Fast fashion dominates the world today and a majority of customers swear by it- but what about the complications? The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) announced today the commencement of a probe into impact of fashion industry of UK on environment and society. Notably, UK’s fast fashion industry happens to be a huge one with a contribution of £28.1 billion to national GDP in 2015.
The committee shall deeply explore the life cycle of the garments through a process which is called LCA- Life Cycle Assessment, to calculate how each stage of the life cycle of a garment impacts the environment in terms of carbon footprint, resources used, wastes produced, etc. This will thus lead them into formulating methods to effectively recycle and reuse these garments and thus reduce pollution and wastes.
The inquiry was the result of alarming statistics that stated that 300,000 tonnes of clothing goes to waste in UK every year. It was also discovered that on an average, 70 kilograms of garments are rendered as waste as UK’s shoppers only wear 70% of what they actually buy.
Following the announcement, Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the EAC discussed the need for fashion to not cost the Earth, as the way garments are produced impacts the environment and requires toxic chemicals that in turn produce climate changing emissions. She reassured about the inquiry by saying, “Our inquiry will look into how the fashion industry can remodel itself to be both thriving and sustainable.”
Despite the constant jabs on fast fashion, it is still a major source to attract the customers towards fashion industry, so the question here arises if this inquiry will ‘slow down’ fashion, and thus, cost the contribution of UK fashion industry to the national GDP?
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
