EU’s Circular Revolution: Pioneering Sustainable Fashion with New Laws for 2024
The European Union (EU) has announced new laws to address environmental difficulties posed by the fashion sector, the world’s third-most polluting industry after fossil fuels and agriculture. The industry accounts for 10% of total yearly carbon emissions worldwide and is predicted to account for one-quarter of global emissions by 2050.
The main cause of this is overconsumption. Global garment consumption nearly doubled between 2000 and 2015 because of the growing popularity of low-cost, low-quality fashion products from huge fast fashion shops like Shein, Primark, Forever21, Uniqlo, Zara, and H&M. It is anticipated to reach a whopping 102 million metric tons by 2030.
The Environmental Impact of Fashion
Fast fashion harms the environment in a variety of ways. The apparel sector is the second-largest consumer of water. Indeed, present textile dyeing and treatment operations need around 93 billion cubic meters of water each year, which is enough to provide for five million people.
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These procedures are also responsible for 20% of worldwide wastewater. Less than 1% of discarded garments are recycled into new clothing, while 87% of clothing fibers are incinerated or disposed of in a landfill, which is equivalent to a garbage truckload of clothes being burned or dumped every second.
Common clothes landfills include Accra (Ghana), Panipat (India), and the Atacama Desert (Chile), where fabrics may take up to 200 years to degrade.
Furthermore, synthetic fabrics (made of plastic) shed plastic fibers when washed, with the majority ending up in the ocean. Plastic is thought to be included in approximately 60% of clothes and 70% of household textiles.
As a result, an estimated half a million metric tons of plastic fibers are dumped into the ocean each year, equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles. These microfibers are contaminating the food chain, endangering the health of both animals and people.
Every aspect of the fashion supply chain is fragmented and opaque. Large fast fashion retailers have outsourced their manufacturing processes to textile factories in China and Bangladesh, where labor and production costs are extremely low.
Since apparel corporations have provided minimal control over the production procedures and working conditions of the mostly female textile workers in these far-flung plants, environmental and human rights issues in the textile manufacturing business have long been neglected.
What does the new EU strategy reveal?
Customers will have additional options to buy ecological apparel
The Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) establishes new, legally binding eco-design rules for textiles. These requirements seek to extend the lifespan of clothing by encouraging companies to become more circular, making materials more durable or recyclable, employing waterless dyeing methods, using waste as a raw material for fabrics, introducing fewer collections to the market, and providing consumers with repair services or second-hand collections.
The EU will also provide economic incentives to corporations to make their products more sustainable, particularly through eco-modulation: lower fees for eco-friendly brands and higher costs for less eco-friendly brands.
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Customers’ returned or discarded clothing will no longer end up in a generic landfill in a faraway country
To encourage the reuse and recycling of textile waste, the EU implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles, which will be enforced on its member states by January 1, 2025. Fashion brands and merchants will take full responsibility for the entire textile lifetime. The EPR will prohibit the disposal of unsold or returned textiles and require the collection of textile waste separately from other types of trash.
Consumer clothing will shed fewer microplastics
To avoid the unintended shedding of microplastics from textiles, rules on manufacturing processes have been implemented, which may include laws for product design, pre-washing, and novel products such as built-in washer filters or improved wastewater treatment technologies.
Consumers will learn more about the background and sustainability of their textile goods
To enable consumers to make informed selections, apparel makers must publish easily accessible information about endurance, serviceability, recycled content, and materials utilized. This information will have to be provided on either the physical or digital label.
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Transparency and fairness are now secured by the impending Business Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, a distinct EU policy that affects more than just the garment sector and seeks to promote sustainable, ethical, and transparent business behavior across global supply chains.
Consumers are less likely to be duped by fraudulent greenwashing tactics from quick fashion chains
The Green Claims Initiative imposes stricter laws against greenwashing, prohibiting the use of broad claims like ‘green’, ‘eco-friendly’, or ‘good for the environment’ unless they have been validated by a recognized EU eco-label or official source.
Conclusion
As the globe grapples with the consequences of overconsumption and waste, the EU stands out as a forerunner, proactively portraying its new textile policy as a source of optimism. The EU is addressing environmental concerns on both the demand and supply sides of the textile sector by implementing clear laws and regulations to achieve circularity throughout the whole textile supply chain.
With a global supply chain and the EU serving as a key market for many multinational enterprises, the impact of this pioneering legislation is expected to be favorable for the global fashion sector. While the trip is far from complete, the EU’s actions provide optimism that a future without fast fashion is feasible.
