International Zero Waste Day 2025 focuses on fashion this year

March 30 – just an ordinary Saturday, but also a good occasion to take a closer look into your own closet. While International Zero Waste Day isn’t exactly a fireworks-worthy celebration, it increasingly prompts important questions: how much does our style really cost? Fashion – colorful, ever-changing, joyful – is also one of the most resource-intensive industries. Behind every T-shirt lie liters of water used, and behind every pair of jeans – waste that doesn’t vanish after a single season. It’s a moment to reflect on what we wear and what it means.

A young but necessary celebration

International Zero Waste Day is a relatively new initiative that quickly gained traction. It all began on December 14, 2022, when the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 77/161 during its 77th session. The idea, proposed by Türkiye and supported by 105 countries, emerged in response to the growing problem of uncontrolled waste production. The first observance in 2023 already showcased the power of the idea – from local cleanup efforts to international conferences – transforming the day into a global platform for sharing experiences and inspiration.

What is the zero waste idea about?

The zero waste concept boils down to a simple message: instead of wasting, let’s reuse. It’s an approach in which waste becomes a new beginning – through recycling, repair, or conscious consumption. The event’s organizers, UNEP and UN-Habitat, emphasize that this mindset can change our lives and protect the environment. This year, fashion becomes the face of that change – an industry that delights with aesthetics but also leaves one of the largest environmental footprints. It’s about creating, wearing, and living in ways that leave behind neither mountains of waste nor dried-up riverbeds.

Towards zero waste in fashion and textiles

This year’s theme Towards zero waste in fashion and textiles is an invitation to embrace circularity – from designing durable clothes to reusing them. The textile industry produces 92 million tons of waste globally every year, but its impact on water and the environment is just as concerning. UNEP highlights that a shift in approach – by both producers and consumers – could reduce pressure on natural resources and limit pollution. It’s a chance for fashion to stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution.

Water under fashion’s pressure

Fashion is a water-hungry giant with an insatiable appetite for resources. The textile sector uses 215 trillion liters of water annually – the equivalent of 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. Producing one cotton T-shirt consumes an average of 2,700 liters of water, and a pair of jeans – up to 8,000 liters.

But water use is only the tip of the iceberg. Dyeing and chemical processing turn rivers into toxic wastewater. It’s estimated that about 20 percent of global industrial water pollution comes from textiles. In Bangladesh, the Buriganga River and in Indonesia, the Citarum River take on black and red hues from azo dyes, heavy metals, and solvents, depriving local communities of access to clean water.

Synthetics like polyester pose another problem – microplastics. Washing a single polyester sweatshirt can release up to 700,000 particles smaller than 5 mm, which flow into rivers, lakes, and seas. There, they enter marine organisms – and ultimately our food chain and drinking water. In its Global Waste Management Outlook 2024, UNEP warns that 2.3 billion tons of waste were generated in 2023, of which only 55 percent was properly managed. Synthetic textiles, difficult to recycle, take years to decompose, polluting water bodies. Such situations are most common in regions where up to 2.7 billion people lack basic waste management infrastructure. With no legal means of disposal, used clothing and production waste end up in illegal dumpsites.

The problem is compounded by the lack of water infrastructure in many production regions. In China, the world leader in synthetic fiber production, the textile industry leaves a strong mark on water ecosystems. The Yangtze River – Asia’s longest waterway – is particularly at risk, receiving millions of tons of industrial waste annually, including toxic substances used in dyeing and fabric finishing.

It’s impossible to talk about fashion and waste without mentioning the oceans. They too bear the burden of our lifestyle. According to The Ocean Cleanup, textiles make up about 10 percent of plastic waste in global waters – from discarded clothing and microfibers to ghost nets. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch isn’t shrinking – in fact, it’s spreading year by year. And yet the ocean covers most of our planet. It’s becoming harder and harder to pretend it’s not our concern.

main photo: Mohd.Ashabul Haque Nannu / pexels