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The EU aims that by 2030, textile goods will be durable and recyclable, devoid of dangerous ingredients, and manufactured with regard for people and the environment. Fast fashion will be obsolete, repair and reuse will take the place of disposability, and producers will be held accountable for the products they create long after they have been sold. Clothes will no longer be destroyed or burnt, and landfills will be free of useable garments mistakenly classified as rubbish by consumers.
Is new legislation on the way to making this a reality?
Last week, the EU unveiled a package of ideas aimed at transforming the fashion industry and bringing it in line with sustainable practises. The strategy follows the supply chain from design to production through end-of-life, drawing on existing initiatives and frameworks and flagging a number of areas that need to be looked into further. The EU's efforts are aligned with the European Green Deal, which aims to make growth more sustainable, climate-neutral, and energy- and resource-efficient, as well as the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan and the EU Industrial Strategy update in 2021. The EU textiles and garment sector employs more than 1.5 million people and generates €162 billion in revenue.
The plan comes amid a global push for sustainable fashion laws, including garment worker rights (Senate Bill 62 in California), greenwashing (reviews in the UK and US in 2022), and brand accountability (New York's Fashion Act). Many people have praised the EU for recognising fashion's negative influence on the environment and the urgent need for regulation to address it. However, whether it goes far enough has been a subject of contention, with some claiming that it relies too heavily on existing techniques that should be bolder.
"We are in the midst of a climate emergency, and rapid action is required." Amina Razvi, executive director of the worldwide non-profit Sustainable Apparel Coalition, says, "Sustainability plans, commitments, and slogans are correctly being examined to understand the real activity occurring." "Voluntary acts no longer cut it," says Kutay Saritosun, Bluesign Technologies' head of marketing and communication.
What will the EU regulate?
The suggestions, which were created after conversations with major fashion industry stakeholders, focus on improving the repairability, durability, and recycling of products.
Companies are encouraged to adopt the Ecolabel and Green Public Procurement (GPP) requirements, which were established in 2014 and 2017. In addition to these criteria, the EU intends to adopt binding product-specific "ecodesign" rules by the end of 2022, which will promote durability, reusability, repairability, fiber-to-fibre recyclability, and mandated recycled fibre content. Microplastics, which have been identified as a major source of pollution, will be included in this, and a microplastic pollution campaign will be launched by the end of 2022.
The EU deferred to its "Reach" rule for hazardous compounds used in textile manufacture, which aims to reduce the use of hazardous substances and encourages alternatives to animal testing. It refers businesses to the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Best Available Techniques Reference Document for the Textiles Industry when it comes to zero pollution. Producer responsibility will be expanded in an effort to remove textile waste from the industry's economic growth, with waste regulations to be revised by 2024.
To address transparency, the EU plans to implement a digital product passport for textiles that meet strict circularity and environmental sustainability requirements. Textile labels are also anticipated to be reconsidered, with circularity, sustainability, size, and manufacturing nation information included alongside fibre composition and animal parts. The commission will also crack down on greenwashing, making it more difficult for companies to make deceptive claims like "green," "eco-friendly," and "environmentally friendly." In the second part of 2022, the Green Claims Initiative will be unveiled.
For garment employees, upskilling is also on the table. "To harness the potential for the job opportunities presented by the digital and green revolutions, the textiles ecosystem requires a highly skilled workforce," the strategy states. The EU Skills Pact aims to expand training programmes in areas such as eco-design, fibre development, innovative textile production, repair, and reuse.
What else could the approach do?
On the social sustainability side, critics argue there are glaring gaps. "The plan lays out the 'what,' but it's limited on the 'how," says Sebastian Boger, managing director and partner of Boston Consulting Group. "It's very much in line with many brands' previous commitments; there were no big surprises."
The metrics are weak on social effect, according to Kerry Bannigan, executive director of the Fashion Impact Fund, founder of the Conscious Fashion Campaign, and executive producer of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals Media Zone, who also points out the emphasis on digital change. This ignores the fact that many individuals still lack dependable internet and electrical access, let alone digital product passports and the technology required to utilise them. "Just because we're trying to speed up change for the better," she continues, "we can't wipe out those who are dependant on the fashion business."
Maeve Galvin, global policy and campaigns director at Fashion Revolution, thinks that the EU might take a page from California's Senate Bill 62, which established a minimum wage for workers and held businesses liable for infractions with third-party partners.
"Right now, the idea does not encompass SMEs since the company scope is too small," explains Muriel Treibich of the Clean Clothes Campaign, a global advocacy organisation. "It also overlooks the point of unfair purchasing methods, which allow businesses to impose low pricing and change orders at the last minute, affecting the environment as well as human rights in the supply chain."
"We are in the midst of a climate emergency, and rapid action is required."
"How the EU will measure sustainable textiles and garments is a question mark," says Dalena White, secretary general of the International Wool Textile Organisation and spokesman for Make The Label Count, an international coalition working to stop EU greenwashing. "The EU intends to employ the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, which currently excludes renewability, biodegradability, biodiversity, social consequences, and microplastic contamination from consideration."
Fashion Revolution, which publishes an annual transparency index based on publicly available sustainability data from brands, believes there is potential for the EU to address the issue of overproduction in its approach. "Our research finds that only 14% of brands give information on how much they generate," Galvin explains.
Change on a larger scale is required.
If the EU's recommendations are to work, experts say it must recognise its broader context and the need for stronger infrastructure around fashion. The primary question is what this means for enterprises operating outside of the EU, and how this policy fits in with other attempts to control fashion in other countries.
"National regulation is needed to build and strengthen recycling infrastructure, as well as financial support to grow recycling technology more quickly," says Boger of Boston Consulting. Member states are encouraged to implement tax incentives for reuse and repair enterprises, according to the commission.
Tamara Cincik, founder and CEO of Fashion Roundtable, a responsible fashion think tank, expresses concern about what this means for the UK post-Brexit, as well as other non-EU countries. "For enterprises outside of the EU that rely on trade with EU member states, there will be increased costs," she argues. "My fear is that the UK will fall behind on sustainability regulations, and businesses will leave the country if they do not receive government support to satisfy the EU's new criteria," says the author.