Authored By: Varda Oza
MM's SCLC, Pune
Fashion is something which everyone wants to keep up with. Initially, fashion was associated with creativity, designs, patterns, and craftsmanship, but now in the digital era, it is associated with trend-driven cycles that change every few days. We live in an era where fashion has become available at the touch of a screen. This transforms consumption into a culture of immediacy and convenience. What was first seasonal and deliberate has now become normalised with frequent purchasing patterns.
Fast fashion is a design, manufacturing, and marketing method focused on rapidly producing high volumes of clothing[1]. Fast fashion is a rapidly growing and in-demand industry. Fast fashion drives a high number of consumers through mass production models, low-wage labour, and polyester-based clothing material. With this strategy, it not only produces products at low cost but also attracts a large number of consumers. It produces new collections not just in every season but every week. This constant production of garments leads to environmental pollution by textile waste, chemical pollution and carbon emissions. This rapid expansion of fast fashion thus highlights the gap between growth and sustainability.
This article aims to highlight the environmental implications of the fast-paced fashion industry. It will analyse the growth of the fashion industry and its direct impact on sustainability. This study seeks to examine whether current environmental laws and environmental policies are in line with sustainable development. This article examines the global problem of environmental degradation due to the fashion industry. It will use India as a case study to evaluate the legal framework surrounding it.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FAST FASHION:
Fast fashion seems affordable and convenient because the real price is paid by the environment. Social media platforms constantly drive consumers with trend-driven content. People purchase clothes that has short shelf life but are in trend, which changes after every few days. At the end, all such excessive consumerism later generates waste and exploits the environment. All such trend-driven clothes later end up in landfills.
According to the UN Environment Programme, the fashion industry is Earth’s second-largest water consumer (agriculture leads). It uses 93 billion cubic meters of water, enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people[2]. To make affordable clothes, fast fashion brands use polythene-based materials, which emit carbon waste. Moreover, such clothes also emit microplastics into water while washing, which are later mixed with water bodies, disrupting marine life. In underdeveloped or developing countries, the water system is inadequate. Due to this, all these microplastics produced are directly used for water consumption, leading to a public health risk. The production process significantly increases overall water consumption. Raw materials, which are used by fast fashion companies, are not just produced in one place. They are collected from all over the world where that material is comparatively cheap, and even if they are specialised in that region. This requires constant transportation of raw material from one place to another, which again leads to extensive transportation-related emissions. When we look at shipping specifically, the impact on the environment is considerable. Ships handle roughly 90% of global trade, transporting nearly 10 billion metric tons (11 billion tons) of goods per year. It has been estimated that shipping accounts for 2.5% of the world’s total CO2 emissions, and a 2015 report from the European Parliament estimated that number could rise as high as 17% by 2050.[3]
The environmental impact of fast fashion is not distributed evenly around the world. The globalisation of fashion supply chains means that the bulk of fabric production and apparel manufacturing – and hence the resource consumption, pollution and pre-consumption industrial waste – occurs in developing countries, away from the Western countries where the end products are enjoyed.[4]
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN INDIA
Environmental legislation is set of rules and regulations made by the government to preserve and conserve the ecological balance in India. Environmental governance in India comprises the rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape how people in the country interact with the environment[5] In India, there is no specific law that covers pollution caused by fast fashion, but several existing laws indirectly govern manufacturing, waste management, and pollution-related activities.
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and associated rules like the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, directly impact how fashion factories operate; Fashion manufacturing—particularly dyeing, printing, and tanning uses vast amounts of water and emits pollutants. Brands must secure consents from State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) to operate legally. Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 applies if the manufacturing process generates harmful residues, and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, restrict single-use plastic packaging.[6]
There are many steps taken by India to reduce the harm of the fashion industry on the environment. These steps include: In 2020, the Ministry of Textiles inaugurated National Handloom Day under the theme “Handloom for Atmanirbhar Bharat”. This initiative seeks to advance sustainable fashion and textiles, bolster local artisans, and mitigate the environmental effects associated with the fashion industry.[7] Other such steps include Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), textile waste management, National Green Tribunal.
Despite all such laws, policies, and rules, we can notice the environmental degradation in India through all the waste generated by fast fashion. India serves as an illustrative example of how even strong legislation fails to acquire goal if the implementation is weak. This gap seeks laws that are not only made but also implemented by constant monitoring of the industries. Fines for breaking the rules of the law are comparatively very low. The penalties must be set in accordance with the revenue that the brand is earning. This will lead to companies being in compliance with the rules and regulations of the said acts above.
These domestic constraints that India is facing are not just limited to India, it highlights problem that almost every country is facing. This constant depletion of the environment is now a global issue and is seeking compliance and cooperation between countries in order to make sustainable environment.
IF THE LAWS EXIST, WHY DOES THE DAMAGE CONTINUE?
The deeper issue arises that if the environmental laws exist, why does the damage continue? Laws exist on paper, but there remain enforcement gaps. Companies have to spend money to stay in line with environmental compliance, which they see as an unnecessary expense for their business. The competition between fast fashion companies is high, and due to this, sustainability becomes a secondary option for them.
In India, legislations are binding on companies to follow, but the issue does not lie in regulation but the pressure of economic growth and global supply demands. What is visible in India is not failure but a need for global compliance. At this point, the issue should not just be raised, it should be taken action on globally.
Law has the power to regulate human behaviour, but it cannot transform moral values. We often see people criticising laws or blaming the government for the failure to keep the environment clean. But with the spike in consumerism patterns and non-compliance with the law, the government alone cannot be blamed. Laws are made to regulate the problems, but we, as consumers and citizens, also have some rules to follow. The planet is not solely of lawmakers but of every person who is staying on it. Therefore, protecting our environment is not merely an obligation which has to be followed due to fear of penalties; it is our shared responsibility.
FROM DOMESTIC CONSTRAINTS TO GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY
From India’s experience with the laws and enforcement, we can clearly cite that the issue does not lie in making laws, but in their implementation, which is where we lack. This goes for all countries that are stuck in the loop of constant environmental degradation caused by fast fashion. India has an ample number of laws safeguarding the environment, and this is the case with most countries. The challenge of fast fashion degrading the environment is not just about strengthening laws; it calls for global compliance and consumer awareness.
Recognising this, many regions and parts of the world have made changes, such as the European Union, which aims to ensure that textile products placed on the EU market are repairable, reusable and recyclable. At the international level, we also have 12 sustainable development goals (SDGs), that calls for sustainable producer and consumption patterns.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, we need to understand how our consumerism patterns are harming environment. Laws are there, but the enforcement of them should be improved. But enforcement alone is not the evil in a degrading environment; it’s the questionable choices of producers who do not want to make sustainable products. We all together must weave the fabric of our environment into a sustainable one.
REFERENCE(S):
[1] Audray Stanton, what is fast fashion? Our sustainability editor explains (January 22, 2026) https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion/
[2] UN launches drive to highlight the environmental cost of staying fashionable (25 March, 2019) https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1035161
[3] By Edmond Research and Development, The Impact of Transport in the Fashion Industry, (23 January 2023) https://edmondclimate.com/the-impact-of-transport-in-the-fashion-industry/
[4] Xiaoyang Long, Energy and Climate Change, (26 March, 2025), https://www.economicsobservatory.com/how-does-fast-fashion-affect-the-environment
[5] Environmental laws in India (July 2021, 2025), https://www.nextias.com/blog/environmental-laws-india/
[6] By Ketan Joshi, Sustainability and fashion: A Legal Implication for Brands in India, (July 17, 2025) https://www.maheshwariandco.com/blog/sustainable-fashion-law-in-india/
[7] By Riddhi Aggarwal, what is the cost of our wardrobe to the environment? (Feb 4, 2025) https://indialegallive.com/laws-research-indepth/what-is-the-cost-of-our-wardrobe-to-the-environment/
