People in the UK dispose of 49% of all used textiles in residual waste bins, WRAP’s latest Textiles Market Situation Report 2024 showed.
The report found that on average each person in the UK throws away 35 items of unwanted textiles into general waste every year.
WRAP’s most recent estimates showed that the UK discarded 711,000 tonnes of post-consumer textiles into residual black bins and general waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).
Evidence from WRAP’s new Waste Hotspots Report found that 84% of post-consumer textiles were incinerated with energy recovery and 11% were sent to landfill.
WRAP’s latest data also showed the UK bought 1.42 million tonnes of textiles in 2022 and generated 1.45 million tonnes of used textiles.
We’re all buying too many new items and then putting too many clothes in the waste bin consigning them to landfill or incineration.
WRAP said that its data showed that textile consumption figures have risen back to near pre-Covid levels and the UK consume more clothes per head than any other country in Europe.
Recovered textiles from textile banks and charities have fallen over the last decade, WRAP’s latest report showed. The 2023 figures stood at £172.5 per tonne for textile banks and £255 per tonne for charity shops, while 2013 figures were £406 per tonne for textile banks and £432 per tonne for charity shops.
Commenting on the data, Harriet Lamb, CEO at WRAP, said: “We’re all buying too many new items and then putting too many clothes in the waste bin consigning them to landfill or incineration.
“These are valuable resources, not waste. We should be giving to charity shops who rely on the income, selling on e-commerce, repairing or sharing – anything but the bin! But we also need to support those recycling our pre-loved clothes.
“Our reports show that fast fashion and low-quality clothing are flooding the market, strangling efforts to make our clothing more sustainable. In the end, we are paying a heavy price for our addiction to cheap clothes.”
