fast fashion brands for recycling doesn't end up back in the clothing these companies produce. The best clothing ends up being resold as second hand clothing. The lower quality clothing ends up being turned into wash rags and home insulation and sold, while the lowest quality clothing that is donated is being illegally burned for heat by residents of Sofia, Bulgaria who live without electricity, water or heating.
The burning of clothing containing synthetic fibers and prints has led to major pollution and health problems in Sofia. Hundreds of thousands of tons of fast fashion from brands like H&M, Zara, and Bershka end up in Bulgaria, where clothes are burned as fuel for people who don’t have money for firewood. These burned textiles pollute the air they breathe. Many clothes contain elastomers (what makes clothing stretchy) and plastics that produce harmful fumes when burned. The Issue with “Fast” Fashion Where there used to be 4 collections a year, cheap clothing brands including H&M, Zara and Primark are releasing up to 52 “micro” collections every year. That’s 1 micro-collection a week! We buy way too much fashion From 2000-2020, new clothing purchases have doubled. Over 120 billion new garments are produced worldwide every year. (Reutlingen University). In research done by environmental organization Greenpeace, Germans buy 26kg of clothing per person per year, a party top is worn 1.7 times on average before it’s discarded, and around 40% of clothing is never worn.
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