Fast Fashion Companies’ Greenwashing! Recycling Is a Joke

Following my previous post on Forever 21, I’d like to write about the serious environmental problems caused by fast fashion. In my last post, I discussed the efforts companies are making, citing their sustainability and social responsibility initiatives as examples. As one such effort, I discussed companies’ recycling programs, citing H&M’s program as an example.

However, as an uninformed consumer, I was once again deceived by these companies—specifically through “greenwashing.” Greenwashing is when a company misleads consumers into believing that its products are environmentally friendly. (Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound)

If you have time, I encourage you to watch the CBC report below. It clearly shows where the clothes we believe will be recycled actually end up. To summarize the report briefly: People donate clothes they no longer wear so others can wear them. Those clothes then go to organizations like the Salvation Army. Many brands (Nike, Levi’s, Zara, Adidas, etc.) also set up donation boxes in their stores to encourage recycling. These recycling boxes are labeled “SAVE YOUR PLANET.”

Among them, H&M is the most aggressive in promoting textile recycling. Their program involves breaking down old clothes and manufacturing new ones from them. However, only 1% of clothing is actually suitable for textile recycling. The reason is that most clothes are made from a mix of different types of fibers. Therefore, recycling these garments by breaking down their fibers and remanufacturing them is nearly impossible. Furthermore, even 100% cotton or 100% wool loses quality when recycled.

Ultimately, the manufacturing process of breaking down and recycling the fibers themselves lacks the necessary technology and is considered very time-consuming and costly. However, H&M engages in such exaggerated advertising for marketing purposes. It’s a tactic to maintain the current fast fashion production system while marketing themselves to the public as an eco-friendly company. One expert refers to this tactic as “greenwashing.”

Furthermore, H&M offers discounts on new clothing purchases when customers drop off clothes in their recycling bins. As a result, people bring in clothes they would otherwise throw away and buy new ones, thinking, “I’m benefiting, and at the same time, someone else will wear my clothes, so I’m helping them too”....

However, in reality, the clothes sold cheaply to those in need through the Salvation Army or local donation boxes—as well as the clothes that clothing companies collect directly from stores via donation boxes—end up going to middlemen. There, the portion needed for industrial purposes (such as insulation) is used, and the majority of what remains is sold to Africa—not as donations, but as merchandise. Although they’re sold in African markets, the quality has deteriorated so much these days that most of it ends up as trash. Ultimately, these trashy clothes end up in landfills and incinerators in Africa, and African governments have begun refusing to purchase these recycled clothes, which are practically trash.

That’s the gist of the report. Nothing has changed... It’s mind-boggling... It’s grim... So did Forever 21 ultimately fail because it couldn’t pull off greenwashing??? Companies are deceiving consumers without changing their production methods or business models. And no matter how much we see and hear about the environmental problems caused by fast fashion, we’re still satisfied with buying those low-quality clothes because they’re cheap and we think we’re ahead of the trends, while at the same time soothing our consciences by telling ourselves that the clothes we throw away are helping others.

Recycling programs have been presented as a solution to the waste problem caused by the massive production of disposable goods… But are they actually a solution to environmental issues, or is it just greenwashing? In my opinion, recycling is such a joke.

01/10/2020 by Dr. Lan Joo