The fashion industry’s tremendous exploitation of fossil fuels

A new report reveals the excess use of synthetic fibers in ode of fast fashion concept. The Fossil Fashion report reveals how synthetic fibers, especially polyester, are immensely taking over the world textiles and will go even higher by 2030. Out of all the other textile sectors, fashion is the largest one; its collective polyester footprint is estimated to be equivalent to the annual emissions of Mexico by 2030.

The oil and gas industry relies on plastics; plastic production increases demands for oil derivatives. The buying behavior of people has increased by 60% and wearability has come to a half-life than previous years.

According to the Campaign Manager at the Changing Markets Foundation, Urska Trunk, not many consumers are aware that fast fashion is fossil fashion. The addiction of fashion brands to cheap polyester and other oil-derived fibers is coming at a time when the world is moving away from fossil fuels and causing an ecological disaster. This addiction and fashion of cheap clothing are leading to untenable quantities of clothing waste. These synthetic fibers are going to take hundreds of years to break down and still will remain as microplastics. As per Laura Díaz Sánchez, Campaigner at the Plastic Soup Foundation, we are eating and inhaling microfibres everyday shredded by our clothes.

The European Commission, the largest importer of textile and apparel in the world, is currently preparing its textile strategy. The Changing Markets Foundation urges it to lay out a comprehensive plan to slow down the rate of consumption of clothes. The European Commission needs to come forward with a wide-ranging textile strategy that overhauls the dependence of fashion on fossil fuels and will make the industry independent of fossil fuels, thus solving many problems.