EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles

On the 30th of March, the EU published a new Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. The EU Commission hopes that by implementing the strategy, ‘consumers will benefit from longer high quality textiles, and fast fashion will come out of fashion’.  

The aim is that “By 2030 textile products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable, made as much as possible of recycled fibres, free of hazardous substances and produced in respect of social rights and the environment.”

Below are some of the main key stats picked from the proposal: 

• The average European throws away 11kg of textiles every year

• A truckload of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every single second

• Global textile production almost doubled between 2000 and 2015

•  Consumption is projected to increase by 63% by 2030

• Industry turnover of 162billion Euro in 2019

•  75% of global garment workers are women

•  73% of the clothing and textiles consumed in Europe are produced in and imported from countries outside the EU

And here is an overview of what the strategy looks like: 

• New design requirements, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: setting mandatory minimums for the inclusion of recycled fibres in textiles, making them longer-lasting, and easier to repair and recycle

• Better labelling, with clearer information on textiles and Digital Product Passports: based on mandatory information requirements on circularity and other key environmental aspects

• Tighter controls on greenwashing, under the Green Claims Initiative

• To address the release of microfibres from synthetic textiles: targeting design, manufacturing process, labelling and promotion of innovative materials

• Harmonised EU rules on extended producer responsibility (EPR), as part of the Waste Framework Directive 2023: with economic incentives to make products more sustainable – “eco-modulation of fees” charging higher tax rates on harder to recycle products

• Support for research, innovation and investments: in developing skills for green and digital transitions. (It will encourage member states to have favourable taxation measures for the reuse and repair sector)

• To address export of waste textiles: increasing transparency and sustainability in the global textile waste trade – only allowing exports to non OECD countries under certain conditions 

• To produce a ‘Transition Pathway for the Textiles Ecosystem’: co-created in partnership with industry, public authorities, social partners and other stakeholders. 

• It will promote greener and fairer value chains across borders, under the Communication on Decent Work: promoting decent working conditions, gender equality.

It reshapes the whole framework in which the industry is able to operate, as a kind of licence to operate in the EU. 

Here is a list of what we think might be missing: 

• The focus is product circularity and not brand accountability in relation to climate and human rights

• Focus primarily on activity in the EU, there’s a lack of immediacy on dealing with the challenges being faced in relation to raw materials and climate overseas 

• It seeks to reduce virgin raw material use, but isn’t direct enough in challenging which are used specifically. This is most likely due to a lack of agreement over which fibres are ‘more sustainable’ (some think synthetics have a lower impact)

• It speaks of working to ‘promote international collaboration to reduce negative environmental and social impacts’ by working with groups such as G7/G20 but without addressing what the key outcomes of this would be – how workers and habitats in the system will be protected in the short term. 

• There will be issue about the tools and methodologies used to measure and substantiate fashion’s impact. 

Of course, it’s great to see top-level recognition that there is an urgent need for major changes in the fashion industry – but the proposal will need to be supported by a very robust due diligence directive, to compensate for not tackling some of the other bid industry challenges head on. 

Perhaps more focus on supply chains, and the operations of brands and retailers in the EU beyond design would help make the proposal more rounded. As well as strong commitments to protect biodiversity, nature, and human rights.