While fashion is seen as essential to the well-being of all people, a large variety of products in this market are mass-produced in excessive quantities, most of which are soon discarded. There have been many initiatives proposed to develop sustainable fashion, however most have never actually been implemented in society. As a result, many problems have been identified within the product life cycle, from raw materials to disposal and recycling. Based on the results of stakeholder workshops and surveys regarding recycling technologies and social systems, social implementation issues emerged with regard to sustainability, especially for resource recycling. Among these, “building a social framework for recovery” and “changing consumer perceptions and behaviors,” are seen as the most urgent in relation to a larger vision for sustainable fashion. Another major challenge lies within the fact that there is a lack of sufficient positioning in the legal system. However, the fashion industry has now begun to work in cooperation with consumers, governments, and researchers in order to take action to establish a social system where all forms of textiles and clothing products eventually get recycled. It will be important to continue to build upon these relationships.

In addition to clarifying the environmental impact of the fashion industry, which has become an international issue, this article provides an overview of the current situation and specific issues surrounding clothing reuse. The article also suggests actions to be taken by consumers and companies in order to reach the shared goal of sustainable fashion.

　In Japan, 90% of clothing in the supply chain is discarded within a one-year period, and nearly 70% of this is not being put in reuse channels. Although clothing has traditionally been reused, the demand for used clothing, cloth, and recycled materials (i. e. reclaimed wool) has decreased, making it almost futile to try increasing collection of such items. While there are high expectations for a newly emerging method of reuse/recycling called ʻfiber to fiberʼ, there are still many problems to be resolved at present. First, there must be systems created for improved eco-design, including sorting and recycling technologies and creation of items that incorporate awareness of lifecycle and an ease of recycling right into the product design. Taking such issues into consideration, the Ministry of the Environment has called for both consumers and companies to take these five actions: 1) Wear clothes carefully for a long time; 2) Enjoy and take pride in reuse; 3) Buy with foresight; 4) Take note of what goes into making the clothes you wear; and 5) Think of recycled clothing as a resource.

When taking into consideration the sustainability and recycling of textile products, information on their origin and characteristics (e. g. material composition) has become increasingly important. This study summarizes the actual status of textile waste generation in household combustible waste based on a household waste composition survey conducted in Kyoto City. The composition of textiles (wet weight basis) has been increasing and decreasing since the start of the survey in 1981, and on an average, textiles accounted for about 6.2% of combustible waste in 2017-2021. On the other hand, an investigation conducted in 2021 showed some notable changes, including an increase in the proportion of disposable products, with non-woven face masks accounting for 6.8% of the total, products including cloth (excluding disposable products) at 57.5%, disposable products at 20.5%, business-derived textiles at 9.2%, and the remainder of miscellaneous items at 12.8%. It was also found that the composition of textile materials in 2021 was 49.6% synthetic fibers, 0.4% recycled fibers, and 49.9% natural fibers, indicating an upward trend in the proportion of synthetic fibers, as compared to 25.6% in 1994. We recommend that these findings be utilized in the development of future measures and policies related to the recycling of textile products. Textile waste must also be reviewed in this context.

In recent years, in response to reports about pollution of water environments by microplastics (MPs), the creation of new regulations and rules is in full swing throughout the world. With a focus on domestic wastewater, it is expected that MPs derived from facial cleansers and cosmetics, chemical fiber fragments derived when clothes are washed, and fibrous MPs are being found in wastewater. As a result of quantitative experiments on fibrous MPs in washing wastewater, the emission (by weight) of fibrous MPs per person per day amounts to 46.2 mg/person/day for the pulsator-type and 210 mg/person/day for the drum-type; as the average values for washing 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 washes. Similarly, the emission (by number) of fibrous microplastics per person per day was 394000 fibers/person/day for pulsator-type and 2180000 fibers/person/day for drum-type microplastics. In terms of both weight and number, the amount of discharge from the drum-type washing machine was higher than that of the pulsator-type. In addition, with an increase in the number of washes, a tendency for the discharged fibers to shorten was observed. The deterioration of the fibers caused by the dryer and the physical impact of the knock-off suggest that fragmentation of the fibers is occurring, especially in drum-type washing machines.

The mass disposal of clothing has become a major problem due to the large amounts of cheap clothing being produced by global companies. The number of clothing items which are merely thrown and wasted is estimated to be approximately one billion per year. This wasteful situation is caused by the surplus that is the result of excessive orders placed by apparel companies to sub-contractors in countries where cheap labor is employed to cut costs. The other side of this is that consumers buy clothing items in short cycles based on current social trends and quickly dispose of them, or sometimes recycle. This issue does not only center around the high environmental impact of the clothing industry. This is also a human rights issue, as the working environment of workers in developing countries forces them to work long hours with very low, unlivable wages and few breaks.

The paper discuss major international developments related to textiles and the circular economy such as the draft EU Eco-design Regulation, EU textile strategies and related measures and initiatives in France, the Netherlands, as well as various private sector initiatives on sustainable textiles.

　The major policy directions include the digital product passport and information disclosure to consumers, as well as the improvement of durability and repairability in addition to recyclability in product manufacturing, the use of recycled and sustainable materials, as well as the strengthening of EPR schemes to achieve these.

　In Japan, focusing on these international trends on textile circularity, it is necessary to consider the development of materials, technologies and businesses, and the establishment of collection system, and to organise the involvement of manufacturers in the efficient and effective circular economy of textiles and thin order to improve sustainability in the textile sector in the future. It will be necessary to discuss and elaborate the roles of various actors such as retailers and local authorities in addition to manufacturer.

Clothing forms the basis of human life, while at the same time, dressing up with the latest fashions brings special color to our daily lives. However, the process from production to disposal and circulation of clothing is said to place a tremendous burden on nature and society. In response to this issue, legislation and technological development are being promoted in many countries. In this paper, I introduce some examples of cooperation among companies, technological developments, and disclosure activities related to sustainable fashion in Japan and abroad. The paper also discusses efforts to reach out to consumers to examine desirable forms of collaboration among companies, consumers, and the government for the successful promotion of sustainable fashion.

School education can play a major role in the promotion of individual behaviors with regard to encouraging people to take up sustainable fashion. Government school curriculum guidelines stipulates that the concept of nurturing creators of a sustainable society is an essential goal, and some of the learning points related to sustainable fashion are being enhanced in this way. However, it is obviously not only education but also various situational, social, and psychological factors that influence pro-environmental behaviors. In this paper, consumer actions promoting sustainable fashion are summarized and the author investigates how these actions are treated within the current education scenario. Existing papers on factors that influence consumer behaviors are also reviewed. Based on this study, the challenges and prospects of education that can contribute to the advancement of sustainable fashion among students is discussed.