Shein Clothing — Design Life-Cycle (2024)

Marianna Chairez

Veronica Shedd, Athina Azevedo

DES 040A

Professor Cogdell

16 March 2023

Shein; The Exploration of their Clothing Cycle

& the Raw Materials that Craft It

Fashion is a constantly evolving collection of fads; constantly cycling through various trends that dictate what is or isn’t in. And even after things go out of season, we can frequently find that old trends will creep back into being the newest craze in the years to follow. And yet, in the past few years we have been cycling through clothing trends at rates that we have never seen before, all thanks to the rise of fast fashion. Fast fashion itself can be defined as the “design, manufacturing, and marketing method focused on producing high volumes of clothing” (Stanton, 2023). This unsustainable act of mass production that in turn, has led to waves of mass-consumption is most notably led by notorious fashion retailer Shein. In this essay, we will explore the life cycle of Shein clothing through the lens of raw materials as they travel through acquisition, manufacturing & processing, distribution, use/reuse/maintenance, recycling, and waste management. We will explore first hand how these materials are added to, extracted, and manipulated in order to form the polyester shirt sitting in your closet. And ultimately, we will raise the question: how sustainable is this manufacturing process given the choices that were made on behalf of the conglomerate retail giant we know as Shein?

As a company who mass produces a considerable amount of their inventory, Shein relies on the use of cheaper quality textiles that are easy to acquire in abundance. As best said by Gloss Daily Co.: “Most of the clothing from the brand is made with cheap virgin plastic materials like polyester, nylon, and synthetic fabrics” (Zwieglinska, 2022). Nylon for reference, is an incredibly easy fabric to come by, best compared to a sort of plastic,– consisting largely of a mix between petroleum and coal. Similarly, polyester is also derived from petroleum. Therefore, these two elements alone– petroleum and coal, serve as the raw materials for a large percentage of Shein based textiles. Taking into consideration that the two most frequently used fabrics are oil-based and non-renewable, we can infer that Shein’s process in selecting raw materials necessary to manufacture their clothing comes at the expense of quality. Such fabrics are much less time consuming to put together and are easier to mass-produce. If you are aiming to meet a large set of demand for material output. High quality fabrics such as cotton, wool, leather, and cashmere which take much larger amounts of skilled labor as well as, more expensive, less easily accessible raw materials to weave together– which comes at a much greater cost which the company does not want. Ultimately, it is evident that Shein intentionally opts for cheaper synthetic raw materials with the understanding that they are not environmentally friendly to produce nor discard and is therefore heavily unsustainable to mass produce. As we continue exploring the process of fabrication for Shein’s clothing we will continue to raise this question of unethical versus unethical production choices.

Once these raw materials arrive at the main factories in which they are manufactured, processed, and formulated, little new materials are added to them other than the occasional use of dyes. At this point in the process, energy is the main focus of the system; utilizing both machine and human labor in order to sew fabric materials together and then later package them to be sent outward. It is only when the textiles have already been assembled and are ready to be packaged that we can introduce a new set of raw materials into the mix. In order for the items to be properly distributed they must be packaged properly to later be transported. As best described by The Manufacturer: “Cardboard boxes are of course one of the core products of the packaging industry” (Brown, 2014). Shein is, of course, no exception; utilizing (sometimes) recycled paper that is “sandwiched in between two liners” in order to properly sustain itself and the contents inside. And though Shein is no exception to the use of cardboard boxes, it is perhaps most notably recognized by its plastic bag-like packaging complete with its zipper seal and embroidered with their corporate logo in a large bold, sans serif font. This in combination with the hundreds of thousands of orders that go through in a day, make for an excessive amount of plastic. In a recent attempt at greenwashing, SheinGroup stated that they would attempt a more ‘sustainable outlook for packaging’ switching out the virgin plastic (also a derivative of petroleum products) 100% recycled plastic bags. In line with their statement, “this initiative is expected to save three tons of virgin plastic particles monthly” (SheinGroup, 2022). Despite this change, it means that prior to these impositions, Shein was producing 36 tons of virgin plastic in their packaging alone PER year which translates to several more tons of its weight worth in petroleum from which it is derived. This incredibly wasteful and though the change does not acquire the use of more new petroleum (as a raw material) in the fabrication process, it capitalizes on its use by recycling it as an attempt to redeem the company image instead of opting for a renewable, more sustainable product to serve as their packaging in the first place.

Once these items are fully packaged and ready to be distributed and transported to the consumers who purchased them, little to no new raw materials are added to the products themselves as the items, themselves, are already assembled. However, we do have to take into account the generation of materials needed in order to support the modes of transportation (i.e. planes, trucks, or less notably ships). According to PR Newswire, in a statement made by Shein, “ [Greenhouse Gas] emissions generated from SHEIN operations, accountable for less than 0.05% of 2021” (PR Newswire, 2022). Though this seems like a relatively small number, Shein is one of hundreds of thousands of companies in the world, and 0.05% is still a very statistically significant number for a company that does not even produce its own petroleum products meaning that just the fabrication and transportation aspect account for the entirety of their emissions. To generate enough energy to transport such materials overseas, CO2 is emitted as a way to burn energy, most commonly through coal (as used in ships) or through petroleum gas (which is used by planes and trucks). Therefore, at the very core petroleum, in combination with coal, (both non-renewable energy sources) serves as the raw materials used to distribute and transport Shein products.

Once the product arrives at the address of the consumer who purchased it, there are little to no new raw materials that go into the process as the item has already been shipped and can no longer be manipulated by the source. However, as mentioned prior, Shein as a whole, is partially responsible for the rise of super fast fashion which has caused trend cycles to generate at much faster rates. This, in combination with the fact that the clothing articles are made from very poor quality textiles that typically won't survive more than a few washes means that these clothes are destined to hit the landfill within just a few weeks or months at most (Ecowatch, 2022). This then takes us into the next step and last step in the clothing life cycle: Recycling and Waste Management.

As mentioned prior, Shein has taken the initiative to attempt to generate more of their packaging out of recycled plastic as opposed to the virgin plastic (which they had used prior). Though Shein themselves are not responsible for the recycling, we can infer that once this packaging reaches (hopefully) the recycling center, that it is sorted based on the type of plastic it is. It then has to be cleaned, utilizing water, in order to be recycled again. On the other hand, the actual clothing items have a slightly more intensive process. As best described Sustain Your Style Org.: “There are 2 ways to recycle polyester: For mechanical recycling, plastic is melted to make new yarn. This process can only be done a few times before the fiber loses its quality. Chemical recycling involves breaking down the plastic molecules and reforming them into yarn. This process maintains the quality of the original fiber and allows the material to be recycled infinitely, but it is more expensive” (Sustain Your Style). Given that the quality of textile is already on the lower end, it is somewhat unlikely that a majority of these materials will end up being recycled but giving the benefit of the doubt, the new materials used to recycle would largely just be elements of fire or more specifically coal (in order to melt the fiber to make new yarn). However it is not cost effective nor ergonomically realistic for such low quality materials to be recycled, very similarly to nylon which is so difficult to recycle that the lack of incentive just makes it not worth it in the long run (Recycle Nation).

Realistically, an incredibly large portion of Shein products, both clothing and packaging ends up in landfills with no new raw materials to add. Though it is difficult to estimate exactly how many tons of specifically Shein clothes end up in landfills, it is helpful to visualize the rate at which these clothes are being discarded. Take for reference, Stacker which states: “Consumers wear most items fewer than 10 times—and in China, fewer than three times—on average before being discarded, partly because there are constantly new styles to update one's wardrobe with, and partly because the quality is so poor, it doesn't last” (Liebhaber, 2022). Taking this into consideration, the rates of waste production become a lot clearer; “According to a 2016 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the world sends the equivalent of one garbage truck full of textile waste to landfills and incinerators every second” (Liebhaber, 2022). That being said we find that at the very end of our journey, a vast amount of raw materials and energy has been exerted only to be met with little use and an excessive amount of waste leftover that can no longer be renewed and with this in mind, we can not in good conscience determine that Shein is a company with sustainable practices.

In this essay, we have explored the life cycle of Shein clothing through the lens of raw materials as they travel through acquisition, manufacturing & processing, distribution, use/reuse/maintenance, recycling, and waste management. In the end that we have found that a considerably large portion of the raw materials used in this cycle are petroleum (generated from fossil fuels/crude oil) and coal which are not only used to make the fabrics of the clothing, but utilized in the packaging, as well as in the process for energy generation need to physically transport the objects. These two sources of energy are not renewable and very limited in abundance, however their accessibility and the cost of acquiring such materials comes at the cost of the quality of products Shein chooses to put out. Over and over, Shein has made multiple choices in their clothing cycle process that serve to prioritize cost efficiency over quality and environmental wellbeing. Therefore, in this cycle of Shein clothing fabrication all the way to its discardment, we find that Shein’s utilization of raw materials is by no means ethical nor sustainable.

Bibliography

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Veronica Shedd

Marienne Chairez, Athina Azevedl

Des 40A

Professor Cogdell

Energy in Shein Clothing Products

Shein is part of the fast fashion industry that has been a topic of concern regarding the exploitation of workers, environmentally toxic materials, and concerning demand of consumerism. Shein blew up in popularity around 2020 as online shopping became more comfortable in a pandemic induced world. Shein was created in 2008 and sells anything from clothing, accessories, shoes, bags, and other fashion items. The very economical prices are appealing to many young Gen-Z individuals who would prefer to buy a four dollar t-shirt from Shein than a non-fast fashion industry like “Reformation” that starts selling similar t-shirts from anywhere around twenty-eight dollars and up. The process and energy used to create Shein clothing really showcases how damaging an industry like Shein can be as the fast fashion industry, “is responsible for releasing more than 10 percent of carbon emissions” [1]. The energy production of Shein clothing through their synthetic clothing products is damaging to the environment and it is clear that Shein cares more to answer to the high demands of consumerism than improving the harsh emissions released by their fast-fashion industries.

Shein is the fastest-paced fast fashion brand and as a result produces clothing at a more rapid speed than their competitors through unethical working conditions and low wages [2]. Shein clothing products are made from synthetic materials like polyester and nylon. Synthetic materials are created by the acquisition of raw materials. It starts off with the unwanted plastic water bottles that are recycled. Once recycled, these plastics are shredded and sorted by clear plastic and colored plastic [18]. Synthetic fabrics are then made, “by joining chemical monomers into polymers using a chemical reaction called polymerisation. The chemicals used are usually sodium hydroxide and carbon disulphide (derivatives of coal, oil, or natural gas) [3]. Coal, oil, sodium hydroxide, carbon disulphide, and natural gasses are all nonrenewable sources and once humanity uses up these sources that they rely so heavily on, they cannot be replaced. The pollution caused by these nonrenewable sources can release particles that pollute the air, water, and land of earth. And in turn, 93.6 kJ of energy is released per mole of monomer as the double bonds being broken need energy and the new bonds formed to create synthetic fabrics release energy.

The manufacturing process of creating synthetic material is through forcing the liquid from chemicals into spinnerets that create a filament. As the liquid from the spinneret cools, it forms a filament fiber that is then twisted into a yarn and dyes can be added before making the fabric [3]. Even if synthetic fabric has many pros through their absorbent material, waterproof fabrics, ability to dry quickly, and elastic material, there still are the environmentally toxic cons of synthetic fabrics [3]. Synthetic fabrics manufacturing processes release anywhere from 104 to 127 MJ/kg of energy. There are a substantial amount of chemicals required and lots of energy needed in the production stage. Fabrics like polyester and nylon release higher GHG emissions during the manufacturing phase than any other fabrics [4]. “The polyester resin and fiber manufacturing process accounted for 9% of the total energy consumption, including packaging in the fiber stage, where the energy of the material resource alone consumed 3.6% of the total energy” [4]. The process for making polyester, “churns out the same amount of CO2 as 180 coal-fired power plants- that’s around 700 million tonnes of CO2 annually” [5]. Not only does the production of synthetic products damage the environment, it also poses a threat to human health and the ozone layer through the excessive amounts of volatile organic compounds, acetaldehyde and dioxins emitted from their production [4]. All of this energy is released into the atmosphere even before Shein starts to create their clothing products with these synthetic fabrics.

“Workers at the Shein factories are ‘paid per item’” [2] therefore these workers have to work harder to get paid in order to live at the bare minimum. These workers work in smaller generic wholesale factories rather than large warehouses in order to keep these horrible work conditions under proper standards. Shein clothing is made by hand and these low wages incentivize high production outcomes. Employees from around 17 factories in six different cities, “were found to have 75-hour weeks of work, 3 shifts per day and only getting one day off a month” [2]. Between 35,000 to 100,000 items are produced daily for Shein and contribute to high carbon emissions and waste. 6.3 million tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere by Shein clothing production yearly. “The manufacturers’ rapid use of virgin polyester and large consumption of oil churns out the same amount of CO2 as approximately 180 coal-fired power plants” [1]. After the production of Shein clothing is created, it then has to be transported from these factories to consumers homes all around the globe.

The transportation of Shein clothing products emits a lot of energy and contributes to the issues of environmental emissions. Transportation is the biggest contributor to CO2 emissions through the burning of fossil fuels and Shein clothing exports contribute to this greatly. On average, around 2,000 products per day are needed to be transported. Hydrocarbons like petrol, diesel, and kerosene are released when shipping synthetic materials to Shein factories through their usage of planes, ships, or trucks. International shipping accounts for 2% of all global emissions and the majority of the shipping of Shein products comes from factories in China that travel to out of country locations. “Currently, China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, with more emissions than all of the developed nations combined.” To get the clothing from the factory to the consumer as fast as possible, the Shein products are often shipped by air, and in many cases without high shipping costs for the buyer at all. As well, it is easy to return the clothes back to China with a maximum charge of $4.50, but in most cases free of charge [11]. This releases a lot of unnecessary and unsustainable emissions into the atmosphere through constant traveling in order to provide clothing for consumers. On average, a flight would emit around 3.16 kilograms of CO2 per 1 kilogram of fuel consumed. Therefore, the average flight from Beijing, China to Los Angeles airport shipping Shein clothing would emit around 3.6 metric tons of CO2 per passenger and these emissions would melt 117.2 square feet of Arctic ice. And this constant consumption of fuel that ends up releasing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide is harmful to the world [12]. This is detrimental to the environment and truly unsustainable for the future of the globe.

Shein claims to be a sustainable company, but their actions speak louder than their “mission statement.” Shein says to be using recycled polyester in order to help the environment, however, it is shown that, “of the 52,000 dresses currently listed on the site, just 64 are said to be made from recycled polyester” [6]. This goes to show how secretive Shein is as a company and how questionable their “eco-friendly” options really are. Shein products are not made to be highly durable as polyester is not a reliable material. “Less than 1% of textiles are made from old textiles, but every second a truckload of textiles ends up in landfills or is incinerated”[8]. This is very concerning as the life length of Shein products is very short and the quality of Shein clothing is very poor. Synthetic fabrics have a short lifespan therefore most of their clothing ends up in the bins after a couple uses by the consumer. Moreover, the average consumer keeps Shein clothing products for around 2 weeks of usage before they trash the clothing product. Not only are the products releasing environmentally damaging chemicals out into the world, the products themselves have been noted to contain hazardous chemicals. It is stated that 15% of Shein products contain “hazardous chemicals that break EU regulatory limits” [8]. It is found that Shein products have, “elevated levels of lead, phthalates, and per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)” [9] that are linked to many health problems for children, adults, and especially pregnant women. This can link to serious health conditions like asthma or even kidney failure [9]. When these Shein products are washed the synthetic materials shed microplastic particles that end up in the waters of earth’s ecosystems. This releases plastic into the ocean and that is harmful for the environment [11]. Even if synthetic fabrics are good materials to recycle, it is important to note that, “most of these clothing items actually aren’t recycled, and instead pile up in landfills” [10] and are major causes of the, “textile waste mountain” [11].

The recycling production of polyester and nylon clothing products is a rarity as many synthetic products just end up in the landfills, but when it is recycled it can be very labor intensive and expensive. The recycling of synthetic fiber happens by dividing the material from other wastes, then, “fallout nylon fiber is packaged using a hydraulic press. Finally, the bale of nylon fiber is then stored to be ready for sale as excellent Secondary Raw Material” [14]. This same process applies to all other synthetic fibers like polyester and acrylic. The mechanical way of recycling synthetic textiles is through, “shredding and carding process to extract the fibers from the fabric” [15] and then the fiber can be spun to make other knitted fabrics. There is also a chemical process of recycling synthetic materials and this is a solvent-based separation. “In this process, the desired textile material is separated by solvent. The textile waste is converted into RePAN-pellets” [16]. While recycling synthetic materials is good at not polluting the landfills, it makes very little difference in the effect over our oceans as 35% of all microplastics are released into our oceans from synthetic textiles [17]. However, the good thing about recycling synthetic materials is that 95% of the textile waste can be recycled which reduces emissions and pressure on new resources [16].

Once the non-recycled synthetic materials reach the end of their life cycle at the landfill, they take an excessive amount of time to degenerate as they are non-biodegradable and the, “chemicals used in their manufacture can leach out into the environment” [3]. This releases energy between 20,000 and 24,000 Btu’s per pound when synthetic materials combust. The waste production of synthetic materials emits greenhouse gasses and uses non-renewable resources that release microplastics [17]. Once consumers put their Shein clothing to waste, the synthetics can be extracted from the clothing and go into processing [17]. But the processing of the waste products is damaging to the environment. “When synthetic fiber products are dumped in landfills, such waste takes 100 years to decompose which pollutes the atmosphere and if not degraded, it accumulates causing infectious diseases and odors” [16]. Overall, non-recycled synthetic materials cause detrimental damage to the environment.

Shein is a toxic industry to the environment, its workers, and consumers. Shein as a fast-fashion industry has profited off consumers by selling excessively cheap clothing products with synthetic materials that emit toxic chemicals into the world through all its life stages. Due to covid, there has been an outburst of online shopping and Shein profited off that. From 2019 to 2021 Shein’s revenue grew 398%. Shein is now valued as a hundred billion dollar company [13]. However, even if Shein is so successful as a company, it is truly unsustainable for trying to improve the world’s deteriorating environment. Fast-fashion companies like Shein need to be put to an end through their unethical policies, cheap prices adding to consumerism, and synthetic materials that harm the ecosystem.

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[2]https://www.gittemary.com/2022/07/shein-is-much-worse-than-any-other-fashion-brand-here-is-why.html

[3] https://www.loveyourclothes.org.uk/guides/fabric-focus-synthetic-fabrics

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/synthetic-fiber

[5]https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/10/17/how-are-shein-hauls-making-our-planet-unlivable

[6] https://brightly.eco/blog/shein-sustainability

[7]https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/heres-why-you-should-never-shop-at-shein-no-matter-what-8140d285cf4b

[8]https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/56979/taking-the-shine-off-shein-hazardous-chemicals-in-shein-products-break-eu-regulations-new-report-finds/

[9]https://www.insider.com/toxic-chemicals-in-shein-and-other-fast-fashion-clothing-2022-8

[10]https://vksapp.com/blog/manufacturing-waste-shein

[11]https://cosh.eco/en/brand/is-shein-sustainable

[12] https://flightfree.org/flight-emissions-calculator

[13] https://observer.com/2022/08/shein-fast-fashion-valuation-market-forecast/

[14] https://www.texile-plastic-materials-recycling.com/recycling-synthetic-textile-fibers.php

[15] https://www.onlineclothingstudy.com/2020/08/textile-recycling-mechanical-recycling.html

[16]https://textilefocus.com/challenges-and-solutions-for-recycling-of-manmade-fiber-synthetic-blends-pet/

[17] https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/plastic-in-textiles-towards-a/file

[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYkglUysDKk