Fashion is notorious for being wasteful. In recent years, brands have been trying to reduce their carbon footprint by starting new sustainability initiatives and programs such as garment recycling and resale of second-hand clothing, but there is a dirty secret behind these efforts.
A new study found that efforts by fast-fashion retailers like Zara, H&M (HNNMY) -) and Shein to reduce their carbon footprint do very little to actually reduce their carbon emissions.
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The study looked at a variety of fashion brands ranging from cut-price fast-fashion to more expensive premium brands and analyzed how the implementation of a resale program could affect their overall carbon emissions between 2023 and 2040. What they found was that the effectiveness of such programs varied between the different segments of brands.
According to data from the study, fast-fashion retailers create about 11.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide with every article of clothing they create, but would only reduce that amount by a minuscule 0.7% by implementing a resale program.
In comparison, premium brands like Ralph Lauren (RL) -) create 16 kilograms of CO2 per item, but they found that a resale program would reduce their emissions by 14.8%. Outdoor brands like Patagonia and The North Face create roughly 12.5 kilos of CO2 per item, but can reduce that amount by 15.8% with a resale program.
The projections stated in the study factor in lower production of new items, while companies can offset decreased sales of new products with revenue from reselling an existing item.
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Andy Ruben, the founder of Trove, a company that assists brands like Allbirds (BIRD) -) and Lululemon (LULU) -) with their resale programs, is one of the authors of the study and told CNBC that such programs are unattractive to bigger fast-fashion companies because they are difficult to effectively implement and would not yield significant revenue to offset potential decreased sales.
He also noted that the resale programs already in place by fast-fashion brands are not enough to made a dent in effective sustainability.
“It’s misplaced effort,” Ruben told CNBC. “What they’re basically doing is moving around items that hold none of their value, which is a marketing program.”
In addition, Trove’s CEO Gayle Tait, said that large fast-fashion brands are better off focusing more on efforts on the supply chain, such as using sustainable materials in their garments and investing more into garment recycling.
“What the research is underpinning is that brands have to demonstrate meaningful investment into shifting their model,” Tait told CNBC. “When they’re kind of skirting around the edges, by doing either a branded peer-to-peer site or working closely with a marketplace, they’re not actually shifting their model. They’re continuing to do the things that got their carbon emissions.”
As fashion continues to roll out initiatives to improve their sustainability efforts and entice consumers on a good deal, the effectiveness of resale programs against the bigger picture is stark and shows that there is still a long way to go for the industry to adapt.
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