Italy’s lush Veneto region is home to luxury fashion brands and world-class textile suppliers, but it also suffers from environmental pollution, with waterways polluted by “forever chemicals”.
In the 1960s, textile group Marzotto set up a research centre in Trissino and began producing chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) for waterproof clothing. Initially called Limar and then Miteni, the company eventually changed hands and became a supplier to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries before going bankrupt in 2018 following a water pollution scandal. But experts say the damage to the environment will be permanent.
Families in the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua are now dealing with the long-term health effects caused by water pollution, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Water and air pollution are major issues facing the fashion industry: dyeing and finishing processes, for example, are responsible for 20% of global water pollution, and a European Parliament study found that washing polyester clothes can release hundreds of thousands of microplastic fibres into water systems.
The global fashion industry is said to be responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions – more than international air and shipping combined. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, global textile production almost doubled between 2000 and 2020, leading to an increase in the number of items that are worn seven to 10 times and then thrown away.
Garment bags made for fast fashion group SHEIN in a factory in Guangzhou, southern China © Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images
But despite the environmental damage, reforms have been elusive: while some hope that new European laws will help reduce the industry’s environmental impact, others argue that their impact will be limited unless global fast fashion groups that produce outside the EU adhere to the same manufacturing rules and stop supplying cheap goods that encourage consumers to stock up.
“We’re not doing enough to solve the problem,” says Veneto resident Matteo Ward, co-founder and CEO of the consulting studio WRÅD and co-author of “Junk,” a documentary series that examines the human and environmental costs of fast fashion. “Social justice, a prerequisite for an environmental transition, is not a real priority. There is a way to evolve, but the fashion industry hasn’t found the courage to do so yet.”
According to a 2024 report from Ambienta, a private equity firm focused on environmentally sustainable businesses, the fashion industry’s biggest challenges are the fast wear of low-quality textile products and the limited availability of fibers and recycling technologies for reuse or recycling. “Most of the available recycling processes require ‘high purity’ textile waste, which is not viable as the majority of clothing on the market contains mixed fibers and colors,” Ambienta said.
Mechanical recycling (a process of sorting, cleaning, crushing, regranulation and blending) is economically effective but is limited in scope as it is only suitable for wool products.
Mechanical recycling is economically effective but limited in scope as it only suits wool products © Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
The problem that remains is that the scope and accessibility of such recycling technologies remains limited.”[All] “The combination of these factors makes direct landfilling, incineration or shipping overseas more economically attractive than local recycling,” according to Federica Marone and Fabio Langhino, co-authors of the Ambienta report.
Fast fashion, with its business model based on mass production that brings trends to more consumers around the world, is considered a major culprit in the increase in consumption and pollution. Data shows that by 2030, 69% of global textile production will be based on polyester, nylon and other synthetic fibers; only 25% will be of natural origin.
“Today, a SHEIN product costs less than a sandwich. The only way companies can produce so quickly and so cheaply is by using exploited labor and cheap fossil fuel-based fibers,” says Eco Age co-founder Livia Giuggioli-Farth.
According to Ambienta, durability should be the first criterion when talking about textile sustainability, yet it is barely mentioned in so-called green labels, “perhaps because it contradicts the overall trends of mass production and low prices that underpin the industry,” Malone and Langhino write.
Last year, the EU introduced an Extended Producer Responsibility mechanism, making brands responsible for the disposal of each product they put on the market. In April, it approved the Right to Repair Directive, which encourages European consumers to repair faulty products rather than replace them. And in May, it passed legislation that will ban the disposal of unsold textile and footwear products from 2026 (with exceptions for smaller businesses).
Brands like Shein have expanded the market for disposable fashion © Kristy Sparrow/Getty Images
But as always with sustainability progress, it’s complicated. The European Fashion Association (EFA), an alliance of international fashion and textile associations, broadly supports the law but also points out problems with certain proposals.
For example, a commentary last year said that requiring new clothes to contain recycled fibers could lead to increased production of mixed materials that would ultimately be difficult to recycle with currently available technology. It also said that when imposing recycling requirements, regulators must take into account technological barriers and the lack of sorting solutions and dismantling processes.
“We appreciate the European Commission’s commitment to sustainability in fashion, but we ask for certain changes in the law to protect and promote our values and creativity,” Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Fashion Council, said at the EFA conference in Brussels this year. “Since the industry cannot completely avoid the use of virgin fibres, it needs to encourage a circular society together with other sectors, and it needs to better define alternatives such as recycling and reuse of unsold products that cannot be disposed of.”
Since the European Commission’s 2019 Green Deal, EU institutions have been working to pass legislation aimed at minimizing the fashion industry’s carbon and environmental impact by making textiles more durable and easier to reuse. Companies have opposed new requirements to declare the amount of overproduction or unsold goods, citing “competition” concerns. The EFA has proposed that such data be made available only to the European Commission.
The fashion industry’s biggest challenge is the rapid wear and tear of low-quality textile products and the limited number of fibres available for reuse and recycling. © Sukhomoy Sen/Pacific Press/picture alliance
Discussions are underway about introducing digital product passports, or QR codes that would contain a garment’s fiber information, but the timeline is unclear. In the U.S., this information is already mandatory for most textile products and helps facilitate a recycling process that currently relies on manual sorting and infrared cameras.
“We’ve been promoting responsible consumption, but then Shein and Temu came out of nowhere and made H&M and Zara look like luxury brands. Nothing will stop until these companies stop pumping out disposable fashion (their business model is based on this vicious cycle) or consumers strike,” says Giuggioli Firth. “What gives me hope today is legislation. For example, the fact that countries such as France and states such as California have started discussing legislation to tax waste is a big step in the right direction.”
But behind the scenes, friction is brewing, with luxury fashion brands and industry players increasingly frustrated at the industry being targeted by regulators and activists over sustainability. Consumers, they say, also need to play their part by taking care of their clothes, even if they’re affordable, and wearing them for longer than just a few wears.
Malone and Langhino hope that younger generations will help bring about change: Ambienta says that while 18-25 year olds are embracing fast fashion, the global secondhand market is also growing due to “economic convenience and the growing environmental awareness of younger customers.”
According to Amazon data included in the Ambienta report, 30% of the clothes worn by European Gen Z consumers are second-hand. In the U.S., 62% of consumers of this generation consider second-hand before buying new, Ambienta said, citing ThredUp research. “This dynamic is likely to strengthen year on year as these younger consumers’ purchasing power grows and represents a growing share of their overall spending,” Malone and Langhino said.
Jujoori Fahs says everyone must play their part: “Change always comes from the bottom up and the top down. Companies have an obligation to change and citizens have a responsibility to start buying less.”
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