ISLAMABAD: Data focusing on ‘Inter­national Day of Zero Waste 2025’ reveal that 92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced globally every year, equal to a garbage truck full of clothing incinerated or sent to landfills every second.

The ‘Day of Zero Waste’ being observed on Sunday, spotlights waste in the fashion and textile industry, highlighting the environmental and social challenges of over-production and over-consumption caused by the sector’s linear business model.

The rapid growth in textile production and consumption is outpacing sustainability efforts in the sector, causing severe environmental, economic, and social impacts, particularly in the Global South.

The United Nations says production of textile waste doubled from 2000 to 2015, while the duration of garment use decreased by 36pc, whereas 11pc of plastic waste comes from clothing and textiles, with only 8pc of textiles firbres in 2023 made from recycled sources.

The UN emphasises that a zero-waste approach is key to the required transition to more circular approaches, as discarded clothing ends up in low-income countries, where a lack of waste management infrastructure leads to dumping, burning, and severe environmental and social consequences. Additionally, textile and fashion waste in cities often ends up in landfills, where it takes decades to decompose and releases harmful greenhouse gases.

92m tonnes of waste being produced evey year globally

In Pakistan, according to a study’s findings, about 270,125.34 tonnes of textile waste is generated annually, including about 19,304.58 tonnes from Karachi.

The study published by the Pakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, shows that among Pakistan’s economic classes, the highest amount textiles are discarded by the lower income class (class C); class A Plus tends to trash about 195kg of clothing annually, whereas Class A and B demonstrate an annual discard of 150kg and 105kg textile waste respectively.

The major challenge to sustainable management of textile waste in Pakistan is inadequate technical and financial resources and a lack of awareness.

The study finds that there is a significant lack of awareness among the educated people in Pakistan about textile waste management and recycling. This knowledge gap is mainly because of the limited awareness campaigns and the absence of environmental concerns and textile waste recycling topics in higher education curricula.

Textile industries in Pakistan are also inadequately familiar with the textile waste recycling and its economic, environmental and social implications. Currently, textile industries in the country are lacking a consolidated approach to sustainable management of textile wastes resulting to lose the economic benefits such as revenue generation through inland selling and export of recycled textiles besides the environmental benefits of waste recycling and reuse.

“Unsustainable fashion is aggravating the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature, land and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“We need to focus on a circular economy approach that values sustainable production, reuse and repair. By working together, consumers, industry and governments can support genuinely durable fashion and help reduce our fashion footprint.”

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2025