Is SHEIN Greenwashing its Fashion Manufacturing?
SHEIN, the world’s largest fast fashion brand, achieved an impressive US$32.5bn in revenue in 2023, refreshing its product offerings daily with anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 new items.
This represents a growth of more than 1,000% from 2019 to 2023. This boom in sales and production has been coupled with a renewed corporate focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns.
"At SHEIN, our mission is to make the beauty of fashion accessible for all," says Chris Xu, CEO at SHEIN.
“However, we recognise that producing affordable apparel and delivering it quickly to our customers all over the world comes with significant challenges that we, along with the rest of the industry, must address.”
Chris' statement speaks to much of the controversy that has dogged the Chinese fashion brand since its meteoric rise, with critics often pointing to the company's treatment of workers and its reputation for unsustainable manufacturing and environmental malpractice.
The controversies surrounding SHEIN's manufacturing
Between 2022 and 2023, SHEIN reported an 81% increase in absolute emissions, nearly double its revenue growth, indicating a potential environmental overreach.
The company's sustainability report acknowledged this fact: "We recognise that we still have much more work to do on our climate mitigation journey and are committed to driving progress."
In addition to internal acknowledgments, external criticisms have been frequent and fierce.
The Italian Competition Authority announced in September 2024 its plans to investigate SHEIN for possibly misleading environmental claims on its website.
Furthermore, Greenpeace accused SHEIN of “taking greenwashing to a new low” in 2022 following a pledge to donate US$14m to an organisation addressing textile waste, while continuing to produce what it termed “disposable” clothing.
In another hit to its credibility, Reuters reported in 2021 allegations against SHEIN for falsely claiming ISO and SA8000 certifications in its operation facilities.
Further scrutiny came from the UK House of Commons, where Yinan Zhu, EMEA General Counsel at SHEIN, faced tough questions about the company's use of cotton potentially linked to forced labour in Xinjiang.
Although Yinan initially withheld information, subsequent written communications confirmed that SHEIN products in the US do not use Chinese-sourced cotton.
SHEIN's pursuit of sustainable production
In a significant move, SHEIN welcomed Mustan Lalani as the new Global Head of Sustainability in January 2025.
“My focus will be on embedding circularity, decarbonisation and strategic partnerships into the core of the business,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post at the time.
“The scale and complexity of this challenge are immense, but so is the opportunity to set a new standard for sustainability in the industry.”
SHEIN has committed to a 25% reduction in emissions across all scopes by 2030.
The brand is also making strides in renewable energy, incentivising the adoption of rooftop solar panels throughout its supply chain, contributing to the World Circular Textiles Day Coalition, and substantially increasing the use of sustainable packaging materials.
Do SHEIN's sustainable initiatives rebut accusations of unsustainable manufacturing?
According to SHEIN’s Sustainability and Social Impact Report, the company emitted 16.7mt of CO₂ in 2023.
“Assuming that carbon dioxide emissions were SHEIN’s only negative externality and assuming that SHEIN had to pay US$100/mt of CO₂ (which is far less than most credible estimates of the cost of carbon), then its US$5.3m donation represents 1/3 of 1% of what SHEIN should have to pay humanity for the societal costs of its annual CO₂ emissions," said Ken Pucker, Professor of the Practice at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
“In fairness to SHEIN, no fashion company currently pays society for its negative externalities (carbon, chemicals, water or unfair labour practices to name but a few).”
“We know we have an important role to play in preserving the resources we all share,” says Maggie Gu, Co-Founder and General Manager of SHEIN.
“We’ve come a long way and we are evolving to ensure that our business practices are aligned with our customers’ goals and values.”
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