Papers

61,005 results
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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
Systematic Review Tier 1

Life cycle assessment in fashion industry: a systematic review

This systematic review of life cycle assessments in the fashion industry (2010-2024) found persistent methodological inconsistencies that undermine the reliability of sustainability claims. The review identifies microplastic emissions from textiles as a growing but poorly incorporated impact category, highlighting a gap in understanding the full environmental footprint of clothing.

2025 Discover Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Systematic Insights into a Textile Industry: Reviewing Life Cycle Assessment and Eco-Design

This systematic review of life cycle assessments for the textile industry identified key environmental impact hotspots across the supply chain, finding that fiber production and dyeing processes dominate environmental burdens and that eco-design strategies offer the greatest improvement potential.

2023 Sustainability 25 citations
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

Circular Economy Practices in Fashion Design Education: The First Phase of a Case Study

Researchers examined whether circular economy principles are integrated into Fashion Design Technician courses in Portugal, using documentary analysis and a questionnaire survey of 40 educators. The study assessed curriculum coverage of sustainability and circularity concepts, identifying the degree to which fashion education addresses textile microplastic pollution and waste reduction as part of professional training.

2025 Sustainability 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Recrafting textile futures: Caring and repairing as a way to design

This study examines the textile and clothing supply chain as an extractive linear system embedded in a growth-oriented economic model, and explores how caring and repairing practices can support a transition toward reparative, circular textile futures. The paper argues that eco-modern innovation alone is insufficient and that sustainable textile design requires repositioning toward longer time horizons and degrowth-aligned approaches.

2023 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Combining Flexible and Sustainable Design Principles for Evaluating Designs: Textile Recycling Application

Researchers developed a framework combining flexible and sustainable design principles to evaluate textile recycling technologies. The study addresses the growing environmental burden of textile waste in the U.S., where over 15 million tons are discarded annually with less than 15% recycled, contributing to microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed evaluation method aims to help identify recycling approaches that are both economically viable and environmentally responsible.

2023 Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Standards of sustainability in the fashion industry

This review examines sustainability standards in the fashion industry, which accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, significant water use, and over 85% of textiles going to landfill annually, and explores how washing synthetic clothing releases microplastics into waterways. The authors assess regulatory frameworks, voluntary standards, and the gap between the industry's environmental impact and current sustainability commitments.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microbiology Meets the Fashion World: A Paradigm Shift in Design Education and Practice Through Biotechnology

This study examines how integrating microbiology and biotechnology into fashion design education can shift the industry away from its fossil-fuel-dependent, fast-fashion model, arguing that transdisciplinary approaches using living organisms and bio-based materials represent a promising path toward sustainability in one of the world's most polluting industries.

2022 Preprints.org 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The Environmental Impact of the Fashion Industry: The Necessity of Sustainability

This study examines the environmental impact of the fashion industry across six dimensions — carbon emissions, clothing waste and synthetic material pollution, chemical and dye water contamination, water resource consumption, microplastic fiber shedding, and land use — arguing for the necessity of systemic sustainability transitions in fashion production and consumption.

2024 SCIENTIFIC WORK
Article Tier 2

Fashioning Fiber Futures

This study examines the environmental and social problems generated by the global fashion industry's dominance by synthetic fibre production, including microplastic pollution and carbon emissions, and evaluates Fibershed's regional fibre network model as an alternative. Using qualitative thematic analysis, researchers assess how localised, community-based fibre systems and Indigenous and Black American knowledge could advance sustainable textile futures.

2024 Fashion Highlight
Article Tier 2

Design Thinking as a remedy to Fast-Fashion ecological issues

This theoretical design study explores how design thinking methodologies could be applied to address the ecological problems caused by fast fashion, including textile microfiber pollution. It is primarily a conceptual design framework paper rather than an empirical research study.

2020 Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen)
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

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

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.

2023 International Journal of Geography Geology and Environment
Article Tier 2

Gaps, challenges and drivers for environmentally sustainable textile and garment manufacturing in India

This is a policy and sustainability study reviewing the challenges and opportunities for environmentally sustainable textile manufacturing in India; it is not a microplastics research paper, though synthetic textile production is indirectly linked to microfiber pollution.

2023 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Impact of the Life Cycle of Textiles and Mitigation Options: Online Informative and Educational Resources / Impatto Ambientale Dei Prodotti Tessili Ed Opzioni Di Mitigazione: Risorse Informative Ed Educative Online

This review examines the environmental impact of textile product life cycles and strategies for mitigation, noting that an estimated 35% of ocean microplastics originate from synthetic clothing fibers shed during washing. The study highlights that durable garments, low-shed textiles, natural fibers, and improved recycling infrastructure are among the key solutions for reducing textile-related microplastic pollution.

2024 European Journal of Social Sciences Studies 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Analysis of Socio-economic, Technological, Environmental Characteristics of the Life Cycle of Textile Products

This review analyzes the socio-economic, technological, and environmental characteristics across the full life cycle of textile products and their impacts on human health and natural resources. The analysis found that 45% of textiles can be reused and 30% processed into technical textiles, and that extending service life by nine months can reduce energy, water, and CO2 emissions by up to 30%.

2022 Herald of Khmelnytskyi National University Technical sciences
Article Tier 2

Towards Sustainable Textiles for a Safer Planet: Main Topics

This review critically examines sustainability claims in the textile industry, arguing that despite advances in fiber development and recycling, true sustainability requires addressing microplastic shedding, energy use, and resource depletion throughout the full textile lifecycle. The authors distinguish between genuine sustainability and greenwashing.

2024 Sustainability 4 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Environmental Sciences Europe 230 citations
Article Tier 2

Production waste of the textile and clothing industry in sustaindevelopment context

Researchers identified and categorized production waste streams from the textile and clothing industry, assessed their environmental impacts in a sustainable development context, and proposed waste minimization strategies in response to increasing EU regulatory pressure.

2023 Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology Organization and Management Series 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Transformation Toward Slow Fashion: A Literature Synthesis on the Ecological and Social Impacts of Fast Fashion

This review synthesized literature from 2014 to 2024 on the ecological and social impacts of fast fashion, finding that the industry contributes up to 10% of global carbon emissions, generates significant microplastic and textile waste, consumes large water volumes, and is linked to labor exploitation — while identifying slow fashion as a viable sustainable alternative.

2025 Jurnal Sains dan Aplikasi Keilmuan Teknik Industri (SAKTI)
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 Textile Industry: An Overview

This review examines the environmental sustainability challenges of the textile industry, covering chemical pollution, high water and energy consumption, and solid waste generation at every production stage, while discussing strategies such as sustainable materials, cleaner processing, and circular economy approaches.

2022 Non-Metallic Material Science 26 citations