Maybe it’s a coincidence that 2022’s Earth Day theme being ‘invest in our planet’ and the EU commission have released their strategy for sustainable and circular textiles.
The 14 page document outlines how the production and consumption of textile products impacts the climate, energy consumption and the environment, and what must be done to fix this.
The production of global textiles almost doubled between 2000 and 2015, and the consumption of clothing and footwear is expected to increase from 62 million tonnes now, to 102 million tonnes in 2030. If that doesn’t make you feel gross then consider this: 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded in the EU annually; 11kg per person. And every second somewhere in the world a truckload of textiles is landfilled or incinerated.
So it is no wonder that the report calls for eco-design rules that will set energy efficiency standards across a slew of goods, from phones to kettles, t-shirts to knickers. Fast fashion will have to slow down and smell the roses, as products being made and imported into the EU will be given new standards to abide by. Not only will clothing labels have to include information on how sustainable and recyclable they are, but the companies manufacturing them will have to ensure that textiles placed in the EU market should be “long-lived and recyclable, made to a large extent of recycled fibres,’ said the EU environment commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius. The report says that Fast Fashion is out of fashion and we couldn’t agree more. Obvious things aside, synthetic fibres release up to 40,000 tonnes of of micro plastics through washing machines every year in the EU, with the highest amount seeping out in the first 5-10 washes – making microplastic pollution in the marine environment a serious and growing concern.
"Why should you have to buy a new t-shirt because your old one has been washed twice and now has more holes than Hackney road?"
As well as trying to reduce the incineration and landfilling of textiles to the absolute minimum, the commission acknowledges that high quality and affordable textiles benefit the consumers. Why should you have to buy a new t-shirt because your old one has been washed twice and now has more holes than Hackney road? Alongside ensuring quality, ending the destruction of unsold or returned goods – which we can all agree is not only gross, but also a waste of value, energy, resource and time – through having an obligation on companies to disclose unsold products would be an effective disincentive.
But what does sustainable really mean? Yes, it is a hazy term, thrown about with wild abandon, and a recent screening of the textile and shoe industry suggests that 40% of the time it’s used, it could be false or deception. If brought into force, the new EU rules will ensure that consumers are provided with the relevant information at the point of sale and relearn information to prepare, including a repairability score. Words so easily tossed about like, ‘green’, and ‘eco’ will not be allowed unless they can be proven.
This means that you’ll be able to fix your washing machine yourself, before you wash your t-shirt for the four thousandth time, safe in the knowledge that it was made from truly sustainable cotton (and the one you bought before that was a bit too small so you sent it back? It didn’t go to landfill). High street brands have encouraged us to be flippant, thinking that clothes can be worn once before they are disposed of.
The proposals aim to lighten Europe’s ecological footprint on the world’s resources, and to ensure that by 2030, textiles in the EU are long-lived and recyclable, and made of recycled fibres. Although it is not law – yet – and Britain is not in the EU, it will mean that brands like Zara, H&M and Mango, all owned and run by European companies, will have to change the way they operate and manufacture clothes. The impact, when it comes, will be huge.