The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
The European Union is presenting a set of new and stricter legislations with some of them applying to the textile and apparel industry. What does it mean for fashion brands?
Background
The textile industry is today dominated by fast fashion companies and is characterised by its many trend cycles, short lead times, low retail prices and low-cost labor. The industry is today a global phenomenon, with garments designed in one country, manufactured in other countries, and sold globally. Over time, clothing has come to be considered disposable and as much as 40% of the clothes consumed are never worn. Europe alone discards 7.5 million tons of textiles yearly, which equates to 11.3 kg per person. The volume of textiles produced has nearly doubled from 2000 to 2019 in the EU. In Sweden, the average person consumes almost 14kg of new textiles yearly.
In 2015, the EU presented their Circular Economy Action Plan, followed by the European Green Deal in 2019, with the objective to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. As a part of this, the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textile was published on March 30th in 2022 with the ambition to make fast fashion out of fashion. The goal is that by 2030, all textile products placed and sold on the EU market, must be durable, free of hazardous substances and chemicals, made of as much recycled material as possible, produced in respect of the environment and the social rights of its workers, and be repairable and recyclable where repairs and reuse services are profitable with a widespread availability.
Photo: Unsplash
Design to last
Some countries, such as France, Germany, and Italy already have existing legislations for the textile industry, but there is a lack of harmonised laws and rules within the EU. This is all changing now and the textile sector will be connected to the EU in a new way.
The European Parliament and the Council has reached a provisional agreement on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, in short ESPR. This is probably the most discussed regulation and one of the more important ones to keep track of as a fashion brand since the textile sector is one of the priority product groups for this legislation. Ecodesign for Sustainable Products can be explained as a framework with several regulations and directives that together make the ESPR regulation. It is expected that all criteria will be decided upon during 2024.
ESPR sets requirements for all products placed on the EU market, whether they have been produced in the EU or outside, that must meet minimum standards for sustainability both in terms of information and performance. The regulation highlights product durability, reusability, upgradability, and repairability. It also puts limitations on the presence of chemical substances that inhibit reuse and recycling of materials. Products should have as low carbon and environmental footprint as possible, through energy and resource efficiency. The EU also encourages products to be made of recycled content and bans the destruction of unsold goods. The purpose is to make sustainable products the norm.
Microplastics is widely discussed under ESPR and is an initiative on its own, which addresses the unintentional release of microplastics. The proposal contains requirements that cover manufacturing processes and consumer usage phase with a possible obligation to use washing machine filters to catch the released microplastics. Producers will have an obligation to label products if they contain a certain percentage of synthetic fibers that contribute to the release of microplastics. This means the choice of material will play a crucial part.
The EU is also revising the chemical restrictions of PFAS and its chemical framework REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and the CLP list (Classification, Labeling, Packaging of chemicals), with stricter group restrictions to be expected in the upcoming years.
Photo: Pexels
Digital Product Passport, also referred to as DPP, is another regulation under ESPR. The purpose is to disclose information of a product’s entire life cycle through a unique identificator, such as a QR code or RFID. It is yet to be decided if it will be required on a product level or a batch level. The information must be easily accessible for consumers, suppliers and other stakeholders and should as an example include information about raw material, treatments, recycling and repair possibilities of the product.
This regulation requires the entire supply chain to be digitised, something that is both expensive and time consuming. DPP is currently still under development and therefore it is still not decided how much information that should be disclosed. Once the requirements for DPP are finalised, it will be a great tool for improved information sharing along the supply chain.
What we do know is that it can be advantageous to start preparing for this already. Since DPP will be a feature to communicate product information, it is simultaneously a tool for both traceability and transparency. Start mapping your value chain and be informed of every stage of your products’ suppliers and possible subcontractor. We suggest that you as a brand should examine the opportunities available now for creating the digital platform for DPP. The regulation is anticipated to be finalised during 2027. The textile sector is one of the affected product category.
Summary
These regulations are only a few that make the Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. The key takeaways from here are that fashion brands must start working on transparency and adopting to the new design rules. In the coming newsletters, we will present the rest of the regulations from the EU strategy. As consultancy firm, we can support your company in preparing for the upcoming legislations.
Upcoming Newsletters
EU Legislations: Part 2. What does it mean for the textile and apparel industry?
Regenerative agriculture: What is regenerative farming and why is it important for fashion?
Lower CO2-emissions for wool: Can calculating carbon sequestration give wool a better environmental footprint?
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