17.0 million tons
of textiles entered the U.S. municipal waste stream in 2018.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says textiles represented 5.8% of all municipal solid-waste generation that year.
A reference for fabric makers, writers, and curious readers
Textile waste & circularity statistics, 2026.
Nine useful figures on fabric consumption, waste, recycling, and resource use, gathered from public agencies and international bodies.
The short version
The numbers behind a material we live with every day.
Fabric sits at the meeting point of craft, daily life, and a global system of making and disposal. Each figure below has a named source, a clear reporting date, and a direct link back to the original reporting.
These figures describe different places and methods, so they should be read as individual measures rather than combined into one global total. That distinction matters when a number is being quoted, compared, or used in a report.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency2018 data, page updated March 2026, opens source in a new tab
14.7%
was the U.S. textile recycling rate in 2018.
That equals 2.5 million tons of textiles recycled, according to the EPA's material-specific data.
3.2 million tons
of U.S. textiles were combusted with energy recovery in 2018.
The EPA reports this was 9.3% of all municipal solid waste combusted with energy recovery that year.
11.3 million tons
of U.S. textiles were landfilled in 2018.
That was 7.7% of all municipal solid waste sent to landfill in the United States.
19 kg per person
was the average EU consumption of clothing, footwear, and household fabrics in 2022.
The European Environment Agency estimates this at about 8.5 million tonnes across the EU-27, excluding industrial and technical fabrics and carpets.
6.94 million tonnes
of textile waste was generated across the EU-27 in 2022.
That is equivalent to about 16 kg per person, according to the European Environment Agency.
Just under 15%
was the EU household textile-waste capture rate in 2022.
The European Environment Agency reports that the remaining 85% was not separately collected and instead entered mixed household waste.
2% to 8%
of global greenhouse-gas emissions come from the textiles sector.
UNEP presents this as a range because sector estimates use different measurement approaches.
215 trillion litres
of water are consumed by the textile industry each year.
UNEP reports this annual estimate as a measure of the pressure textile production places on aquatic ecosystems.
Method & sources
A small, traceable source list.
This page uses figures published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Environment Agency, and the United Nations Environment Programme. Every statistic links to the page where the figure is reported, and the source date appears beside it.
Figures are not estimates by Cloth & Stone. They remain subject to the definitions, scope, and methodology published by their original sources.
A stable reference for your next piece.
Suggested citation: Cloth & Stone. “Textile Waste & Circularity Statistics (2026).” Updated October 26, 2026. https://clothandstone.net/textile-waste-and-circularity-statistics/
For a single figure, link directly to its numbered source above so your reader can follow the original data.
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