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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to The global apparel industry: a significant, yet overlooked source of plastic leakage
ClearClothing and Textile Sustainability
This review examines sustainability challenges facing the global clothing and textile industry, covering resource use, chemical pollution, and the growing problem of microfiber release from synthetic textiles. Synthetic garments shed millions of microplastic fibers with every wash, making the textile industry a major contributor to global microplastic pollution.
Quantifying shedding of synthetic fibers from textiles; a source of microplastics released into the environment
Researchers quantified the shedding of synthetic fibers from textiles during simulated washing, finding that fabric type, age, and wash conditions significantly affected fiber release, and establishing a quantitative basis for estimating textile-derived microplastic inputs.
Microplastic pollution from textiles: A literature review
This review examines the current state of knowledge on microplastic pollution, focusing specifically on synthetic microfibre shedding from textiles during washing and the significance of this source for marine and freshwater contamination.
Exploring Microplastic and Natural Fiber Emissions from Fabrics and Textiles
This review examines microplastic and natural fiber emissions released from fabrics and textiles during use and washing, identifying textiles as a major but underappreciated source of microplastic pollution in the environment. The authors assess emission factors and the downstream environmental and health implications of synthetic fiber shedding.
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.
A review on microplastic emission from textile materials and its reduction techniques
Researchers reviewed how synthetic textile fibers — tiny plastic threads released from clothes during washing, drying, and wearing — are a major source of microplastic pollution, entering waterways and food chains through seafood, salt, and drinking water. They identify fabric type, detergent, and washing conditions as key factors affecting fiber release, and propose textile finishing and regulatory strategies to reduce emissions.
Textile industry as a major source of microplastics in the environment
This review examines the textile industry as a major source of microplastic pollution, synthesizing data on recycling technologies and lifecycle assessments for synthetic textile fibers. It identifies barriers to progress — including fiber lamination with metals, rapidly changing fiber types, and low recycling efficiency — and argues that only a globally coordinated reduction in synthetic fiber production will meaningfully curb microplastic release. The textile sector is one of the largest contributors of microfibers to aquatic environments, making systemic change in this industry critical.
Microfibres from apparel and home textiles: Prospects for including microplastics in environmental sustainability assessment
This review examines how synthetic textiles release plastic microfibers during production, use, and laundering, making them a major source of microplastic pollution. Researchers found that textile microfibers may account for up to 35% of primary microplastics entering marine environments and can persist for decades in soils. The study discusses factors affecting fiber release from fabrics and calls for better assessment methods to understand the environmental and potential health risks of this widespread contamination.
The Plastic Intensity of Industries in the USA: The Devil Wears Plastic
Researchers used US input-output data to calculate the plastic intensity of 415 non-plastic industries across 13 polymer types, finding that clothing and fabric manufacturing are the most plastic-intensive sectors, a pattern consistent with the prevalence of textile-derived microplastics in waterways and suggesting that consumer-facing plastic bag policies fail to address the most significant pollution pathways.
Microplastic pollution in aquatic environments from washing synthetic textiles
Washing synthetic textiles releases microplastic fibers into wastewater, and this study reviewed the scale of the problem and explored strategies to reduce emissions at the washing machine, garment design, and wastewater treatment levels. Textile laundering is considered one of the largest sources of microplastic fiber pollution reaching aquatic environments.
Environmental Degradation due to Synthetic Fibres
This review chapter examines how synthetic textile fibres—nylon, polyester, rayon, and acrylic—contribute to microplastic pollution through their entire lifecycle, from manufacturing to washing. Because these fibres shed millions of microfibre particles into waterways with every laundry cycle and persist indefinitely in the environment, the global textile industry is identified as a major, ongoing source of plastic contamination.
The contribution of washing processes of synthetic clothes to microplastic pollution
Real-scale wash trials of synthetic commercial garments measured microfiber release per wash, finding that release varied significantly with textile type, structure, and age, with some items releasing over 700,000 fibers per wash. The study quantifies the contribution of synthetic textile washing to microplastic pollution and identifies fiber characteristics that govern release rates.
Analysis of the polyester clothing value chain to identify key intervention points for sustainability
Researchers analyzed every stage of polyester clothing's lifecycle and found that microfibers shed during laundry are a significant pollution source, concluding that sustainability improvements — including better recycling and design changes — are needed across the entire supply chain to reduce environmental harm.
Evaluating the environmental impacts of textile and fashion industries
This review evaluated the environmental impacts of the global textile and fashion industries, finding that resource overconsumption, water pollution, synthetic fiber microplastic release, and vast waste generation make these sectors major drivers of ecosystem degradation.
The Impact of Fast Fashion on Marine Plastic Pollution
This paper reviews the fast fashion industry's contribution to waterway pollution, explaining that cheap synthetic clothing sheds microplastic fibers during production and washing, and that the industry's rapid growth — especially in Asia — is making this a significant global pollution source. The authors propose manufacturing regulations and consumer behavior change as solutions to reduce the volume of synthetic microfibers entering waterways.
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.
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.
A critical review on environmental pollution caused by the textile industry
This review examines how the textile industry contributes to environmental pollution, including the release of microplastics from synthetic fibers during washing. The study highlights that non-biodegradable materials like polyester, nylon, and acrylic shed microplastic fibers that enter water systems, potentially harming marine organisms and entering the human food chain.
Domestic laundry and microfiber pollution: Exploring fiber shedding from consumer apparel textiles
Researchers measured microfiber shedding from a range of consumer apparel textiles during simulated laundry cycles, finding that fiber release varied substantially by fabric type, construction, and wash conditions, with polyester fleece releasing the most microfibers per wash.
Modelling microplastic fibre emissions from synthetic textiles: An Australian case
Researchers modeled microplastic fiber emissions from synthetic textiles across Australia, estimating emission quantities, identifying geographic hotspots, and tracing fibres to their environmental receiving compartments. The model found that domestic laundry is the dominant emission source, with most fibres ultimately reaching wastewater treatment systems or water bodies.
Microfibre and nanofibre: pollution and environmental impacts
This review examines microfibres and nanofibres — shed from clothing and textiles during use and washing — as a significant but poorly quantified category of environmental pollutants. Up to 4.28 million metric tonnes of microfibres enter the environment each year, with synthetic garment laundering responsible for about 35% of that total, yet natural fibre shedding is largely ignored in sustainability assessments. The authors argue that both synthetic and natural microfibres need to be included in environmental impact frameworks, especially as fast fashion drives ever-increasing textile production.
The Global Clothing Oversupply: An Emerging Environmental Crisis
This study examines how the global fast fashion industry drives environmental damage through massive overproduction and rapid disposal of clothing, which contributes to microfiber pollution and textile waste. Researchers surveyed consumers and found growing awareness of sustainability issues but a gap between awareness and purchasing behavior. The study advocates for greater traceability in clothing supply chains and a shift toward more sustainable business practices.
El costo ambiental de los textiles
This article examined the environmental cost of the textile industry, focusing on synthetic fiber production, microplastic fiber shedding during use, and end-of-life disposal as interconnected contributors to plastic pollution.
Assessment of microplastics release from polyester fabrics: The impact of different washing conditions
Researchers assessed microplastic fiber release from polyester and polyamide fabrics during simulated washing, finding that fabric construction, fiber type, and washing conditions all influenced the quantity of fibers released. The study provides data to help quantify the contribution of laundry to microplastic emissions in wastewater.