Clothing is one of the primary human needs, and the demand is met by the global production of thousands of tons of textile fibers, fabrics and garments every day. Polyester clothing manufactured from oil-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the market leader. Conventional PET creates pollution along its entire value chain—during the production, use and end-of-life phases—and also contributes to the unsustainable depletion of resources. The consumption of PET garments thus compromises the quality of land, water and air, destroys ecosystems, and endangers human health. In this article, we discuss the different stages of the value chain for polyester clothing from the perspective of sustainability, describing current environmental challenges such as pollution from textile factory wastewater, and microfibers released from clothing during the laundry cycle. We also consider potential solutions such as enhanced reuse and recycling. Finally, we propose a series of recommendations that should be applied to polyester clothing at all stages along the value chain, offering the potential for meaningful and effective change to improve the environmental sustainability of polyester textiles on a global scale.

服装是人类的主要需求之一，全球每天生产数千吨纺织纤维、织物和服装来满足这一需求。由油基聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET) 制成的涤纶服装是市场领导者。传统 PET 在其整个价值链中——在生产、使用和报废阶段——都会产生污染，并且还会导致资源的不可持续枯竭。因此，使用 PET 服装会损害土地、水和空气的质量，破坏生态系统并危害人类健康。在这篇文章中，我们从可持续性的角度讨论了涤纶服装价值链的不同阶段，描述了当前的环境挑战，例如纺织厂废水污染，以及洗衣过程中从衣物中释放的超细纤维。我们还考虑了潜在的解决方案，例如加强再利用和回收。最后，我们提出了一系列建议，这些建议应应用于价值链各个阶段的涤纶服装，提供有意义和有效变革的潜力，以提高全球范围内涤纶纺织品的环境可持续性。