Most important textile polluting nations in the EU listed, UK ranked 4th worst

The 15 nations in the EU creating the most textile pollution have already been listed in a fresh study, with Italy, Portugal, Austria and the UK named the largest culprits.

The analysis, published by Amsterdam-based menswear manufacturer Labfresh, examined various factors to reach at its conclusion, like the nations’ total amount of textile waste, spending on different clothing per person, the share of the clothing industry in the gross domestic product and the yearly export of worn clothing.

Italy was named minimal sustainable country in the study, with the country generating 465,925 tonnes of yearly textile waste materials and 7.7 kilograms of textile waste per person. With all elements considered, the united states received an overall score of 100.

The following 14 countries on the list were Portugal (96.9), Austria (84.9), UK (59.1), Belgium (51.7), the Czech Republic (49.7), Denmark (47), Spain (45.7), Finland (44.4), Germany (43.5), holland (41.6), France (39), Ireland (34.1), Poland (28.3), and Hungary (0).

The UK - which has the 3rd biggest clothing industry in Europe in relative terms, representing 3.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) - was named the fourth most textile polluting nation in the list, generating 206,456 tonnes of yearly textile waste.

The common British consumer spends 980 pounds a year on new clothes - topped only by the common Austrian consumer who spends 1,080 pounds - and throws away around 3.1 kilograms of textiles each year. Of that amount, simply 0.3 kilograms are recycled and 0.4 kilograms are reused, while 0.8 kilograms are incinerated and 1.7 kilograms are removed in landfills.

In relative conditions, Belgians produced the virtually all textile waste at 14.8 kilograms per capita of it each year, while Germany came in third place when it comes to annual exports of worn clothing, with 6 kilograms per capita going abroad each year.

Spain produced the least textile waste products in relative terms in 2.1 kilograms per person.

Labfresh founder Kasper Brandi Petersen said on a statement: “The concept of Labfresh is founded on fresh technologies and materials from the textile industry to keep clothes clean and fresh for life. In so doing, we all have to buy fewer clothes.

“Many great inventions come from Germany and Switzerland in particular, but, for reasons uknown, the fashion industry often ignores them. We, on the other hand, believe that we are able to just cope with the tremendous amount of textile waste materials if the industry continues to build up.”