EU’s Commitment to Sustainable Textile Production
Nilgün Aytekin // 10.06.2024
Textile waste has become a serious environmental and economic issue today. The global textile industry produces approximately 100 million tons of textiles annually. Market data shows that only about 20% of this production is recyclable. However, in reality, textile waste recycling is quite low, and textile waste is often disposed of in landfills or incinerated. These actions not only harm the environment but also waste valuable resources.
Recent reports highlight the significant environmental impact of textile waste. The industry is classified as the second polluting industry and contributes significantly to pollution in terms of energy, water, and chemical consumption and waste management. For instance, about 20 billion textile products are discarded annually, with approximately 85% of these becoming non-reusable.
The European Union (EU) has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This ambitious goal necessitates significant changes in the manufacturing and trade practices of products within its internal market. As part of this effort, the EU is working on new regulations that expand companies’ responsibilities throughout the entire life cycle of their products. Manufacturers and sellers are encouraged to take proactive measures to reduce the environmental impact of their products and explore ways to facilitate the use of non-recycled materials.
What are the new regulations?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) refers to environmental policies that assign producers the responsibility for their products’ entire life cycle, starting from design and extending to end-of-life management, which includes waste collection and recycling. It aims to promote more sustainable production of goods and improve waste management to turn waste back into resources.
Some countries like the Netherlands have already started implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations to reduce the environmental damage caused by the fashion industry. EPR requires all manufacturers to commit to collecting, sorting, recycling, and reusing their products in the Dutch market.
On the other hand, the Eco-design Regulation imposes restrictions on the incineration of unsold textile products. It is expected that these restrictions will be extended to different product categories in the future. The goal is to increase the percentage of consumer post-textile waste collected separately for reuse or recycling to 22%, thereby reducing incineration or landfill disposal and promoting the use of textile waste as raw material in the recycling industry.
The EU aims to ensure more sustainable production of goods and promote waste management improvements to turn waste into resources through these policies. The implementation of these regulations aims to use textile waste as raw material in the recycling industry and reduce environmental damage. These practices are considered a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry.
References
EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, European Commission, Brussels, 30.3.2022 COM(2022) 141 final
Circular economy for textiles: taking responsibility to reduce, reuse and recycle textile waste and boosting markets for used textiles, European Commission – Press release, Brussels, 5 July 2023
