EXPERT ANALYSIS: Integrating Sustainability, Accountability Into the Fabric of the Fashion Industry

(Editor’s Note: 3E is expanding news coverage to provide customers with insights into topics that enable a safer, more sustainable world by protecting people, safeguarding products, and helping businesses grow. Expert Analysis articles, produced by 3E subject matter experts, researchers, and consultants as well as external thought leaders, examine the regulations, trends, and forces impacting the use, manufacture, transport, and export/import of chemicals).

As mannequins donning the most extravagant of clothes beckon from store windows worldwide, the fashion industry, behind the scenes, is one of the planet's leading environmental offenders. According to recent reports, the industry is a top polluter — responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions and 20% of all wastewater. With millions of tons of clothing discarded each year, the call for a drastic transformation towards sustainability has never been more urgent​.