Recent laboratory research from the Changing Markets Foundation, based in the Netherlands, has uncovered that recycled polyester produces an average of 55% more microplastic pollution during washing compared to virgin polyester, which is less prone to brittleness. Furthermore, the particles from recycled polyester are nearly 20% smaller, enhancing their ability to spread throughout various environments and potentially causing more environmental harm.
Polyester is the lowest-cost mass market fiber, costing only half as much per kilogram to produce as cotton. This affordability is a key factor in the rapid growth of the fast fashion industry, with polyester becoming the dominant fiber choice since 2000. This has contributed to a steep rise in fabric production, which has reached record levels. For example, the ultra-fast fashion brand Shein relies on polyester for a remarkable 82% of its inventory. However, the low pricing of these garments carries significant consequences, particularly in waste and pollution. Consumers now buy 60% more clothing than they did in 2000, but they keep items for only half as long, leading to an estimated 120 million tons of clothing discarded in the last year.
Each laundry cycle can release as many as 900,000 microplastic fibers into the environment, an issue compounded by the widespread presence of these microplastics in even the most remote locations.
The study, conducted by the Microplastic Research Group at Cukurova University in Turkey, focused on a limited number of garments from five major brands. While the findings offer insight into potential pollution rates, they are based on a relatively small sample. The brands tested—Adidas, H&M, Nike, Shein, and Zara—are among the largest producers and consumers of synthetic fabrics in the fashion industry, according to the Changing Markets survey.
Among these brands, Nike’s polyester garments emerged as the most significant polluter, shedding an average of over 30,000 fibers per gram of recycled fabric, nearly four times more than H&M and over seven times that of Zara. Interestingly, Shein’s recycled polyester clothing released microplastics at rates comparable to those of its virgin polyester products. This raises suspicions that some items labeled as recycled polyester may actually contain virgin polyester.
“The fashion industry has been selling recycled polyester as a green solution, yet our findings show it is deepening the microplastic pollution problem,” says Urska Trunk, senior campaign manager at the Changing Markets Foundation. “Our report exposes recycled polyester for what it is—a sustainability fig leaf covering fashion’s deepening dependence on synthetic materials. Smarter design tweaks and end-of-pipe fixes will only scratch the surface. Real solutions mean slowing and phasing out synthetic fiber production and stopping the diversion of plastic bottles into disposable clothing.”
Even before these findings, environmentalists concluded that the fashion industry’s push for recycled polyester is largely a form of greenwashing. While recycling systems for polyester clothing are considered “important,” they are still “in development” and can handle only about 2% of all recycled polyester. In contrast, the beverage industry has the capacity to repeatedly reuse waste plastic bottles but now competes with fashion brands for these materials. Meanwhile, the rapid increase in the use of virgin polyester is so pronounced that the share of recycled polyester actually fell last year. The low cost of synthetic fabrics, produced at record levels, has led to massive overproduction, overconsumption, and waste.
