Papers

61,005 results
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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

Scenarios for reducing the environmental impacts of the UK clothing economy

Researchers modeled scenarios for reducing the environmental footprint of the UK clothing economy over the next two decades, where per-capita consumption is double the global average. They found that both production changes and shifts in consumer behavior are needed to bring clothing impacts within planetary boundaries. The study suggests that fast fashion's growth has driven dramatic increases in carbon emissions and material consumption that current circular economy efforts have been too slow to address.

2023 Journal of Cleaner Production 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Linear Economy versus Circular Economy: New raw material

This paper examines the fashion industry's role in environmental sustainability and argues for a transition from linear to circular economic models. It highlights how the current take-make-waste approach generates massive textile waste, including synthetic microplastic fibers. A circular fashion economy would reduce both material waste and plastic pollution from textiles.

2022 Turk Turizm Arastirmalari Dergisi 4 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

Sustainability Challenges of the Textile Industry

This review examines the environmental, social, and economic sustainability challenges facing the global textile industry, including high water consumption, chemical pollution, labor exploitation, and the compounding effects of fast fashion on waste generation and resource depletion. The authors argue that addressing these interconnected challenges requires a multidimensional approach spanning supply chain transparency, regulatory reform, and shifts in consumer behavior.

2025 IntechOpen eBooks
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

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

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

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
Review Tier 2

Artificial intelligence and sustainability in the fashion industry: a review from 2010 to 2022

This review examines how artificial intelligence technologies have been applied to sustainability challenges in the fashion industry from 2010 to 2022. Researchers found that AI tools show promise for addressing issues like textile waste, supply chain inefficiency, and pollution, though broader adoption is needed to meaningfully advance the industry's sustainability goals.

2023 SN Applied Sciences 44 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of fast fashion on the environment and climate change

This paper examines how fast fashion's rapid production cycles and disposable consumer culture contribute to growing environmental impacts including carbon emissions, water pollution, and textile waste. The disposal of fast fashion clothing releases synthetic microfibers and eventually contributes to microplastic pollution in soils and waterways.

2023 Symposium of Literature Culture and Communication (SYLECTION) 2022 2 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
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

Fashionable Ethics: Exploring Ethical Perspectives in the Production, Marketing, and Consumption of Fashion

Researchers compiled a special collection of studies examining ethical issues in fashion production, marketing, and consumption through the lens of established ethical theories and frameworks. The work highlights how the industry must balance social justice with environmental responsibility, including concerns like plastic waste and greenwashing.

2024 Journal of Business Ethics 13 citations
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
Article Tier 2

AI, Fashion, and Climate Conscious Consumers Promoting Sustainable Consumption Through Intelligent System

This research review explains how artificial intelligence (AI) could help reduce fashion's harmful impact on the environment, including cutting down on microplastic pollution that can affect human health. AI tools can help shoppers make better choices by showing which clothes are made sustainably and last longer, potentially reducing the tiny plastic fibers that shed from synthetic clothes into water and air. However, the authors warn that AI must be used responsibly to truly help the environment rather than just appearing to do so.

2026 Advances in computational intelligence and robotics book series
Article Tier 2

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.

2024 Nature Environment and Pollution Technology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

The current situation of fast fashion industry and how to reduce the waste

This paper reviews the environmental problems caused by the fast fashion industry and evaluates current and emerging solutions including circular economy design and advanced recycling technologies. The authors argue that traditional waste disposal is no longer adequate for the volume of textile waste generated. Transitioning to circular fashion models could reduce the textile fiber microplastics that wash off synthetic clothing into waterways.

2023 Advances in Economics Management and Political Sciences 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Can fashion be sustainable? Trajectories of change in organizational, products and processes, and socio-cultural contexts

This article provides a comprehensive framework for understanding sustainability in the fashion industry across three key dimensions: organizational change, innovation in products and processes, and socio-cultural transformation. Researchers analyzed how shifts in management practices, materials science, and consumer behavior collectively shape the industry's sustainability efforts. The study highlights that meaningful progress requires coordinated action across all three dimensions rather than isolated initiatives.

2024 Sustainability Science Practice and Policy 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Applications in Sustainable Fashion

Researchers reviewed the application of hydrogel and aerogel technologies in sustainable fashion, examining how these materials can address environmental concerns including microplastic pollution, excessive water use, and non-biodegradable waste while enabling closed-loop production models and advanced functions such as energy-harvesting footwear.

2026
Article Tier 2

Clothing 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.

2020 Textile & Leather Review 35 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
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

Circular Economy and Waste in the Fashion Industry

This review analyses existing EU legislative measures relevant to sustainability and circular economy transitions in the fashion industry, a sector associated with high water and energy consumption, chemical pollution, and microplastic generation from textiles. The authors evaluate the EU Circular Economy Action Plan of 2015 and its revised waste framework as tools for driving systemic change in fashion industry practices.

2019 Laws 129 citations