The use of fossil fuels is still quite rampant in the fashion industry, says latest study by Changing Markets Foundation. The report titled “Synthetics Anonymous,’ shows the industry uses cheap fossil fuel-based synthetic fibers in a big way. Polyester is used in over half the textiles produced across the world. This leads to greenwashing by most brands across their voluntary commitments and products. And according to UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) guidelines it can create legal complications for brands in future.

Brands ignorant to rising pollution

The ‘Changing Market Foundation’ report highlights fashion brands’ ignorance on the growing plastic pollution and waste crisis stemming from increasing use of synthetic fibers. The report shows, brands often resort to greenwashing tactics such as downcycling polyethene terephthalate (PET) bottles to clothes instead of designing them to be durable and recyclable. They also lack a systematic approach to address the environmental and health risks pollution.

The report states, only 36 of the 46 surveyed brands were open about the percentage and weight of synthetic materials used in their collection. Sports brands Adidas, Asics, Nike and Reebok were using synthetic materials in almost all their collections and had no plans to stop. Only Puma assented to reducing the proportion of polyester used in its collections.

The worst-performing brands in the survey included 15 sports, high-street, luxury and department-store companies like Nike, Target and Walmart. They revealed a complete lack of engagement, commitment or even transparency on the use of fossil fuels in their collections.

Some brands plan to curb the use of fossil fuels in their collection by using ‘recycled’ polyester, made from PET bottles. Around 85 per cent companies indicated using polyester from downcycled PET bottles to make their clothes more sustainable. However, none of the companies reported using fiber-to-fiber recycling technologies to ensure a truly circular economy.

Pinning ‘responsibility’ with new laws

Despite not having any ‘takeback’ scheme or fiber recycling technology, brands were seen to be making misleading claims about their sustainability initiatives. They claimed to use ‘sustainable’, ‘preferred’, ‘sustainably sourced’ or ‘sustainably made’ materials that cannot be clearly defined. Hence, policymakers need to introduce new laws to boost sustainability in the fashion industry. They need to encourage the industry to break away from the use of cheap synthetics and move to more responsible production.