17.0m
tons of textiles entered the U.S. waste stream in 2018.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency counted textiles as 5.8% of all municipal solid waste generated that year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 data ↗← Back to the JournalTextile waste
A reference for makers and writers
Textile waste
statistics, clearly sourced.
Eight useful facts about how textiles are made, used, and discarded, with the dates and original sources kept close to every number.
Last updated September 25, 2026. The figures below come from the latest source year stated with each fact.
A little context
Good numbers need their labels.
Textile data is often repeated without its place or date, which makes a useful fact less useful fast. This page keeps the geography, year, and original source next to each statistic. Some figures describe the United States, some describe the European Union, and one describes a global estimate. They are not interchangeable.
For a maker, the point is not guilt. It is perspective. A piece made with care, kept in use, repaired, gifted, or passed along belongs to a longer story than a single checkout or sewing session.
14.7%
of U.S. textile waste was recycled in 2018.
That works out to 2.5 million tons. The agency notes that reuse is not included in its generation estimate.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 data ↗11.3m
tons of U.S. textiles went to landfill in 2018.
Textiles made up 7.7% of all material landfilled in the United States that year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 data ↗3.2m
tons of U.S. textiles were combusted for energy recovery in 2018.
That was 9.3% of all municipal solid waste combusted with energy recovery in the same year.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2018 data ↗6.94m
tonnes of textile waste were generated across the EU in 2022.
The European Environment Agency estimates this equals about 16 kilograms per person across the EU27.
European Environment Agency, 2022 data ↗11.1kg
per person was not separately collected in the EU in 2022.
For comparison, 4.6 kilograms per person was reported as separately collected from households and economic activities.
European Environment Agency, 2022 data ↗19kg
of clothing, footwear, and household textiles was bought per EU resident in 2022.
The European Environment Agency says that was up from 17 kilograms per person in 2019.
European Environment Agency, 2022 data ↗2–8%
of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the textile industry.
This is a range reported by the United Nations Environment Programme, reflecting the uncertainty of global sector estimates.
United Nations Environment Programme, 2025 ↗Reading the numbers
Use the right fact for the right conversation.
The U.S. figures describe municipal solid waste in 2018. The European figures describe textile consumption and waste in the EU27 in 2022. The global emissions figure is a broad industry estimate, not a count of discarded material. If you quote a statistic, keep its geography and year with it.
For anyone choosing fabric or designing a product, these figures point toward a simple, practical idea: make room for materials and artwork people want to keep. Original, hand-painted pattern is not a solution to a whole system, but it can make a finished object more personal, more considered, and easier to value for longer.
Explore Bethany’s hand-painted patterns →Method and sources
Where these facts come from.
This is a hand-checked reference page, not original research. It uses public figures from government and intergovernmental sources. Each statistic links to its source, and this page will be refreshed when a source publishes a meaningful update.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Textiles: Material-Specific Data ↗. Data year: 2018.
- European Environment Agency, Textile waste generation per person in the EU per year ↗. Data year: 2022.
- European Environment Agency, Consumption of clothing, footwear and household textiles ↗. Data year: 2022.
- United Nations Environment Programme, Minimizing fashion’s environmental footprint ↗. Published 2025.
Cite this page
BusyBCreations. “Textile Waste Statistics: 8 Facts for Makers and Designers.” Updated September 25, 2026. https://bethanysartjournal.com/textile-waste-statistics