Inditex, the parent company of fashion brands such as Zara, Bershka and Stradivarius, is the textile group that uses the most synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels, according to the latest research from the Changing Markets Foundation. Large groups such as Primark, H&M or Uniqlo do not appear in the ranking because they have not communicated the volumes of these fibres that they apply in their clothing production.
The data provided by the group for this work indicate that in 2023 they used 212,000 tonnes of synthetic fibres, 20% more than what was recorded in the previous Changing Markets report of 2022 (with figures from 2021). This amount places it ahead of other competitors such as PVH –Tommy Hilfiger– with 36,000; C&A with 25,000, Mango (22,000) or Asda with 15,000.
The assessment is based on brand responses, obtained by consulting 50 international fashion companies, covering own brands in fast fashion, sports, luxury and supermarkets. The book acknowledges that 23 business groups responded: “Corporate secrecy regarding the use of synthetic fabrics has increased,” the Foundation concludes.
This “secret” means that Adidas, Bonprix, Burberry, H&M Group, Primark and Uniqlo have not shared the volume of synthetic fibres they have used.
Sources from the Galician company assure elDiario.es that the real increase occurred in 2022 and that there has been a slight decrease since then. Inditex also retorts that it has implemented a Fiber Plan that includes its “commitment to fibers with a lower environmental impact”: “In 2030, 25% of the textile fibers incorporated into our products will be new generation; that is, fibers that do not exist on an industrial scale and that we are helping to develop. In the short term, all the polyester that we use from 2025 will come from privileged sources such as recycled or innovative materials.
Percentage of total fiber
The Chinese group Shein has not disclosed the total number of these fibers it uses in its accelerated season cycle, although it has admitted that these plastics, like polyester, represent 81% of all the fibers in its products. This means that, given “its large production of fabrics from fossil fuels”, the Asian group is “very likely” the one that uses the most synthetic fibers.
In this sense, Inditex’s more than 200,000 tons represent 38% of its total fibers – a more or less stable proportion in recent years – to which the company adds that “the use of recycled synthetic fibers has increased considerably, from 1% in 2019 to 40% in 2023.” In percentage terms, brands such as Boohoo are ahead of the Spanish group with 68%, Lululemon with 67% or Aldi with 57%.
Inditex responded that “it is committed to reducing synthetic fibers that do not have a certain functionality.”
Inditex responded that “it is committed to reducing synthetic fibres that do not have a certain functionality”, while clarifying that there are some uses in which they are still relevant: “For example, synthetic fibres have important qualities in certain garments, such as jackets or very resistant outerwear.
“The figures that the groups shared with the foundation reveal that their dependence on these fibers from the “fast fashion” (the throwaway fashion), we can read in the conclusions. This means that major brands are using even more polluting synthetic fibers.
Why is it bad? The textile sector is recognized as one of the most harmful industries for the environment. On the one hand, it is the second largest consumer of water and, on the other hand, its production emits more CO2 into the atmosphere than commercial aviation itself, according to the UN. 35% of microplastics that reach the seas come from synthetic textile fibers, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The green impact figures go hand in hand with the explosion that the clothing sector has experienced worldwide in recent decades. The model of the fast fashionThanks to which collections are renewed quickly each year, each person has been able to buy on average 60% more clothes than twenty years ago and each item of clothing lasts half as long, underlines the United Nations Environment Programme. Around 100 billion new items of clothing are produced each year.
The industry is doubling down on fast fashion, which floods the market with disposable products. They are borrowing tactics previously used by the fossil fuel industries to distract and delay progress.
Urska Trunk
— Campaign Director Changing Markets,
A third of clothes purchased in Europe have not been worn for a year before being thrown away, and the average consumer in the United States buys about eight pairs of shoes and 68 items of clothing each year, giving each a maximum lifespan of three months, reports the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Polyester, at the heart of the sector’s explosion
The combination of increasing consumption and decreasing durability of clothing means that boom of clothing production, and therefore of fibers to make them. And at the heart of all this revolution This is where plastic textiles exploded (or in other words, they needed oil).
Polyester accounts for 65% of all textiles used in the sector. “Production [de la fibras para la moda] “It has more than doubled in the last 20 years, while the population has increased by 25%,” illustrates this research on the polyester value chain.
“The production of this (most widely used) fibre alone resulted in the release of 125 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2022,” reveals the Changing Markets Foundation report, applying the US Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions calculator. “About two-thirds of the sector’s total emissions come from the manufacture of its fibres,” concludes an assessment by the consulting firm McKinsey.
“The industry is doubling down on fast fashion, flooding the market with disposable products,” says Urska Trunk, director of the Changing Markets campaign. These companies are “borrowing tactics previously used by the fossil fuel industries.” [como pedir que haya más investigación sobre la contaminación plástica derivada de la ropa antes de aprobar regulaciones] to distract attention and delay real progress towards eliminating these products,” Trunk concludes.
