Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution

The report argues that the fashion industry's shift to recycled polyester is a form of greenwashing, as recycled synthetic fibres release more microplastics than their virgin counterparts. Based on tests of 51 garments from major brands, the study finds that recycled polyester releases approximately 55% more fibres per gram than virgin polyester, and these fibres are smaller and potentially more toxic. The document also highlights the issue of 'downcycling' plastic bottles into textiles, which removes them from closed-loop recycling and creates garments that cannot be effectively recycled. It concludes that the only fundamental solution is to reduce the overall use of both virgin and recycled synthetic fibres.

• Recycled polyester releases significantly more microfibres than virgin polyester. An analysis of 23 items showed that recycled polyester released an average of approximately 12,000 fibres per gram, which is 54.8% more than the 8,028 fibres per gram released by virgin polyester.
• Microfibres from recycled polyester are systematically smaller than those from virgin polyester, with an average length of 0.42 mm compared to 0.52 mm. This smaller size increases their toxicity, environmental dispersion, and ability to penetrate deeper into lungs and tissues.
• Recycled polyamide also exhibits higher fibre loss than virgin polyamide, releasing more than three times as many fibres (228% increase), with 5,133 fibres/g compared to 1,565 fibres/g.
• Among the brands tested, Nike showed the highest rate of fibre release for both virgin and recycled polyester. Nike's recycled polyester released an average of 30,772 fibres/g, which is approximately 16% more than Adidas and seven times more than Zara.
• There are discrepancies between online marketing claims and physical labels regarding recycled polyester. For example, some Shein items marketed as 'recycled polyester' in June 2025 were later sold as simply 'polyester', and their fibre loss levels were similar to virgin polyester.

APA

Trunk, U., Urbancic, N., Gündoğdu, S., & Özkan, İ. (2025). Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FR_Spinning-Greenwash_executive-summary.pdf

Chicago

Trunk, Urska, Nusa Urbancic, Sedat Gündoğdu, and İlkan Özkan. Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution. Changing Markets Foundation, 2025. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FR_Spinning-Greenwash_executive-summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Trunk |first1=Urska |last2=Urbancic |first2=Nusa |last3=Gündoğdu |first3=Sedat |last4=Özkan |first4=İlkan |title=Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution |publisher=Changing Markets Foundation |date=December 2025 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FR_Spinning-Greenwash_executive-summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{trunk2025spinning, author = {Trunk, Urska and Urbancic, Nusa and Gündoğdu, Sedat and Özkan, İlkan}, title = {{Spinning Greenwash: How the fashion industry’s shift to recycled polyester is worsening microplastic pollution}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FR_Spinning-Greenwash_executive-summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }