Is Temu Bad for the Environment? A Full Analysis

Since its launch in 2022, Temu has become one of the biggest e-commerce websites in almost 80 countries. Its popularity comes from its astonishingly affordable goods and free shipping, which entice many consumers to purchase through its platform.

However, there is a growing concern about Temu’s environmental impact. From high-carbon emissions due to air-freight shipping, packaging waste, non-recyclable materials, excessive usage of plastic and ambiguous ethical codes, Temu’s operations raise serious sustainability and ethical concerns.

In this article, we will take a deep-dive into Temu’s environmental footprint, highlighting its low cost, its pros and the environmental concerns of its cheap products. We will also assess whether the platform is truly as harmful as critics suggest. Can Temu adapt and become more eco-friendly, or is its low-cost model fundamentally unsustainable? Let’s break it down. 

Temu is an online marketplace originating from China that connects multiple manufacturers directly with shoppers, offering a vast selection of heavily discounted products, including electronics, clothing, home goods, and toys. With worldwide delivery, Temu makes it easy to find an affordable version of almost anything you're looking for.

Founded in September 2022 by PDD Holdings Inc, Temu is a sister company of the popular Chinese e-commerce site “Pinduoduo”. In April 2023, Temu UK launched, followed by the rest of Europe. 

Although similar to other online marketplaces such as Amazon, Wish, Shein, and AliExpress, Temu stands out with its heavily discounted prices, consistent clearance offers, referral programs and gamification of the shopping experience with the promise of winning free gifts, promotional codes, and bonuses. 

As a result of its many offers and hugely discounted prices, Temu has become one of the UK’s most downloaded apps. According to the Times, it is the UK’s most popular e-commerce app and has more than 100 million users. As of January 2025, the Temu app has been downloaded 49 million times.

A question that often comes up when looking into Temu is: How is it so cheap? Temu’s ability to offer low prices comes from its multi-layered business model, which eliminates traditional retail markups. 

Here is how they do it:

As a result of their clever muti-layered business model, Temu made an estimated $70.8 billion in 2024, an impressive 293.33% increase from its estimated $18 billion revenue in 2023.

While we do not have exact data on Temu's environmental impact, we can deduce whether or not It has a damaging effect on the environment using current data. 

Temu's environmental impact remains unclear as it does not provide transparency on its sustainability practices. Although partnering with “Trees for the Future” , contributing to over 17,549,702 trees being planted, Temu’s annual sustainability reports remain minimal and vague. This compared to other large-scale companies offering detailed annual reports on their sustainability practices should raise some environmental alarm bells.

By failing to disclose key environmental data, Temu prevents the consumer from making informed decisions. Without this transparency, there is no way we can determine whether Temu is making meaningful steps towards sustainability. This lack of accountability, allows Temu to sidestep environmental responsibility, potentially contributing to excessive carbon emissions, resource depletion, and pollution.

Temu's environmental impact remains disclosed, making it difficult to compare the affect it has on the planet. However, using data we already have we can compare how much CO₂ is produced by Temu against everyday things. 

Let's look at shipping. Temu uses air-freight to transport their goods worldwide. Air freight emits approximately 500 grams (0.5 kg) of CO₂ per tonne-kilometer. Using this data, we can estimate the environmental cost of shipping a 1 kg package from Temu.

Therefore, for every 1kg of packages sent by Temu would result in approximately 4.75kg of CO₂ emissions. This may not seem like anything to you yet, but let’s compare it to everyday things.

This data shows that shipping a package weighing a bag of sugar will emit more CO₂ than watching ten hours of Netflix. Additionally, you can drive up to 22 miles in a petrol car and still produce less emissions than shipping 1kg of Temu packages.

Since its launch in the U.S. in 2022, it has rapidly grown in popularity worldwide. Although Temu does not share its net worth, its gross merchandise volume is available. In 2024, the GMV of Temu was $70.8 billion.

Temu has solely focused on expanding in Europe and the Americas. However, its rapid growth has allowed the company to expand into multiple countries across the globe including, the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. This expansion is driven by Temu’s use of Next-Gen Manufacturing, a business model that optimises everything from product development to delivery. Additionally, with PDD Holdings' extensive network of merchants, Temu can keep costs low for customers. However, its expansion has not been without challenges and pushback.

Recently, Temu has suffered a significant setback when Indonesia, the largest e-commerce market in Southeast Asia, decided to ban its website in order to protect smaller merchants. Following this, Vietnam suspended the app, citing Temu’s failure to comply with its E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency’s registration requirements, according to Reuters.

Beyond regulatory concerns, Temu also faces scrutiny over sustainability and its environmental impact. Additionally, many countries worry about the strain on their local economies. Reuters reported that nearly 2,000 factories in Thailand shut down in 2023, partially due to increasing competition from Chinese e-commerce platforms. Small merchants worldwide are struggling to compete with giants like Temu, whose aggressive pricing strategies continue to reshape global markets.

Temu is on trend to becoming one of the biggest e-commerce giants of the world. Understanding the statistics, facts, and figures that are available on Temu is essential as it allows you to understand the company’s impact on the global marketplace. This knowledge will help you decide whether you want to purchase from Temu based on its sustainability and ethical practices.

It has been long debated whether Temu is ethical or not. Concerns have been raised about Temu’s supply chain transparency, labour conditions, sustainability practices, and data privacy policies. With its affordable prices and access to millions of merchants, can this company be too good to be true? 

While Temu denies any unethical practices and promises it complies with current ethical standards, it has not stopped activists and lawmakers’ concerns of this massive e-commerce platform. Temu’s ethical policies and practices remain largely unknown to the public, which should raise some red flags.

In the U.S., lawmakers are investigating the potentially “high risk” use of forced labour in massive platforms such as Temu, Shein, Nike and Adidas that goes against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to the BBC. Currently, Temu does not have any system in place to comply with this act.

This investigation has stirred more discussion on whether or not using Temu is ethical. As a result, the UK parliament has begun raising concerns about whether or not Temu aligns with their Modern Day Slavery Act 2015. Chloe Cartson from Anti-Slavery here in the UK has called on Temu to have “full transparency on its supply chain”. Unfortunately, Temu has yet to respond.

Temu’s business model and fast fashion output promote over-consumption, making it inherently unsustainable. While it attempts to offset its carbon footprint by planting trees, daily shipping, reliance on cheap labour, and use of low-quality materials may contribute to landfill waste. This reinforces Temu’s status as being an unsustainable company.

According to Greenpeace investigations, Temu does not disclose any of its sustainable or climate practices. The closest thing to a sustainability report was from their sister company, Pinduoduo, from 2020. With the lack of information, we cannot verify whether Temu is making meaningful efforts to combat climate change.

The lack of transparency is concerning for several reasons:

A company hiding information should raise serious concerns about hidden environmental damage, worker exploitation, and potential regulatory violations. If Temu is not reporting emissions, waste disposal practices, or water consumption, it suggests that its environmental impact could be far worse than assumed, making it a major red flag in the fashion industry. Until Temu becomes more transparent in its policies, we must assume that it is not a sustainable company.

Temu offers a wide range of products, many of which are made from plastics and synthetic fibres. Although there may be a few products available that are recyclable, it is important to look into the product description to see what the item is made of. Then, you can determine whether or not it is an eco-friendly and recyclable product. 

We researched the best sellers on the Temu UK site to see if any of their products were made from recyclable materials. We discovered that most of their fabric products, such as throws, couch covers, mattress toppers and clothing, were made from polyester.

Temu’s polyester-based products do not contain the rPET symbol, meaning they are likely unrecyclable. Globally, only about 1% of textiles are recycled, while the rest are either incinerated or added to landfills. Additionally, the production of polyester is damaging to the environment. It is non-biodegradable and emits microplastics. A study in 2022 found that 70 million barrels of oil are used to produce polyester a year. 

If you are looking for alternatives to Temu that offer affordable prices, then there are a few platforms you can consider:

No, Temu is not better than its alternatives when it comes to sustainability and eco-friendliness. While it offers affordable prices, free shipping and a vast selection of products, it lacks in transparency in its ethical and environmental policies.  

Here are the reasons why Temu is not better than its alternatives:

As a result of these shortcomings, some alternatives to Temu are considerably better. Here is a comparison table of some alternatives compared to Temu:

Temu’s rapid growth in just over three years shows its potential to become one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the world. However, its lack of transparency on its ethical and sustainable practices raises concerns. While its popularity stems from its low-cost products and free shipping, its long-term impact on the environment remains in question.

Although it does not seem like Temu will make changes in proving that they are helping to reduce their impact on the environment anytime soon, there is still hope. By educating ourselves on the risks of fast fashion and over-consumption of material goods, we can help reduce our carbon footprint and pressure governments to tighten their policies on sustainable and ethical standards. 

By tightening restrictions and enhancing policies to ensure high standards of ethics and sustainability, Temu may be influenced to follow in its competitors' footsteps in investing in greener initiatives and reducing its environmental harm in the future.