Abstract
The amount of post-consumer textile waste generated annually in the United States has increased nearly ten-fold since the 1960s to exceed more than 34 billion pounds in 2018, suggesting that the average American generates more than 100 pounds of textile waste per year. Of the waste generated, 66% was sent to landfills, 19% was incinerated, and only 15% was recycled. When left to decompose in landfills, textile waste decomposes and releases harmful greenhouse gases, including methane. The purpose of our research was to examine whether Americans contribute to the problem of textile waste equally, or if waste generation and recycling behavior differs by socioeconomic and demographic factors. To examine this question, we used publicly available data from 67 counties in Florida from 2014-2019 to assess how textile waste generation and recycling behaviors differed by area-level demographic, socioeconomic, retail, and environmental factors. This study provides preliminary evidence that people living in areas with higher household incomes, more education, and more clothing stores generate significantly more textile waste than people in other areas. In contrast, textile recycling occurred at relatively even rates across counties. Taken together, these findings support the understanding that textile waste represents an issue of environmental injustice; wealthier communities contribute more textile waste to landfills, which are largely located in other places. Multipronged solutions are needed to produce relevant behavior changes, including efforts and policies that seek to reduce textile consumption at the individual and societal level and increase textile recycling and upcycling activities in communities.
Presenters
Sarah FindeisenStudent, Applied Psychology and Human Development, Boston College, United States Julia De Voy
Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Students and Director of First Year Program Lynch School of Education and Human Development , LSEHD , Boston College, Massachusetts, United States Elizabeth Congiusta
Student, Applied Psychology and Human Development , Boston College, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Environmental Justice, Textile Waste, Fashion Pollution
