Seamless has released new clothing benchmarking data which tells the story of what happened to our clothes in 2023. How much new clothing did Australians buy? How much second hand clothing did we buy? And how much clothing was recycled, reused and sent to landfill?
The data highlights that in 2023, Australians bought 12% less new clothing compared to 2018. We also bought more second hand clothes, coinciding with the impact of the increased cost of living . Yet, 222,000 tonnes of clothing was still sent to Australian landfill.
It reveals that while individual organisations are making progress, and Australians are starting to change their buying behaviour, systemic change is urgently needed to address clothing waste, which can only happen when government, clothing brands, retailers and the industry join forces.
Australians are buying less clothing for the first time in 30 years
In 2023, 1.42 billion items of clothing were sold in Australia, which equates to 53 items of clothing for every Australian. This is a 12% decrease from 2018, when 1.6 billion items were sold before the impact of the COVID pandemic on retail trade, yet a staggering four fold increase on the number of clothing items sold 30 years ago in 1993.
More than ever, Australians are selling, swapping and sharing clothing
In the last five years, the amount of clothes being reused, that is sold, swapped, shared and therefore worn by another person, increased by 2% in 2023 to 592 million, and the number of second hand clothes sold in Australia in 2023 increased by 18% to 240 million garments. The increased cost of living, combined with a greater awareness of the ongoing impact of waste to the environment are the most likely factors in these shifts, and they set a strong foundation for the transition towards a circular clothing economy.
More clothes are being recycled
Our innovative recycling operators are also making progress. In the last five years, the number of clothes being recycled, either within Australia or internationally, increased by 17% to 140 million garments or 35,000 tonnes.
We’re still sending over 200,000 tonnes of clothing to Australian landfill
While the amount of clothing that went to landfill in Australia decreased marginally by 4%, 888 million items of clothing, which equates to 222,000 tonnes of clothing still ended up in landfill in Australia. In addition, it is estimated that 9,000 tonnes was sent to landfill outside Australia which is a 13% increase compared to 2018.
Download the data summary for further information including a data table and data sources.
