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

Role of Consumer Attitudes and Policies in Increasing Sustainable Buying Habits in the Fashion Industry

Researchers surveyed consumers across diverse regions and demographics to assess attitudes toward sustainable fashion purchasing, finding that policies, financial barriers, geographic setting, and physical barriers all influence willingness to choose sustainable over fast fashion products.

2025
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

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

Towards circular fashion: Management strategies promoting circular behaviour along the value chain

This study explores how the fashion industry can shift from a wasteful linear model to a circular one through better management strategies, including sustainable materials, take-back programs, and on-demand manufacturing. The fashion industry is a major source of microplastic pollution through synthetic fiber shedding during production, washing, and disposal. Adopting circular practices could significantly reduce the amount of microplastic fibers entering the environment from textiles.

2024 Sustainable Production and Consumption 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Fast fashion revolution: Unveiling the path to sustainable style in the era of fast fashion

Researchers examined the relationship between fashion orientation and fast fashion purchasing behavior, including how attitudes toward sustainable clothing consumption moderate these choices. They found that fashion orientation strongly influences purchase intention and actual buying behavior, but that sustainable clothing awareness can temper fast fashion consumption. The study highlights the environmental costs of fast fashion, including microplastic-generating textile waste, and calls for greater consumer education.

2024 E3S Web of Conferences 12 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 Current World Environment 6 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

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

The Phenomenon of Greenwashing In The Fashion Industry: A Conceptual Framework

This paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding greenwashing in the fashion industry, where brands make misleading environmental claims. The fashion industry is a major source of synthetic microfiber pollution, making honest sustainability reporting especially important for environmental protection.

2023 Global NEST International Conference on Environmental Science & Technology 2 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

Fashion Media and Sustainability: Encouraging Ethical Consumption via Journalism and Influencers

This policy brief examines how fashion media and journalism contribute to unsustainable fast fashion consumption, and recommends changes to encourage more ethical fashion reporting. The fashion industry is a major source of microplastic pollution through the shedding of synthetic textile fibers during washing.

2021 University of Westminster Press eBooks 8 citations
Article Tier 2

From below or from above: How to force fashion MNCs to be more sustainable

This paper examines regulatory and consumer pressures that could force fashion multinationals to adopt more sustainable practices. The fashion industry is a major contributor to microplastic pollution through synthetic fiber shedding, and stronger governance could significantly reduce this source.

2023 Society and Economy 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The Business of Sustainability in Fashion: Following the Threads

This book examines how the fashion industry can pursue sustainability, exploring the interconnected environmental, economic, and social challenges of making apparel production more responsible and reducing plastic fiber pollution.

2023 University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas)
Article Tier 2

Sustainability trends and gaps in the textile, apparel and fashion industries

Researchers conducted a 20-year systematic review of sustainability in the fashion and textile industry, identifying consumer behavior, circular economy practices, and supply chain transparency as the three main research themes. The review highlights that synthetic textile fibers — a major source of microplastic pollution — are embedded in a complex industry that still lacks coherent sustainability standards across its global supply chains.

2023 Environment Development and Sustainability 223 citations
Article Tier 2

The global apparel industry: a significant, yet overlooked source of plastic leakage

This study provides the first comprehensive estimate of the global apparel industry's total contribution to plastic pollution, including microfiber shedding during washing, packaging waste, and end-of-life textile disposal. The apparel sector is identified as a major and largely underestimated source of plastic entering the environment.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
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

Corporate Social Responsibility In The Apparel Industry: A Multiple Case Study Analysis

This thesis reviewed corporate social responsibility reporting in the apparel industry, examining how clothing brands communicate their environmental and social commitments. Since synthetic textiles shed microplastic fibers during washing, the apparel industry's environmental responsibility is directly relevant to reducing microplastic pollution.

2021 8 citations
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

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

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

Fostering Sustainable Fashion Innovation: Insights from Ideation Tool Development and Co-Creation Workshops

This paper explores design tools and co-creation workshops for generating sustainable fashion product innovations to reduce the fashion industry's environmental footprint. Sustainable fashion development is relevant to microplastic pollution because synthetic textile washing is a major source of microfiber release into waterways.

2023 Sustainability 1 citations