Fast Fashion and its Impact on Climate Change: South Africa’s Struggle with a Global Crisis

The global fashion industry has been revolutionized in the past two decades with the increase in demand for affordable, fashionable clothing known as fast fashion.

In addition to local fast fashion brands, international giants like Temu and Shein have capitalised on consumers’ desire for affordable, disposable clothing, mass-producing low-cost apparel at unprecedented speeds. South African consumers are no different. The 2024 Marketing All Product Survey (MAPS) found that Shein had attracted approximately 250,000 South African shoppers while Temu continues to gain popularity across South African TikTok.

The Rise of Fast Fashion

The fast fashion brand Zara is the reason the term “fast fashion” was coined. The New York Times first coined the term in the 1990s to describe Zara’s rapid production cycle, where garments went from design to store shelves in just 15 days. The period between design to purchase is called lead time and in Rasmila Maiti’s 2025 article “The Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion, Explained” for EARTH.ORG, while Zara’s lead time was 14 days in 2012, by 2025 Chinese fast fashion company Shein’s garments were ready in just 10 days.

What many fast fashion consumers don’t realize is that the fast fashion industry’s convenience is one of the largest contributors to climate change. From excessive carbon emissions and water consumption to textile waste filling landfills, the environmental consequences of mass consumerism continue to mount. If brands continue to mass-produce clothing meant to be worn only a few times before disposal, the industry's environmental footprint will become impossible to ignore. South Africa already suffers from serious environmental problems such as water scarcity, pollution and the effects of global warming. Is the convenience worth the consequences?

The Environmental Toll of Fast Fashion in South Africa

Fast fashion has completely reshaped consumer habits over the past few decades. Once, people owned and wore only a few high-quality clothing items per year. However, fast fashion brands like Shein, Zara, and Temu have normalized a culture of excessive purchasing, where consumers frequently buy inexpensive, trendy clothing that quickly goes out of style. In his book “Clothing Poverty” Andrew Brooks traces the life cycle of such garments, from production in low-wage countries to their eventual disposal or resale in second-hand markets. He found that a huge part of fast fashion’s carbon footprint is tied to global supply chains. Fast fashion companies outsource their production to developing companies where labour (often the unpaid labour of women and children) is cheap and environmental regulations are less strict. When garments are further exported to retail outlets and consumers the environmental tolls follow. In South Africa the contributions of fast fashion to climate change are immense and overarching. In this article I will however focus on three main contributions, namely, textile waste, water consumption and pollution as well as carbon emissions and energy use.

Textile Waste

According to Elizabeth Cline’s 2012 book “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion”, the global apparel and textile industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation, accounting for 10% of global carbon emissions. In South Africa GreenCape found in their 2023 report “Threading the loop: Textile recycling and fibre recovery” that in 2022 in Cape Town alone approximately 6.38% of the 1.1 million tonnes of waste disposed of at municipal landfills in Cape Town was textile waste, equating to just over 70,300 tonnes. This figure excluded the unknown tonnes of textile waste landfilled at the only private landfill in Cape Town, which receives about 600,000 tonnes annually.

As fast fashion relies heavily on petroleum-based synthetic fibres, such as polyester and nylon, it exacerbates the depletion of non-renewable resources. As this clothing is made to be worn only a handful of times, these discarded cheaply made garments increasingly end up in landfills where the synthetic material takes centuries to decompose. Waste accumulation from discarded clothing contributes to landfill overflow, producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that accelerates global warming. Even with more durable garments, the rapid turnover of fast fashion collections encourages consumers to discard items quickly to hop onto the next trend thus perpetuating the cycle of waste.

Additionally in South Africa approximately only 13% of textiles are recycled with less than 1% being recycled back into clothing. This was disclosed by Nicola Jenkin, director of the environmental services company Pinpoint Sustainability, during a 2022 presentation to textile sector stakeholders. The presentation highlighted the findings and recommendations from the non-profit economic research institution Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) in their report, “Designing Climate-Compatible Industrial Strategies for South Africa: The Textiles Value Chain”. The limited recycling capacity essentially means that discarded garments, especially those made from synthetic materials; continue to accumulate in landfills exacerbating environmental pollution. Jenkin attributed the high levels of textile waste to the fast fashion industry’s “consumer throwaway culture”. The fast fashion industry’s rapidly changing trends cultivates a constant desire amongst consumers for new clothing. As fast fashion rapidly moves through trend cycles, clothing not part of the current trend cycle is also rapidly discarded. An example of this was evident last year when the media buzz around the Barbie movie faded, social media users documented the high levels of Barbie merchandise found discarded at second-hand stores and landfills.

Water Consumption & Pollution

South Africa is classified as a water-scarce country, with some regions experiencing chronic droughts worsened by climate change. Rising global temperatures have led to more frequent heatwaves, erratic rainfall, and prolonged dry spells, reducing the availability of surface and groundwater. In cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg, periodic water shortages have forced restrictions on consumption, yet industries like fashion continue to extract and pollute water at unsustainable levels.

In a water-scarce country like South Africa, where droughts and water shortages are already a pressing concern, the fast fashion industry’s immense water consumption raises serious environmental alarms. The production of cotton, another key material in fast fashion, requires vast amounts of water. As fast fashion garments are mass produced at unprecedented speeds, their rate and volume of water consumption in comparison to “slow fashion” brands remains unrivalled. It is estimated that is takes approximately 2 700 litres of waters to produce a single cotton t-shirt.

Dr Lorna Christie, researcher on consumer decision-making at Unisa’s Department of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) further revealed in the 2020 article “Fast fashion is the new plastic” by Clairwyn van der Merwe that more than 10 000 litres of water go into the manufacturing of a single pair of jeans. The production of a single cotton t-shirt thus requires enough water for one person for two years while a single pair of jeans requires enough water for person for five and half years. This raises an important question: How much water is embedded in the clothes we wear?

Fast fashion’s impact on water does not stop there. The dyeing and finishing stages of textile production further necessitates the usage of toxic dyes, heavy metals, and synthetic chemicals to create vibrant colours and prints. In areas where textiles are produced, such as Durban’s textile sector, these chemicals enter aquatic systems through untreated wastewater which end up polluting rivers and groundwater resources. Additionally, when these synthetic fabrics are washed, they release micro-plastics into both marine and freshwater bodies. These particles are too small to be filtered out during wastewater treatment processes meaning they flow directly into rivers and oceans.

These micro-plastics further absorb harmful pollutants and enter the food chain when consumed by marine life and then by people. The Vaal and Umgeni rivers, which supply water to farms, small communities and towns as well as major urban areas like Johannesburg and Durban, are already heavily polluted due to industrial waste, including textile effluents. This contamination poses serious health risks to communities that rely on these water sources for drinking and irrigation, while also damaging freshwater biodiversity which further threatens climate change resilience.

Carbon Emissions & Energy Use

Fast fashion significantly contributes to carbon emissions and excessive energy consumption, both globally and within South Africa. The industry's rapid production cycles, reliance on synthetic materials and extensive transportation networks all play roles in its environmental impact.

Thabo Mohlalahe notes in his article “South Africa’s Landfills and Net Zero Progress Suffer from Fast Fashion” published on the Earth Journalism Network in May 2024 that the fashion industry as one of the biggest industrial polluters is responsible for approximately 10% of all global carbon emissions.  In South Africa, textile manufacturing heavily depends on electricity generated from coal-fired power plants, significantly increasing carbon dioxide (C0₂) emissions. Eskom, the country's primary energy provider, relies predominantly on coal, meaning that every stage of garment production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Changing Markets 2022 Report “Synthetics Anonymous 2.0 Synthetics Anonymous 2.0: Fashion’s persistent plastic problem” further found that Shein’s use of virgin polyester and oil expenditure produces CO₂ emissions equal to that of 180 coal-fired power plants which in turn amounts to 6.3 million tons of CO₂ produced in a year.

The burning of fossil fuels for electricity and industrial activities further releases large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. These emissions not only worsen climate change but also contribute to respiratory illnesses and other health issues, particularly in urban and industrial area. Textile factories, especially those involved in dyeing and finishing processes emit volatile organic compounds and other hazardous air pollutants. These substances degrade air quality, leading to smog formation and increasing the risk of chronic lung diseases. Given that many South African textile operations still use out-dated technologies, the level of pollution remains high compared to countries that have adopted stricter environmental regulations (Department of Environmental Affairs South Africa, 2022).

Carbon emissions, however, do not cease after production. South Africa imports a substantial amount of fast fashion items from countries like China, Bangladesh, and India. The international transportation of these garments—whether by air or sea—adds another layer of C0₂ emissions. Greenpeace Africa reports that airfreight has an immense carbon footprint, while shipping, though relatively lower in emissions per unit, still accumulates significant environmental costs due to the large volume of goods transported.

The fashion industry’s dependence on coal-fired energy international transportation and out-dated manufacturing practices accelerates climate change while degrading the environment. Without significant shifts in production and energy sources the environmental and health consequences of fast fashion will continue to intensify.

How South Africans Can Fight Fast Fashion

Despite the negative impacts of fast fashion, there are solutions and ways for South African consumers to act. The EPR Waste Association of South Africa (eWASA) advises consumers to embrace slow fashion brands by investing in ethically made and durable clothing rather than fast fashion. Investing in independent designers ensures that consumers support ethical production and higher-quality craftsmanship. While there are brands which claim to be sustainable researching a brand’s transparency and labour policies is crucial to ensure that sustainable fashion practices are being supported. South Africa has plenty of emerging ethical fashion brands including:

• MaXhosa by Laduma: A luxury clothing label founded by Laduma Ngxokolo, known for its knitwear incorporating traditional Xhosa beadwork patterns and symbolism.
• Sama Sama by Kimberly Lardner-Burke: A fashion studio based in Cape Town with the ethos of working with local craftsmanship and solely sustainably sourced natural base cloths.

Thrifting, up-cycling and clothing swaps have continued to gain popularity across South Africa. While slow fashion brands can be pricier, eWASA recommends shopping second-hand as for those with tighter budgets. In South Africa second-hand clothing trade is a common practice. These clothes are called “jumble sale” or “madunusa” in the famous Johannesburg slang. Platforms like Yaga facilitate the buying and selling of used clothing while thrift stores and charity shops have been popping up in every city. Today the second-hand clothing sector in South Africa is worth nearly R10 billion, illustrating that many consumers are becoming more conscious of the environmental and social implications of their purchasing decisions.

Up-cycling refers to repurposing old clothes into new designs which greatly reduces waste and allows consumers to partake in emerging fashion trends without purchasing new garments. Tailoring is a great way to extend the life of garments. Textile waste is reduced by adjusting existing pieces instead of replacing them. Second-hand or vintage finds feel custom made while having clothing tailored by independent dressmakers can be a sustainable and ethical alternative to fast fashion.

Conclusion

The South African fast fashion industry is a double-edged sword: it increases consumer affordability but also further worsens the environmental destruction. Its contribution to climate change via carbon emissions, water pollution, and textile wastage also presents another threat to South Africa's fragile ecosystem. Sustainable fashion alternatives, including ethical brands and sharing economy models, provide promising solutions. For lasting change, both consumers and the fashion industry must actively prioritise sustainability choosing ethical production over short-lived convenience.

Written By: Tasneem Goga

Edited By: Nhlanhla Moshomo