Textile waste has skyrocketed in recent years, causing the General Accountability Office to release its first-ever report on the issue that paints a grim picture of the industry’s environmental impact. According to The Ethos website, textile waste in the U.S. grew from 1.76 million tons in 1960 to 17 million tons in 2018, now making up nearly 6% of all municipal solid waste. As textiles rot in landfills, they release greenhouse gases and leach harmful chemicals into soil and water.

Among the GAO’s 7 specific recommendations to 6 federal entities were that those entities coordinate through an interagency mechanism that follows leading practices in order to reduce textile waste and advance textile recycling.

“For too long, the so-called ‘fast fashion’ industry has been given free range to pollute our planet, exploit workers, and shortchange consumers,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), ranking member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee, in a statement launching the Slow Fashion Caucus in June 2024.

Pingree claims textile waste is responsible for more carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” Pingree went on to say. “As lawmakers, we can create incentives for the apparel industry and consumers to reduce natural resource consumption and engage in reusing, repairing, rewearing, and recycling textiles.”