02 June 2025 – Are 19 kg of new clothing, shoes and household textiles consumed per person per year in Europe too much? How do we make the textiles system more circular and sustainable?
The European Environment Agency has recently published a briefing Circularity of the EU textiles value chain in numbers, showing that consumption of clothing, shoes and household textiles in Europe is at an all-time high: averaging 19 kg per person per year. This level of consumption is causing intense pressure on our environment and climate, both in Europe and globally.
How much is 19kg?
In 2022, the average EU citizen consumed 19kg of textiles annually, more than ever before: 8 kg clothing, 4 kg shoes and 7 kg household textiles. That’s roughly equivalent to the contents of a large suitcase, per person, every year.
Is that too much? The answer lies in looking at the environmental and climate impact of this consumption and the extent to which our planet can continue to bear such intense pressures.
What are the environmental and climate pressures?
In 2022, consumption of clothing, shoes and household textiles was identified as the fifth most damaging area of consumption in Europe, based on the pressures it places on our environment and climate. Only the consumption systems of food, housing and transport/mobility consistently caused higher pressures.
In terms of total material use, textiles consumption ranked fifth among all EU consumption categories, accounting for 523 kilograms per person per year, from resource extraction, through to production and consumption.
Greenhouse gas emissions from textile consumption ranked sixth, at 355 kg CO₂ equivalent per person, mainly due to fossil fuel use in synthetic textile production. Water use ranked fourth, with 12 m³ per person annually, driven by washing and cotton crop irrigation. Land use ranked fifth, averaging 323 m² per person, reflecting the land required for both fossil fuel extraction and the cultivation of natural fibres like cotton and wool.
The way we use materials is fundamental to our future, which is why I am personally involved in the Materials and Consumption Taskforce launched by The Club of Rome and the Hot or Cool Institute. My involvement is grounded in the urgency I see in aligning material use with planetary boundaries and sustainability goals.
Textile consumption also generates a range of additional impacts which are more difficult to quantify, including those from hazardous chemicals, such as PFAs, and microplastic pollution.
What happens to used textiles?
Currently, only about 4 kg of used textiles per person is collected separately in Europe, the rest, about 8kg per person, ends up in landfills or incinerators. Of the textiles collected separately, most are exported to Asia and Africa for sorting, recycling (mostly in Asia) and reuse (mostly in Africa), in total 1.4 million tonnes annually is exported from the EU.
However, not all used textiles are ultimately recycled or reused, as some end up dumped or burned, often in natural environments near cities such as rivers, forests and deserts etc.
Why we need systemic change
Our current linear system of production and consumption is causing high and rising textiles consumption. We are locked into a system where marketing, social media and huge online platforms urge people to buy more every year.
To reverse this trend, we need to transition to a more circular and sustainable system that promotes higher quality, durability, repairability, reuse and recycling.
The EU’s 2022 strategy on sustainable and circular textiles sets out a clear vision to move away from fast fashion towards a more circular, resource-efficient system. By 2025 all EU member states are legally required to separately collect textiles waste.
Policies include eco-design requirements for textiles put on the EU market, for EU countries to have extended producer responsibility schemes and for the EU to have better proof that exported used textiles are reused or recycled.
Outside Europe, very few regions or countries, if any, have comparable policies. Globally there are still no major political agreements to drive systemic change in the ways we produce and consume textiles.
There are some encouraging signs: a potential resolution on textiles by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), a proposal to include textiles in the UN Basel Convention (which regulates waste trade) and the Global Textiles Policy Forum is enabling discussion across regions.
The bottom line
What is clear from the European Environment Agency briefing is that textile consumption is exerting massive pressure on the environment and climate. 19kg of annual textile consumption in our current linear production model is simply too much: the impacts are unsustainable. A fundamental systemic shift is needed to reduce this burden as our planet cannot continue to absorb these pressures year after year.
This article gives the views of the author, it is not the position of the European Environment Agency.
