MPs criticise high street fashion's throwaway culture

Major high street names including Primark, Boohoo and Missguided have come under fire for fuelling a throwaway fast fashion culture that has been linked to the exploitation of low-paid workers in UK factories.

Britons buy more new clothes than any other country in Europe and MPs are looking at the environmental and human cost of £2 and £200 T-shirts amid growing concerns the multibillion-pound fashion industry is wasting valuable resources and contributing to climate change.

The low prices in Primark stores, where T-shirts can cost as little as £2, were challenged by MPs on the Commons environmental audit select committee, who suggested shoppers viewed its clothing as disposable.

“Isn’t the real problem with the fast fashion industry that if you are selling stuff at £5 people aren’t going to treat it with any respect and at the end of its life it’s going to go in the bin?” asked the Labour MP Mary Creagh, the committee chair.

Paul Lister, Primark’s head of ethical trade and environmental sustainability, denied that was the case: “We are proud of the quality and durability of our garments. They are not bought to throw away.”
Lister said the retailer kept its prices low by shunning traditional advertising, which saved it about £150m compared with rivals and “that goes straight into price”. He said he knew of no one under 16 working in any of its supply factories.

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High Street retailers accused of damaging the environment with 'fast fashion'

MPs are calling on British fashion retailers to take action amid claims that social media is fuelling a “throwaway culture” that is adversely affecting the environment.

The Environmental Audit Committee has written a letter to the UK’s 10 biggest high street shops, including Marks & Spencer, Primark and Next, illustrating the consequences of wasted clothing and inviting them into Parliament for questioning.

Chief executives were told that British shoppers are buying twice as many clothes compared to a decade ago, more than any other nation in Europe, which is causing an overload at landfill sites and subsequently fuelling climate change.

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“The way we design, produce and discard our clothes has a huge impact on our planet,” said Mary Creagh, chairwoman of the committee,

“Fashion and footwear retailers have a responsibility to minimise their environmental footprint and make sure the workers in their supply chains are paid a living wage.

“We want to hear what they are doing to make their industry more sustainable.”

The global fashion industry produced 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2015, more than than international flights and maritime shipping combined, according to a submission from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

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