How much waste does SHEIN produce? Statistics & Facts (2026)

How much waste does SHEIN produce?

In 2026, SHEIN is estimated to produce approximately 1,228,000 metric tonnes (2.7 billion pounds) of waste in total. This estimate is based on SHEIN's own 2024 sustainability report combined with industry-standard figures for factory waste and discarded clothing, scaled forward in line with the company's continued business growth. Unlike many of their competitors, SHEIN's waste footprint is still climbing year after year, driven by rapid increases in orders, packaging, and garment production.

Despite SHEIN's commitments to a 25% cut in supply-chain emissions by 2030 and a reported 95% recycling rate in their own warehouses, the company's overall waste keeps growing. By 2026, SHEIN's estimated total of 1,228,000 metric tonnes is around 23 times larger than what they officially report — a clear sign that most of their environmental footprint still sits outside the company's own books.

SHEIN's annual waste totals (2023–2026)

This table shows how SHEIN's total waste has grown from 2023 to 2026, covering everything from supplier factory offcuts to packaging and discarded clothing. The trend reflects the company's rapid expansion and the climbing volume of materials moving through their supply chain each year.

Note: The figures for 2025 and 2026 are estimates based on projected growth. The 2023 and 2024 totals are calculated from SHEIN's own reported industrial waste (52,128 tonnes in 2024) combined with industry-standard estimates for supplier factory waste, packaging, and end-of-life clothing — most of which is not directly counted in SHEIN's sustainability reports.

What is SHEIN?

SHEIN is an online fast-fashion retailer best known for offering trend-driven clothing at remarkably low prices. Originally named ZZKKO, the company was founded in Nanjing, China, in 2008 by entrepreneur and SEO specialist Chris Xu, and they initially focused on selling wedding dresses before expanding into general womenswear and eventually a full catalogue of fashion, accessories, beauty, and home goods. In 2022, SHEIN moved their headquarters from China to Singapore, while keeping their supply chains and warehouses in China — which is why the brand is often described as Chinese-Singaporean.

Workers sort and pack orders in the "SHEIN village" — a garment-making district in Panyu, Guangzhou, China, where many of the brand's clothes are produced.

Today, SHEIN is the dominant force in global fast fashion:

• In 2024, the company generated an estimated $38 billion in revenue, up roughly 18% year-over-year.

• They command roughly 18% of the global fast-fashion market, overtaking long-established rivals like Zara and H&M.

• Their app was downloaded approximately 186 million times in 2024 alone, and around 235 million times in 2025 — nearly tripling their yearly downloads since 2019.

• They reach around 88.8 million monthly active users and can turn a new design into a finished product in as little as 3 to 10 days.

The commercial success comes with a heavy asterisk. SHEIN has faced years of criticism over their labour conditions, environmental impact, and corporate secrecy. A Channel 4 documentary uncovered workers doing 75-hour weeks, and the company has also faced repeated allegations of copyright theft and tax avoidance.

SHEIN's industrial waste from 2023 to 2026

SHEIN doesn't just produce greenhouse gases — they also throw out a lot of physical stuff. In their sustainability report, this is called Category 5: Waste Generated in Operations. In plain words: it's the trash that piles up in SHEIN's own warehouses as packages move in and out.

And the numbers are climbing fast:

Note: 2023 and 2024 numbers come from SHEIN's 2024 Sustainability and Social Impact Report. 2025 and 2026 are estimates based on the company's continued growth in shipping volume, which is the main driver of operational waste.

The generated industrial waste is mostly four things:

1. Cardboard and paper from shipping boxes

2. Plastic packaging, like polybags and bubble wrap

3. Leftover textile scraps

4. General waste that gets burned for energy

One important catch! This number only counts waste from buildings SHEIN runs themselves. The waste from the factories that actually make the clothes is not included — so the real total is much bigger than what's shown here.

SHEIN’s industrial waste management

We've looked at how much waste SHEIN generates in their own warehouses — but what is that waste actually made of? SHEIN's 2024 report breaks it down by material, and the answer is a useful reality check. The vast majority of it isn't clothing at all. It's packaging.

Here's what SHEIN's 52,128 tonnes of industrial waste from 2024 was made up of:

A few things stand out from these numbers:

• Almost 3 out of every 4 tonnes is cardboard. That comes from the shipping boxes SHEIN packs every order in. The more orders, the more cardboard.

• Plastic is the second biggest pile. Every SHEIN package contains plastic polybags and wrapping — that adds up fast at hundreds of millions of orders a year.

• Textile waste is tiny — but misleading. Only about 1% of this waste is fabric. That sounds positive, but it's because SHEIN doesn't sew clothes themselves. The huge amount of fabric waste created when making the clothes happens at supplier factories, which aren't counted here.

• SHEIN says 95% gets recycled or reused. That's the headline number the company highlights. The rest (~4.3%) is burned to generate energy, which is better than going to landfill but still releases CO₂.

SHEIN's signature plastic polybags. The company ships hundreds of millions of packages each year, making plastic their second-largest waste stream after cardboard and paper.

So when SHEIN talks about their "waste," they're mostly talking about packaging — not the clothes themselves, and not the textile scraps from production. That's an important distinction when judging the company's environmental footprint: the part SHEIN reports on is the part they have the most control over, while the much bigger sources of waste sit outside the report.

SHEIN's GHG emissions from 2023 to 2030

It's one thing to set a climate goal. It's another to actually reach it. Here's how SHEIN's emissions have changed year by year and where they're headed next.

Note: The 2023 and 2024 numbers come from SHEIN's own sustainability reports. The 2025–2030 figures are estimates based on continued growth at a gradually slowing pace.

What the table shows is striking: instead of moving toward its goal, SHEIN's emissions are climbing further away from it every year.

• SHEIN's official 2030 target is to cut absolute emissions by 25% from a 2023 baseline — bringing them down to roughly 16 million metric tons CO₂e in 2030.

• Based on current trends, SHEIN's 2030 emissions will land closer to 43 million metric tons — almost three times the level the company set out to reach.

A quick definition: GHG emissions means greenhouse gas emissions — all the climate-warming gases the company is responsible for, added together and measured in tonnes of CO₂e ("carbon dioxide equivalent").

SHEIN's climate targets

SHEIN knows they have a climate problem. The company makes a lot of cheap clothes, ships them all over the world, and that creates a lot of pollution. So in 2024 and 2025, SHEIN published a set of official promises about how they're going to clean up their act.

These promises aren't just SHEIN's word for it. They've been checked and approved by a group called the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) — basically a team of independent experts who look at company climate plans and decide whether they're actually good enough to help keep the planet from heating up past 1.5°C (the limit scientists say we need to stay under to avoid the worst effects of climate change). To address its environmental footprint, Shein has committed to a series of actions across its operations and supply chain, summarised in the table below.

To address its environmental footprint, SHEIN has committed to a series of actions across its operations and supply chain, summarised in the table below.

Top 10 statistics and facts about SHEIN as a fast-fashion giant

SHEIN's business runs on one simple idea: sell as much cheap clothing to as many people as humanly possible.

Here's what that looks like in numbers:

1. Estimated company valuation (2026): $30 billion

2. Average price per item: $5–$25

3. Products available on the website: 600,000

4. New designs added per day: up to 10,000 (around 400 per hour). For comparison, traditional fast-fashion brands like H&M and Zara release roughly 4,500 new products per year. SHEIN can hit that number in less than a single day.

5. Supplier factories in network: 5,400–7,000+ (mostly in China)

6. Time from design to finished garment: as little as 3 to 10 days

7. Orders shipped per year (est.): around 800 million (roughly 2.2 million per day, or 90,000 per hour)

8. Active markets worldwide: 150+ countries

9. App downloads: 186 million in 2024, rising to around 235 million in 2025

10. Global market share in fast fashion: 18% (the largest of any retailer)

Although SHEIN built their business entirely online, the company has started expanding into physical retail. Their first permanent store opened at the BHV department store in Paris on 5 November 2025.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about SHEIN's waste

How much waste does SHEIN actually produce every year?

Approximately 1,228,000 metric tonnes (2.7 billion pounds) in 2026, estimated across SHEIN's full value chain. This includes supplier factory offcuts, packaging waste, and discarded clothing — most of which isn't directly counted in SHEIN's own sustainability reports.

What does SHEIN officially report as their waste?

In 2024, SHEIN reported 52,128 tonnes of industrial waste from their own operated warehouses and innovation centre. That's around 23 times smaller than the estimated total across their full value chain, because the company only counts waste from buildings they run themselves.

What kind of waste does SHEIN produce the most of?

Cardboard and paper, mostly from shipping boxes. In 2024 it made up 73% of SHEIN's reported industrial waste. Plastic packaging is second at 21%, while textile waste is just 1% — but that's misleading, because the textile scraps from sewing the clothes happen at supplier factories that aren't included in SHEIN's reporting.

How does SHEIN compare to Zara and H&M when it comes to waste?

SHEIN produces far more. The company adds up to 10,000 new designs a day, while H&M and Zara release roughly 4,500 new products a year combined. SHEIN's 18% share of the global fast-fashion market is now larger than both rivals combined, and their waste footprint grows in step with their sales.

Is SHEIN's plastic waste actually recycled?

SHEIN claims a 95% recycling rate, but only for waste from their own warehouses. The plastic polybags that wrap every order arrive at customers' homes and usually end up in household trash, where recycling rates for thin film plastic are extremely low — typically under 5% in most countries.

How much CO₂ does SHEIN emit, and how does that relate to waste?

SHEIN emitted 26.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2024 — up 23% from 2023. Emissions are closely tied to waste because both grow with shipping volume: every package adds packaging waste and transport emissions. Stand.earth has called SHEIN the worst polluter in fast fashion.

Why is SHEIN's waste growing instead of shrinking?

Because their business is growing. SHEIN now ships around 800 million orders a year — roughly 2.2 million a day. Even with recycling improvements, the sheer increase in volume outpaces any efficiency gains. The company itself has acknowledged the "challenge of decoupling growth from resource consumption."

What happens to unsold SHEIN clothes?

SHEIN says less than 2% of their products go unsold, thanks to small batch production (typically 100–200 units per item) and AI-driven demand forecasting. Critics dispute this figure, and the company has not allowed independent verification.

How much polyester does SHEIN use, and why does it matter?

Polyester made up 81.5% of SHEIN's materials in 2024, up from 75.7% in 2023. Polyester is made from oil, sheds microplastics every time it's washed, and can take up to 200 years to break down in landfill. Only around 6% of SHEIN's polyester is recycled.

Has SHEIN made any real progress on reducing waste?

Some, but not enough to keep up with their growth. SHEIN's Centre of Innovation for Garment Manufacturing achieved Zero Waste to Landfill certification in 2024, and the company has set Science Based Targets to cut emissions 25% by 2030. But total waste and emissions are both still climbing year after year, and SHEIN's official 2030 emissions target is now around three times lower than where current trends suggest they'll actually land.