Textile waste statistics show a growing waste stream alongside high consumption and substantial resource use. The figures below distinguish U.S. municipal solid waste from EU household estimates, apparent consumption from waste generation, and measured outcomes from modeled or literature-based estimates.
Key Textile Waste Statistics
The most useful headline figures span generation, collection, disposal, commerce and environmental footprints:
- In 2018, U.S. municipal solid-waste textile generation reached 17.030 million tons, equal to 5.8% of total U.S. MSW.
- In 2018, U.S. textile recycling was 14.7%, or 2.510 million tons, according to the EPA estimate.
- In 2022, EU textile consumption averaged 19 kg per person, including clothing, household textiles and footwear.
- In 2022, EU households generated about 6.94 million tonnes of textile waste.
- In 2022, EU textile waste averaged 16 kg per person, a waste measure distinct from consumption.
- In 2022, just under 15% of EU textile waste was separately captured, measuring collection effectiveness rather than recycling yield.
- In 2022, about 85% of EU household textile waste was not collected separately.
- From 2010 to 2022, the European landfill share fell from 21% to 12%.
- From 2010 to 2022, the European incineration share rose from 10% to 14%.
- EU used-textile exports increased from a little over 550,000 tonnes in 2000 to 1.4 million tonnes in 2019.
- An estimated 4%-9% of textile products placed on the European market are destroyed before use.
- The estimated annual mass of European textiles destroyed before use is 264,000-594,000 tonnes.
- The estimated average European online clothing return rate is 20% of online clothing purchases.
- An estimated 22%-43% of returned online clothing is destroyed, averaging about one third.
- In 2022, EU textile consumption caused an estimated 159 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions.
- In 2022, EU textiles required an estimated 5,300 million cubic metres of blue water.
- In 2022, producing textiles consumed by European households required about 144,000 square kilometres of land.
Contents
- U.S. textile waste generation trends
- U.S. textile recycling and landfill data
- EU textile consumption and waste statistics
- European textile collection, landfill and incineration trends
- Returned, unsold and destroyed textile statistics
- Textile waste resources, emissions and global scale
U.S. Textile Waste Generation Trends
The EPA series measures textile material entering U.S. municipal solid waste. It does not include reused textiles until they enter the waste stream, so it is not a complete measure of every textile flow.
| Year | U.S. MSW textile generation |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 1.760 million tons |
| 1970 | 2.040 million tons |
| 1980 | 2.530 million tons |
| 1990 | 5.810 million tons |
| 2000 | 9.480 million tons |
| 2005 | 11.510 million tons |
| 2010 | 13.220 million tons |
| 2015 | 16.060 million tons |
| 2017 | 16.890 million tons |
| 2018 | 17.030 million tons; 5.8% of total MSW |
Source: EPA, “Textiles: Material-Specific Data”. These are EPA material-specific estimates, reported in the source table as thousands of U.S. tons and expressed here in millions of tons.
The series rises from 1.760 million tons in 1960 to 17.030 million tons in 2018. Because the measure is U.S. MSW generation, it should not be read as total textile production, total household discards or global textile waste.
U.S. Textile Recycling and Landfill Data
EPA’s companion series tracks the portion of U.S. MSW textiles recycled. The reported recycling amounts increased over time, but the 2018 estimate was still 2.510 million tons, or 14.7% of U.S. MSW textiles; clothing and footwear alone were estimated at 13%.
| Year | U.S. MSW textiles recycled |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.050 million tons |
| 1970 | 0.060 million tons |
| 1980 | 0.160 million tons |
| 1990 | 0.660 million tons |
| 2000 | 1.320 million tons |
| 2005 | 1.830 million tons |
| 2010 | 2.050 million tons |
| 2015 | 2.460 million tons |
| 2017 | 2.570 million tons |
| 2018 | 2.510 million tons; 14.7% |
Source: EPA, “Textiles: Material-Specific Data”. The figures are EPA estimates for U.S. MSW textiles, not a recovery rate for all textiles sold or reused.
The recycling series therefore needs to be interpreted alongside the generation series. A larger recycled tonnage over time does not mean that the entire textile system became more circular, because the waste stream and its boundaries also changed.
EU Textile Consumption and Waste Statistics
The European Environment Agency uses apparent consumption, calculated from production and trade data, for its consumption estimates. The scope covers clothing, footwear and household textiles, while excluding industrial and technical textiles and carpets.
In 2022, EU-27 textile consumption averaged 19 kg per person: 8 kg of clothing, 7 kg of household textiles and 4 kg of footwear. Apparent household consumption was about 8.5 million tonnes, and the average had risen from 17 kg per person in 2019; between 2010 and 2019, annual values fluctuated between 14 kg and 17 kg per person.
| EU-27 measure | Period | Reported value |
|---|---|---|
| Textile consumption | 2022 | 19 kg per person |
| Clothing, footwear and household-textile consumption | 2022 | 8.5 million tonnes |
| Textile waste generated by households | 2022 | 6.94 million tonnes |
| Textile waste | 2022 | 16 kg per person |
| Textiles’ household-expenditure share | approximately 2012-2022 | 5% |
Source: EEA, “Circularity of the EU textiles value chain in numbers”. Consumption and waste are not interchangeable: the EEA notes that the 2022 gap may reflect keeping, reuse or data-collection challenges.
EU imports included 11 million tonnes of textile products in 2022. Clothing accounted for 45% of import volume and household textiles for 21%, but those import shares are not shares of waste.
European Textile Collection, Landfill and Incineration Trends
Collection is an important boundary in European textile waste statistics. In 2022, the EU average capture rate was just under 15%, meaning about 85% of EU household textile waste was not collected separately.
The capture rate had risen by 4.3 percentage points since 2016. It measures separate-collection effectiveness, not the amount ultimately recycled, and mixed waste may go to landfill or incineration.
| Treatment or flow | Earlier period | 2022 or latest reported value |
|---|---|---|
| European textile waste sent to landfill | 2010: 21% | 12% |
| European textile waste sent to incineration | 2010: 10% | 14% |
| EU used-textile exports | 2000: just over 550,000 tonnes | 2019: 1.4 million tonnes |
| EU used-textile exports | — | 2023: 1.4 million tonnes |
Source: EEA, “Circularity of the EU textiles value chain in numbers”. Treatment shares are based on reported European data and may have country-level coverage differences; incineration includes treatment with and without energy recovery.
Used-textile exports are not equivalent to recycling. The destination and final fate of exported textiles vary, so export tonnage alone cannot establish reuse or recycling outcomes.
Returned, Unsold and Destroyed Textile Statistics
The EEA’s European estimates describe a part of textile waste that can occur before a product is used. They are ranges or literature-based estimates rather than a complete census.
- An estimated 4%-9% of textile products put on the European market are destroyed before use, corresponding to 264,000-594,000 tonnes per year.
- The average European return rate for clothing bought online is estimated at 20%; returns are not all waste.
- An estimated 22%-43% of returned online clothing is destroyed, with studies averaging about one third.
- The average share of unsold textile products reported in research literature is 21%, although scopes differ and some unsold stock includes returned clothing.
- About one fifth of that 21% average unsold stock has been estimated to end up destroyed; this is not a directly measured universal rate.
Source: EEA, “The destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe’s circular economy”. The annual destruction range is derived from estimated destruction shares and apparent consumption, so uncertainty is substantial.
The surrounding market context is also measured. The EU textile and clothing sector had EUR 167 billion turnover in 2022, up 14% from 2021, and employed 1.3 million people across 192,000 companies.
EU households spent about EUR 282 billion on clothing in 2022, or EUR 630 per capita. Clothing, shoes and accessories were ordered online by 68% of EU internet shoppers in the same year; this is a purchase measure, not a direct return or waste measure.
Textile Waste Resources, Emissions and Global Scale
Textile waste sits within a wider production footprint. The EEA cites a contemporary global estimate that synthetic fibres comprised 60%-70% of all textiles sold worldwide, but fibre composition is not itself a waste-flow measure.
For EU household textile consumption in 2022, modeled footprints included 234 million tonnes of primary raw materials, or 523 kg per person. The estimated climate footprint was 159 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, or 355 kg CO2e per person, with about 70% of emissions released outside Europe.
- EU textiles required about 5,300 million cubic metres of blue water in 2022, equal to about 12 cubic metres per person; about 85% of that footprint occurred outside Europe.
- Producing textiles consumed by European households required about 144,000 square kilometres of land in 2022, equal to about 323 square metres per person.
- More than 80% of the land-use impact from EU household textiles was generated outside Europe.
- The estimated climate impact of destroying returned and unsold European textiles reaches up to 5.6 million tonnes of CO2e in a 2020-based estimate.
Source: EEA, “Circularity of the EU textiles value chain in numbers” and EEA, “The destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe’s circular economy”. These are modeled supply-chain footprints rather than emissions, water use or land use from waste treatment alone; the destruction-related climate estimate excludes spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, confection and finishing.