"Fast fashion kings are polluting at unprecedented levels, according to Forbes" 28 June 2024

Fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu have made their mark on the European market. However, these large Chinese firms have an unprecedented ecological impact.

Eighty-eight Boeing 777s are chartered every day to send their orders around the world. Shein and Temu, fast-fashion giants, are gaining more and more ground in the European clothing market. Unbeatable prices, constant renewal, almost instant delivery time, and yet, they have an unrivaled ecological impact.

The American magazine Forbes recently carried out a survey on the ecological cost of these Chinese firms. No less than 9,000 tonnes of goods are transported from Asian factories to Europe and the United States every day. The equivalent of 88 Boeing 777s are used daily by companies. This trade alone charters a third of the world’s long-distance cargo planes...

As Forbes reports, a commercial boat emits 10 to 40 grams of CO2 per tonne per kilometer transported while a cargo plane releases on average 500 grams per T/km. Worse, 50% of flights are empty since the return journey to China contains no goods.

Shipping clothing by plane would be 14 times more polluting than transporting it by boat, reports Novethic. Aviation is the most polluting mode of transport. It represents 2.9% of total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Manufacturing also has an ecological cost: 2,700 liters of water are needed to make a single t-shirt, which is the average consumption of a French person for 17 days...