Clothing recycling programs do little to address fast fashion’s environmental impact

Speed and variety. These are the pillars of the fast fashion model. Retailers like H&M and Zara seek to bring style to the masses by emulating the trends of Paris and Milan, but their model of disposable clothing comes with a high environmental cost. With this business model in place, it simply is not possible for these businesses to be sustainable, said Prof. Javad Nasiry, Director of McGill’s Sustainable Growth Initiative, in an interview with La Presse. That hasn’t stopped these retailers from trying to shift the perception of their environmental impact with clothing recycling programs, but these initiatives are more a matter of greenwashing than a serious attempt to address environmental harm, according to Nasiry.