CASE STUDY

Context: SHEIN – a trendy online store or a company causing negative environmental impacts.

Description: A global online fashion retailer recommended by influencers and tiktokers – SHEIN is mentioned here. You could make the case that all fast fashion companies are bad, yet SHEIN is in many ways much worse. In this case study, we will refer to SHEIN in the context of negative environmental effects, which have been confirmed based on the materials used. The research looks at sustainability, specifically environmental effects such as high-water consumption or disruption of the ecosystem and disposability.

As of January 2021, SHEIN had a total of 202,663 garments and 55 clothing materials. Among the 55 materials, 20 are non-biodegradable, 28 materials are biodegradable, and the rest are difficult to determine.

The top 10 percent of the 55 fabrics sold on the SHEIN website are polyester at 61 percent, cotton at 10 percent, viscose at 4 percent, acrylic at 4 percent, nylon at 4 percent, satin at 3 percent, mesh at 2 percent, velvet at 2 percent, PU leather at 1 percent, rayon at 1 percent, and sequins at 1 percent.

The first problem is water consumption. Polyester alone occupies nearly 75% of the apparel materials used by SHEIN. However, when it comes to cotton, even though it makes up only 10% of the fabrics sold by SHEIN, it is the second most used material on the website and is known to stir up controversy. Although organic cotton uses more water per kilogram of clothing than polyester, it is biodegradable. When cotton is produced inorganically, it uses more than 80 times more water than organic cotton.

In a statement, SHEIN says it has introduced innovative ways to reduce its environmental impact through “thermal digital transfer and digital direct printing technologies” to reduce water consumption during production. This statement ignores not only water waste from specific materials, but water waste from anything other than printing.  Environmental claims are not enough. They are multi-faceted, and while a 50% reduction in polyester wastewater is good, it ignores all the other problems associated with polyester production. These production processes are very harmful to the environment and cause many negative impacts, which leads to another problem, the disruption of ecosystems.

The next problem is disruption of the ecosystem. SHEIN says it is switching to more sustainable materials, such as recycled polyester. However, this material is not sustainable.  We must also remember that polyester is a non-biodegradable material and is responsible for more clothing than all other materials combined. Polyester, whether recycled or not, remains a non-biodegradable material and accounts for 61% of the total number of garments. If we consider the actual amount of sustainable materials used, only 8 out of 55 materials are recycled or organic, accounting for less than .0039% of the total number of garments sold. The way these materials are produced can lead to disruption of ecosystems. Several key ecosystems have been affected by water diversion and pollution, as seen in the cotton crop.

The third problem addressed in this case study is the issue of disposability. Disposability is a philosophy that promotes the acceptance of inexpensive clothing with a short lifespan. In a statement, SHEIN says it is working to develop solutions for “garment recycling programs and other initiatives to reduce post-consumer waste” and avoid overproduction. Three aspects emerge from this statement: the establishment of recycling programs, the desire to reduce post-consumer waste, and the avoidance of overproduction. These three problems indirectly and counterintuitively address the issue of disposability. Fast fashion clothing has an extremely low price and consumption, mass uniqueness and disposability go hand in hand as they represent the fast fashion cycle. The fast fashion industry appeals to consumer consumption through mass uniqueness, while profiting from the impact of disposability that comes after wear and tear. The result is a continuous cycle of increased consumption, mass integration and disposability. The way disposability is created is through the acceptance of cheap materials. Instead of creating solutions that favour disposability such as recycling programs that also benefit from it, SHEIN should be producing clothes that are long-lasting and more valuable.

Lesson learnt: SHEIN is not authentic about sustainability. It is well known that the fast fashion industry harms the environment. High levels of consumption, mass integration, water consumption and disposability create negative environmental impacts and disrupt ecosystems. The shift to slow fashion is therefore the most authentic form of the sustainability movement[1].

[1] Isabel Agatha Millward-Pena “From fast fashion to sustainable slow fashion”  https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2639&context=etd