The Australian fashion industry manufactures and imports over 1.4 billion units of new clothing into Australia every year, more than half of which will end up in landfill.
Early estimates indicate the carbon footprint of clothing in Australia could be as much as 13 million tonnes per year. There is an urgent need for industry to work cooperatively to better manage the environmental and human impacts of their product and material streams, and move to circular models throughout the value chain.
On average, every Australian buys 56 items of clothing each year (second only to the United States in the amount of clothing purchased). Most are made from non-renewable and environmentally problematic materials, sometimes containing unsafe chemicals.
Australia has a thriving reuse sector, predominantly through charitable donations, however much of what is donated is either not saleable in Australia or is unwearable. This costs the charities millions of dollars in sorting and landfill fees. Due to the lack of systematic collection of unwearable clothing and limited reprocessing infrastructure, over 200,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill in Australia each year.
Despite the significant harmful environmental and social impacts of the clothing industry, there is little financial incentive or regulatory requirement for clothing businesses to change their practices. Regardless, due to consumers’ growing demand for ethically manufactured products as well as global trends and regulations requiring the same, many businesses are in the process of actively shifting to more sustainable operations.
Fostering industry-wide collaboration
Transitioning from a linear model to a circular one necessitates systematic and seismic change across the value chain and can only be tackled with industry-wide collaboration, as well as consumer behaviour change.
Seamless, Australia's Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme will enable the Australian clothing industry to do what no single organisation can do alone.
Seamless will empower the industry to collaboratively transform to a sustainable circular clothing model that designs out waste and pollution, keeps clothes and materials recirculating in the economy, while also building economic, environmental, and social capital.
