Disposable "fast fashion" and its effect on the environment will be examined in a new inquiry launched by the environmental audit committee, as part of efforts to make the industry more sustainable.

MPs will look at the carbon, resource use and water footprint of clothing throughout its life cycle and how clothes can be recycled and waste and pollution reduced.

The committee's chairwoman Mary Creagh said the way we design, make and discard clothes has "a huge environmental impact", adding: "Producing clothes requires toxic chemicals and produces climate-changing emissions. Every time we put on a wash, thousands of plastic fibres wash down the drain and into the oceans. We don't know where or how to recycle end-of-life clothing."

The environmental impact of the fashion industry has come under scrutiny before. A report last year by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that if the global fashion industry continues on its current growth path, it could use more than a quarter of the world's annual carbon budget by 2050.

Fast fashion, which focuses on speed and low costs in order to deliver frequent new collections inspired by the catwalk, has been spearheaded by high street stalwarts like Topshop, Primark and H&M, as well as online-only brands such as Asos and Boohoo.com, which offer cheap clothing that can easily be disposed of and repurchased once a new trend comes along.