Spinning Greenwash: Are Recycled Clothes Leaching Plastic?
Firstly, what is greenwashing? Greenwashing is when organizations employ techniques to suggest that they are engaging in greener practices when, in reality, this is either exaggerated, misleading, or outright deceptive. For example, companies could pose behind ‘eco-friendly’ buzzwords without any tangibility, set false emission targets, or champion sustainable efforts whilst neglecting their polluting behaviours. In the field of fashion, greenwashing has become rife.
When fashion brands market their recycled material clothes in a positive light, they fail to actually acknowledge the knock-on issue: their recycled clothes are leaching plastic when washed. A recent study by the Microplastic Research Group at Çukurova University compared natural fibres, virgin, and recycled synthetic garments from Nike, Adidas, Shein, Zara, and H&M by simulating a typical at-home clothes wash. One major finding was that recycled polyester shed the most, 55% more than its virgin counterpart, and in the case of recycled polyamide, 300% more. These microplastics pose an environmental risk due to their ability to carry harmful chemicals and travel further into ecosystems.
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This doesn't just affect the environment, however; it affects our health too. Whilst cotton (a natural fibre) was also found to shed microfibres, the dangers lay in the difference of fibre type. The shed cotton fibres were found to be heavier and longer than the synthetics, and therefore harder to inhale, which the report suggests could possibly be less threatening to our health. The authors also explain that because smaller fibres are able to travel further, the longer cotton fibres are less able to penetrate tissues and be readily ingested.
Sales of these clothes are heavily greenwashed. The report by Changing Markets highlights how companies like Shein, Nike, and Adidas frame the use of recycled synthetic fibres as a step toward sustainability, preventing plastic bottles from ending up in oceans and landfills by recycling them into clothes. In fact, 82% of brands surveyed in another report said they plan to increase the use of recycled polyester in their products, and some even include a full transition by 2030 in their sustainability goals.
On the surface, this appears to be a green step towards plastic waste reduction, but in reality neglects the more microscopic plastic problem it creates.
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Image: shopper browsing clothes - Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels (ST ref: 1378)
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Brilliant!!