A joint study by Pakistan's Labour Education Foundation and Dutch rights organisation Arisa has found pervasive labour rights violations in the textile recycling industry — the same sector that major fast fashion brands promote as evidence of their environmental sustainability. Field research in Faisalabad and Karachi, two of Pakistan's main textile recycling hubs, documented workers labouring up to 12 hours a day without formal contracts, adequate pay, or protective equipment, with exposure to dust, heat, and hazardous chemicals causing widespread health problems; instances of child labour were also recorded. The report warns that most of the 20 major brands examined have little to no visibility into these conditions, raising urgent questions about whether the fashion industry's "circular economy" claims can be trusted while the human cost of recycling remains hidden and unaddressed.