People in the European Union are consuming more clothing, shoes, and other textiles than ever before. This is what the European Environment Agency (EEA) says in a new report, which it plans to officially present on Wednesday.

According to the report, in the most recent comparison year, 2022, EU citizens bought an estimated average of 19 kilograms of textiles, including eight kilograms of clothing, four kilograms of shoes and seven kilograms of household textiles.

That's enough to fill a large suitcase with new textiles, emphasize the experts at the Copenhagen-based EU agency. In 2019, the total amount was 17 kilograms, compared to 14 to 17 kilograms in previous years.

Consequences for the environment and climate

According to the EEA, textile consumption places high demands on the environment and climate, for example through the consumption of materials, water, and land, but also in the form of emissions, chemicals, and microplastics. The report shows that policymakers, industry, and consumers must do their part to ensure Europe moves away from fast fashion and produces better, more durable textiles that can be reused, repaired, and recycled. Innovations toward a circular economy could ultimately also contribute to the EU's competitiveness, the report states.

A total of around 6.94 million tons of textile waste were generated in the 27 EU member states in 2022. This corresponds to a good 16 kilograms per person. Environmental experts see a problem in the fact that far too many discarded textiles still end up in mixed household waste rather than in recycling: In the reference year, 85 percent of all textile waste from households was not collected separately.

No more clothes in the residual waste

The EEA is hoping that a new EU directive will have an impact in this regard: As of January 1, 2025, textiles must be disposed of separately from other waste. Old clothes and used textiles may no longer be disposed of with general waste.

The EEA does not break down consumption figures for individual EU countries. It also pointed out in the report that the estimated quantities are subject to a certain degree of uncertainty. They are calculated based on textile production and imports minus exports.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.