The 2025 update of the Textiles and the Environment briefing by the European Topic Centre on Circular Economy and Resource Use (ETC/CE) provides an evidence-based assessment of how textiles continue to impact the environment across their life cycle from production and consumption to end-of-life treatment. The report outlines data trends across Europe and flags key environmental issues, particularly relating to material intensity, consumption levels, waste generation, and limited recycling.

Key takeaways

• Rising consumption and material demand: The volume of textiles consumed in the EU continues to rise. In 2021, Europeans consumed around 6.5 million tonnes of textile products, with synthetic fibres (especially polyester) making up 55% of fibre use, followed by cotton (21%).
• Significant environmental footprint: Textile consumption in Europe resulted in 121 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions, 4 million tonnes of waste, and 620,000 tonnes of freshwater eutrophication potential in 2021, indicating substantial climate, water, and waste related impacts.
• Limited progress on circularity: While the number of textiles collected separately for reuse and recycling has increased slightly (2.8 kg per person in 2021 vs 2.2 kg in 2012), true fibre-to-fibre recycling remains minimal. Only 18% of post-consumer textile waste was collected separately, and 73% of it was destined for reuse or recycling primarily outside the EU.
• End-of-life management still a challenge: In 2021, around 3.2 million tonnes of textiles were landfilled or incinerated in Europe. Although EU Member States are expected to establish separate collection for used textiles by 2025, implementation remains uneven.

This 2025 update provides an essential evidence base to monitor the environmental performance of the EU textiles sector. It aligns with policy efforts such as the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and informs the transition towards reducing virgin fibre use, increasing reuse and recycling, and improving transparency in material flows.

Read the full report here.