Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Sustainability Initiatives in the Fashion Industry

This paper examines sustainability efforts in the fashion industry, where synthetic textiles are a major source of microplastic fiber pollution during washing. It reviews industry initiatives and consumer behavior changes aimed at reducing environmental impacts, including microfiber shedding.

2019 IntechOpen eBooks 14 citations
Review Tier 2

Mapping sustainable options in the fashion industry: A systematic literature review and a future research agenda

This systematic review examined 187 studies on sustainable practices in the fashion industry, which is a major contributor to microplastic pollution through synthetic textiles. Researchers classified sustainable solutions across the purchase, use, and disposal phases of clothing and identified key gaps in current knowledge. The study suggests that addressing fashion industry practices is critical for reducing textile-related microplastic contamination in the environment.

2024 Sustainable Development 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Fashion

This review of sustainable fashion examines how the textile industry's shift to fast fashion has accelerated environmental damage, including the shedding of synthetic microfibres — a major source of microplastic pollution in waterways — and argues that circular production models and consumer behaviour change are needed to reduce the industry's footprint. The paper is relevant because textile microfibres are among the most commonly detected microplastics in marine and freshwater environments.

2026 International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology
Article Tier 2

Biomaterial Experimental Design Practices as an Strategy for Sustainable Fashion

This paper explores biomaterial design — including alternatives to synthetic polyester fibers — to drive sustainability innovation in the fashion industry. Reducing reliance on synthetic textiles like polyester could help decrease microplastic fiber pollution released during washing.

2022 MIX Sustentável 5 citations
Article Tier 2

How can the fashion industry be sustainable? The use of immersive technology in fashion design for innovation, digital transformation, and sustainability

This study examines how immersive digital technologies can help the fashion industry adopt sustainable practices, exploring how digitised design and production processes can reduce environmental impacts including textile microplastic pollution.

2024 Wintec Research Archive (Waikato Institute of Technology)
Article Tier 2

Research on Recycling Design of Clothing Textiles Based on Sustainable Development

This review examines sustainable design strategies for recycling and reusing clothing and textiles, covering the full lifecycle from design to end-of-life disposal. Textile recycling is relevant to microplastic pollution because synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon shed microplastic fibers during washing.

2023 The Frontiers of Society Science and Technology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A Study on the Awareness and Perception towards Sustainable Fashion

This paper is not directly relevant to microplastics; it surveys university students' awareness and attitudes toward sustainable fashion and the broader environmental impacts of the textile industry, including waste and water contamination.

2023 International Scientific Journal of Engineering and Management 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The New Sea Food: Fashion, Waste, and Microplastics

This paper explored the intersection of fast fashion, textile waste, and microplastic pollution, examining how synthetic fiber shedding during laundry has made fashion one of the major sources of ocean microplastics. It discussed policy and design interventions to reduce textile microplastic emissions.

2024 Southern cultures 1 citations
Article Tier 2

19 A Sustainable Business Model for the Fashion Sector

This book chapter reviews sustainable fashion business models that aim to reduce the fashion industry's environmental impact, including microplastic fiber pollution from synthetic clothing. Transitioning to more sustainable fashion production and material choices could significantly reduce the microfibers shed into wastewater during textile washing.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Pollution by the Fast Fashion: Current Status and Prospects

This review examines the environmental footprint of fast fashion — mass clothing production that generates enormous textile waste, synthetic fiber shedding, and water pollution. It is relevant to microplastics because synthetic garment washing is one of the largest sources of microfiber pollution entering waterways, though the paper focuses on industry-level sustainability responses rather than quantifying microplastic release specifically.

2023 Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers 10 citations
Article Tier 2

A Plan to Secure Environmental Sustainability Through Digital Transformation of the Fashion Industry: Focusing on Fashion Design and Smartization of the Manufacturing Process

This study examines how digital transformation and smart manufacturing technologies in the fashion industry can reduce environmental pollution, proposing a framework for integrating digital design tools and process optimization to improve sustainability across the fashion clothing supply chain.

2022 Academic Society for Appropriate Technology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Bringing Sustainable Practices, Fashion Shows, and Sociological Insights Together to Reinvigorate Sustainable Fashion Education

This study explores how sustainable practices, fashion shows, and sociological perspectives can be integrated to strengthen sustainable fashion education. Researchers reviewed current challenges the fashion industry faces in adopting sustainability and examined how virtual fashion experiences present both opportunities and obstacles. The study highlights the role of fashion education in promoting environmental awareness, including reducing reliance on synthetic materials that contribute to microplastic pollution.

2025 Sustainability 6 citations
Article Tier 2

SUSTAINABLE FASHION INDUSTRY: Why do we need a switch towards conscious consumption?

This thesis examines the fashion industry's environmental and social harms, including its significant contribution to microplastic pollution through synthetic textile washing, and argues for a shift toward more conscious consumer behavior. Fast fashion is one of the largest sources of synthetic microfibers entering waterways globally.

2019 Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen)
Article Tier 2

Designing out microplastic pollution released from textiles and apparel during laundering

This study explored source-directed design and manufacturing interventions to reduce microplastic fiber release from synthetic textiles during washing, using standardized wash tests to quantify shedding from fabric surfaces and edges. Structural fabric design modifications were identified as effective strategies to reduce microplastic fiber shedding at the point of manufacture.

2024 Cambridge Prisms Plastics 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Decision-Making in the Fashion Industry : How to influence the fashion industry to adopt more sustainable packaging solutions

This study examined how different actors in the fashion industry make sustainability decisions, noting that the industry is responsible for an estimated 20-35% of microplastics in the ocean from synthetic fiber shedding. The study explores how manufacturers, retailers, and consumers can be influenced to make more environmentally responsible choices.

2021 KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) 6 citations
Article Tier 2

From Simplistic to Systemic Sustainability in the Textile and Fashion Industry

This paper is not about microplastic pollution. It examines sustainability challenges in the textile and fashion industry, arguing that current approaches are simplistic and insufficient. It proposes systemic solutions focused on circular value retention and sufficiency-based consumption to address waste, resource depletion, and pollution from fast fashion.

2023 Circular Economy and Sustainability 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Fashion—Rationale and Policies

This review examines the environmental and social impacts of the fashion industry — from synthetic fiber microplastic pollution and water contamination to labor exploitation — and surveys emerging global policies aimed at driving the sector toward greater sustainability.

2022 Encyclopedia 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Flows of Microplastic Fibres in the Textile Lifecycle: A System Perspective

The lifecycle flows of microplastic fibers through the textile industry were mapped, identifying key stages from fiber production through washing and disposal where fibers are shed and enter the environment. This systems-level analysis supports targeted interventions to reduce fiber microplastic pollution at source.

2025 Sustainability 1 citations
Article Tier 2

From Design Decisions to Sustainable Development: Exploring Textile and Fashion Designers’ Challenges in the Portuguese Textile and Fashion Industry

Despite its title referencing sustainable textile and fashion design, this paper studies the barriers Portuguese fashion designers face when trying to incorporate environmental sustainability into their work — not microplastic pollution. It examines industry challenges like greenwashing, supply chain opacity, and cost pressures and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2026 Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Sustainability of the Fashion Industry: An Examination of the US Fashion Industry's Impact on Water Quality

Researchers examined the impact of the US fashion industry on water quality, conducting a review of the literature on garment production-related water pollution while noting that the US has been underrepresented in global studies that typically focus on countries with large manufacturing sectors. The study found that domestic fashion industry activities contribute measurably to water quality degradation, including through microfiber and chemical discharge.

2025
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Textile Innovation: Biodegradable Fabrics and Their Role in Climate Action

This review argues that synthetic textile fibers are a major source of microplastic pollution and that a shift to biodegradable fabrics represents both an environmental necessity and an opportunity to fundamentally redesign how clothing is produced and consumed.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

From production to pollution: a review of microfiber release mechanisms and mitigation strategies in the textile industry

This review examines the origins, pathways, and environmental impacts of microfiber pollution from the textile industry. Researchers found that microfibers are released during both textile manufacturing and garment use, and that solutions include biodegradable fiber development, washing machine filtration systems, and advanced wastewater treatment. The study emphasizes that collaboration among industry, governments, research institutions, and consumers is critical to reducing microfiber release.

2025 Journal of the Textile Institute 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Slow Fashion in a Fast Fashion World: Promoting Sustainability and Responsibility

This study examines the "slow fashion" movement as a sustainable alternative to fast fashion, analyzing how different business models, consumer behaviors, and policy frameworks can shift clothing production and consumption toward more responsible practices. Slow fashion is directly relevant to reducing textile microfiber pollution, since synthetic clothing is a major source of microplastics in wastewater.

2019 Laws 140 citations
Article Tier 2

Synthetic Textiles and Microplastics

This review examines how synthetic textiles shed microfibers during washing and drying, covering the mechanisms of release, the environmental fate of microfibers in aquatic systems, and strategies for reducing microplastic pollution from the fashion and textile industry.

2024