Fashion’s five-year countdown

The global fashion industry is running down the clock on its aim to become more sustainable, but some areas are seeing more progress than others. Credit: Shutterstock

Global fashion retailers have publicly committed themselves to achieving ambitious sustainability goals, ranging from reduced emissions to greater circularity of materials through more effective recycling. Some of these goals have been adopted from external sources, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which target 2030 deadlines, the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and national net zero emission policies, while some brands have set their own internal targets.

In 2021 UK fashion retailer ASOS plc unveiled its Fashion with Integrity (FWI) 2030 programme, laying out a comprehensive plan to achieve environment, social and governance (ESG) goals by 2030. These goals included becoming a net zero emissions business across its value chain; ensuring 100% of ASOS own-brand products and packaging are made from more sustainable or recycled materials; and providing full public transparency of every ASOS own-brand product - all by the end of this decade.

In 2022, Spanish fashion retailer Mango unveiled its Sustainable Vision 2030, which it says is informed by UN SDGs and commits the company to an 80% reduction in direct (Scope 1 and 2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a 35% reduction in indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions by 2030, compared to 2019. It also aims to ensure 100% of the fibres used in its garments will be of a more sustainable origin or recycled by 2030.

Yet despite the fashion industry’s lofty ambitions, according to a March 2024 report from global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co, about two-thirds of fashion brands are behind on their own decarbonisation schedules, and 40% have seen their emissions output increase since making their sustainability commitments.

McKinsey’s report quotes a widely-cited estimate that the global fashion industry accounts for between 3% and 8% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are expected to increase by about 30% by 2030 if the industry fails to take action.

UK waste management company Waste Managed says globally, the fashion industry produces around 92m tonnes of textile waste annually, and just 1% is recycled with the rest ending up in landfill. This suggests the sector has a long way to go before it becomes circular.

However, non-profit Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), which works to spur collective action in the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impacts, says some brands are taking meaningful steps towards becoming more sustainable by the 2030 deadline.

“There are a lot of brands that are pushing the industry forward,” Aii’s chief financial officer Ryan Gaines tells Just-Style. He highlights pioneering work by brands including UK fashion retailer Marks & Spencer and US apparel company J.Crew, which have taken steps to cut emissions by assessing and setting carbon reduction targets. Meanwhile, US fashion brand Gap Inc has redesigned its processes and products to save billions of litres of water. 

A Mango spokesperson tells Just Style the brand is making progress towards its 2030 goals, and pointed to its 2023 sustainability report, which outlines accomplishments including the installation of recycling boxes for shoppers to drop off used garments in 100% of its stores to help it achieve its recycling objectives.   

Mango adds that in 2023, 41% of the polyester used in its garments was recycled and it uses circular design principles to make its garments more easily reusable and recyclable after their useful life. It stresses that its garments now have a QR code that redirects customers to information on its website about the origin of the garment's manufacture and the type of fibres used.

Gaines says the fashion industry has made notable strides toward its 2030 sustainability targets but admits that “significant work remains” in the next five years. He cites data from non-profit sustainability-focused organisations Cascale, Worldly and Textile Exchange, which allowed Aii to estimate apparel sector CO2 equivalent emissions were 1.17% lower in 2022 than they were in 2021, which suggests the industry is moving in the right direction.

However, if the industry continues to expand at its current pace between now and 2030, its emissions will also continue to expand overall. “To meet 2030 goals, collaboration [to accelerate emissions reduction] and significant investment must be prioritised now,” he explains.  

One of the reasons why fashion may be slow to meet its sustainability objectives is the industry is prioritising the wrong solutions, according to Alex Proudfoot, a senior manager at strategy consultancy firm Strategy&, which is part of global accountancy firm PwC. He explains research modelling by Strategy& has shown recycling is not necessarily the most sustainable way of dealing with textile waste: “We found (...) that in 90% of scenarios reuse comes out as more environmentally beneficial than recycling,” he says. “It's not to say that recycling isn't hugely important and will not play a huge role going forwards in making fashion a greener industry, just that if businesses are really thinking about which to prioritise it should be around getting reuse right,” he adds.

At this year’s 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan, six years after the UN’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Change was launched, Marguerite Le Rolland, head of footwear and apparel at business intelligence firm Euromonitor International, said affordability remains one of the chief barriers to achieving sustainability in fashion.

She told delegates: “Sustainable fashion requires investing in high-quality materials, fair pay and strong labour practices throughout the supply chain, along with eco-friendly energy sources. These factors create growth opportunities but also lead to higher production costs, resulting in a pricing gap that make it difficult for consumers to choose sustainable fashion over more affordable alternatives.” 

The mine’s orebodies are also particularly attractive for potential future investments, with phosphate deposits containing up to 70% rare earth oxides. Indeed, in August 2018, Lynas announced a 70% increase in the mine’s mineral resources and a 60% increase in ore reserves. This pushed the total life of the mine beyond 25 years, making this a reliable long-term project.

The mine’s concentrator can produce around 240,000 tonnes of ore, including around 26,500 tonnes of rare earth oxides. As mining processes improve and the facility begins to push towards this output maximum, this could prove to be a source of rare earths on a much larger scale than many of the high-potential, yet unproven, exploration-stage projects in the country.

While China’s rare earth production remains orders of magnitude greater than Australia’s, large-scale and well-established projects such as the Mountt Weld facility could be Australia’s best chance to threaten Chinese rare earth production on a large scale.

The mine’s concentrator can produce around 240,000 tonnes of ore, including around 26,500 tonnes of rare earth oxides. As mining processes improve and the facility begins to push towards this output maximum, this could prove to be a source of rare earths on a much larger scale than many of the high-potential, yet unproven, exploration-stage projects in the country.

While China’s rare earth production remains orders of magnitude greater than Australia’s, large-scale and well-established projects such as the Mountt Weld facility could be Australia’s best chance to threaten Chinese rare earth production on a large scale.

Australia could be one of the main beneficiaries of this dramatic increase in demand, where private companies and local governments alike are eager to expand the country’s nascent rare earths production. In 2021, Australia produced the fourth-most rare earths in the world. It’s total annual production of 19,958 tonnes remains significantly less than the mammoth 152,407 tonnes produced by China, but a dramatic improvement over the 1,995 tonnes produced domestically in 2011.

The dominance of China in the rare earths space has also encouraged other countries, notably the US, to look further afield for rare earth deposits to diversify their supply of the increasingly vital minerals. With the US eager to ringfence rare earth production within its allies as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, including potentially allowing the Department of Defense to invest in Australian rare earths, there could be an unexpected windfall for Australian rare earths producers.