We're Running Out of Space to Dump Our Clothes.

Trash dumps are growing and growing from all things we throw away and you won't believe how much of it is clothing. When will it become too much to handle?

Around the world, people are dumping 2 billion tons of waste a year. The U.S. alone houses more than 2,000 active landfills with an average size of 600 acres. All of this garbage decomposes and releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and leaks toxic chemicals into the ground, polluting our much-needed soils and groundwater. Clothing and textiles play a huge role in this, as the fashion industry continually overproduces garments that will never be sold only to be discarded; and then sells clothes so cheaply, that garments are thrown away, usually as fast as they are bought.

Apex Regional Landfill, the largest in the world, is located just 20 miles outside of Las Vegas. With 2,000 acres and 50 million tons of trash, this landfill alone creates enough methane gas to power 10,000 homes. Clothing, on average, makes up 5% of American landfills, so one can assume that Apex Regional holds over 2 million tons of fashion waste. Apex Regional smells terrible and requires substantial resources to maintain. Dump truck transportation to and from the landfill creates a dangerous amount of dust and debris, requiring 150 million gallons of water annually to control the local air quality. Landfills, especially ones of this size, have severe consequences on the surrounding community.

Other large landfills include Mexico's Bordo Poniente at over 900 acres and 70 million tons of trash, China's Laogang Shanghai at 800 acres and containing 36 million tons of trash, and Italy's Mallagrota at almost 700 acres with a 60-million-ton capacity, and that’s only four of the thousands of landfills around the world. South Korea has more than 300; China, more than 600. Canada and India have more than 2,000 each.

With this in mind, it becomes easy to see that trash is a global problem for all of us, and its environmental consequences remain a great threat. There's no denying these serious consequences, and yet the world's dumpsites are only getting worse. By 2050, experts predict that global waste will increase by at least 50%, reaching almost 3.5 billion tons of trash.

Greenhouse Gases

The clothing industry relies on non-renewable resources, with most fast-fashion fabrics made from petroleum. Production of synthetic fabrics like nylon and spandex is super toxic for the environment, releasing significant greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, scientists attribute at least 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions to the fashion industry; data suggests the sector produces over 2 billion metric tons of CO2 annually — this is a larger carbon footprint than some entire European countries.

Scientists attribute at least 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions to the fashion industry.

The atmospheric damage doesn't end once the garments are shipped to consumers. Millions of tons of clothing end up in landfills; its decomposition releases methane, another destructive greenhouse gas. Garments made from natural fibers release carbon and methane as it breaks down; cotton, linen, and denim are some of the quickest fabrics to decompose, and most of these items break down within a year. Methane is significantly more destructive than carbon dioxide in regard to its ability to confine heat in the atmosphere. The substantial amount of clothing in the waste stream is a major contributor to climate change. In fact, municipal landfills are the third-biggest source of manmade methane emissions in the country.

Liner malfunctions and leaching

Modern landfills rely on a method of double-lined plastic barriers, often reinforced with synthetic clay, to prevent waste from contaminating the soil. The plastic barriers were first implemented in the 1980s, so any landfill before then employed a far less effective wall made from clay and soil — and there's no easy way to go back and improve the old ones. Nonetheless, even the latest and greatest in landfill liner technology does not completely mitigate risks. 100% of landfills will eventually leak. Rainwater will find its way into the dumpsite, collecting all manner of chemicals and finding its way back into the ground.

100% of landfills will eventually leak.

Toxins

Most of our clothing contains toxins, including synthetic dyes, formaldehyde, and PFCs. These chemicals make clothes more colorful, less wrinkly, and stain-resistant — but at what cost? In some cases, your skin could absorb some of these chemicals, causing irritation. If that's not disconcerting enough, imagine the number of toxins sitting in landfills around the world. Over 100 million people in the United States depend on clean groundwater resources for drinking water. A landfill is a giant hole in the ground, sometimes reaching 500 feet deep; the trash at the bottom sits well below the water table, and it's a matter of time before groundwater seeps in, creating a verifiable cocktail of hazardous chemicals and gases. Textile waste is especially toxic in landfills, and environmental experts argue it should be banned entirely from municipal waste collection.

100 million people in the United States depend on clean groundwater.

AZO dyes, which make up 70% of coloring agents used in the fashion industry, are water absorbent. As clothing breaks down and water seeps in, these chemicals, among others, put local groundwater sources at risk of harmful contamination. Studies demonstrate that AZO dyes present in a water supply correlate to mutations and potential cancers when local wildlife (and humans) ingest the water source.

Rapid Growth Rate

The average American consumer throws away over 50 pounds of clothing annually, even though most modern clothing has a lifespan of 5-10 years. Donating to Goodwill Industries or another clothing-based charity, while an altruistic effort, does little to deter the issue. The majority of unsold garments at these facilities eventually end up in municipal waste streams and, ultimately, the rapidly shrinking available space in landfills. At the current rate, many states are projected to run out of landfill capacity in the next decade. The U.S. loses almost an additional 3% of landfill space annually; this rate is at least 5% each year in the densely populated Northeast.

States are projected to run out of landfill capacity in the next decade.

Potential solutions to cope with the rapid growth rate of trash around the world are largely ineffective. Waste management stakeholders are looking towards export solutions to nearby states and poorer countries — in 2021, the U.S. exported 45 million tons of plastic waste abroad, the majority of which just ended up in other countries' landfills or polluting their local bodies of water. As far as clothing specifically, the United States exports 700,000 tons of clothing annually to other countries. It's a practice that has led to some economic consequences for cultures abroad. Secondhand American clothing flooding a small market can hurt local craftspeople and tailors. Some countries, particularly members of the East African Community, have gone so far as to introduce bans on imported clothing so as to protect their local clothing industry. Ultimately, the solution to the rate at which waste is increasing is not to simply move it elsewhere.

The U.S. exported 45 million tons of plastic waste abroad.

The U.S. is running out of space to dump its clothes, yet fast-fashion retailers continue to produce billions of garments annually, and consumers keep buying them. Creating new landfill space is no easy feat; American homebuyers don't want to live near a landfill, and new landfills cost millions of dollars to construct and operate. Even so, every landfill poses serious health risks to the local environment, especially through groundwater contamination. On a big picture level, landfills contribute a significant fraction of greenhouse gas emissions, undermining sustainability efforts around the world. Landfills are not a solution; the only meaningful way forward is to buy less clothing and eventually reduce the demand for all the space that's wasted on trash.