Some of Europe’s largest networks of green groups are joining forces to demand an end to fast fashion in the textile industry, one of the world’s largest industrial polluters.
As part of the Wardrobe Change campaign, NGOs are calling for new policies to stop runaway overproduction of textiles. Proposed measures include minimum standards for how long clothes should last, a ban on the destruction of unsold and returned goods, rules to verify and substantiate green claims, and ambitious targets for an absolute reduction in the amount of natural resources used across the supply chain.
The group is also calling for urgent rules on hazardous chemicals in fashion and for moves to combat environmental harm to include action to end labour rights’ violations in supply chains.
The call comes as clothing and textile production continues to soar despite an abundance of sustainability initiatives from major fashion brands and retailers.
The European Commission is currently gathering feedback from industry and civil society organisations, with the aim of putting forward new measures by the end of the year.
Emily Macintosh, Policy Officer for Textiles at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), said: “We can’t ask people to do their part when it comes to sustainability if the multi-billion-dollar companies responsible for promoting such unsustainable consumption habits are not being held to account. EU laws should focus on reducing the amount of resources used across supply chains and on boosting the market for second-hand and repairable textiles. Fast fashion’s linear and exploitative business model must become a thing of the past.”
Valeria Botta, Programme Manager at ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, added: “The EU can transform the way textile products are designed, making them sustainable by default. Our clothes need to last longer, be easier to mend and reuse, and be made without harmful materials and substances. To make sure textiles and their production are truly circular, we need ambitious EU laws that set minimum requirements, push the market towards the best option, and include ambitious binding targets for material and consumption footprints. The EU should grasp this opportunity to finally regulate this industry and inspire others.”
The NGOs’ position paper has four key demands:
- Make sustainable textile products the norm through high minimum design standards, better production processes, traceability, transparency and information disclosure, and banning the destruction of unsold and returned goods.
- Drive resource-sufficient textile consumption with rules on what reliable green claims can be made on products, harmonised labelling, and better information on the expected lifetime and repairability of a product.
- Leave the linear business model behind by taxing virgin resource use and making producers responsible for the products they put on the market from cradle to grave.
- Hold the EU textile industry accountable for its role in the world through a trade reset and strong human rights and environmental due diligence rules.
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