Disposable fashion is no longer in fashion: by 2030 we will have to move to a circular economy also in the textile sector, and recover the good customs of the past: reuse, recycling, second hand
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Used clothes
The EU is preparing to say goodbye to the waste economy, planned obsolescence, ‘ fast fashion ‘ and the destruction of unsold goods, starting with the textile and clothing sector.
The project that will put an end to cheap and low-quality fashion is part of a package of proposals that aim, as part of the Green Deal, to make product sustainability the norm, not the exception, in the European Union.
The new rules will apply “to all products sold on the European market, regardless of where they are manufactured ,” said Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, to make most of the physical goods produced and sold on the EU market less harmful to the EU. environment, “circular” and “efficient” throughout their life cycle.
“We act to make them last, for second and third hand usersThe package includes a strategy to make textile products more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable, to combat disposable fashion and the consequent production of textile waste as well as destruction. of unsold products. According to EU statistics, on average, a European throws away 11 kg of clothing every year . And in the world, Timmermans points out, ” a truck of clothes per second is burned in the incinerator or ends up in landfills “. Who produces and who buys ‘fast fashion’
The term ‘fast fashion’ refers to the speed at which clothing products are manufactured and placed on the market for consumers. Undisputed leader in the sector is the Spanish group Inditex, which owns a number of well-known brands. Inditex would have sold 2.9 billion items in 2019, according to Statista. In addition to the speed in the turnover of clothes in the shops, there is also the rapid destruction of the unsold, which goes to waste.
Statista.com
Fast fashion world market 2020-2025
Over the past two decades, however, the sector has undergone a tremendous transformation and acceleration due to the growing impact of Asian , especially Chinese, manufacturers in apparel manufacturing. Today China emerges as theleading global exporter of apparel, with over a third of world exports. At the same time, within the European Union, the number of companies producing textiles and clothing decreased between 2009 and 2019.
Second only to oil, fashion is the most polluting industry in the world : only China produces 70,000 tons of clothing waste every day, representing 53% of the world total. The production of polyester , in particular, is considered the most harmful because it uses hydrocarbons and is not biodegradable.
What the Commission is proposing instead is a completely new vision for the sustainability and circularity of the textile sector, to be implemented by 2030., with more durable, repairable, reusable, recyclable textile products, and free of hazardous substances. Furthermore, it must be ensured that production in this sector takes place in full respect of workers’ rights .
According to a note from the Commission, in this way “consumers will benefit longer from high quality textile products”, and ‘fast ashion’ “will go out of style and leave room for cost-effective reuse and repair services “. Textile companies are invited “to reduce the number of collections per year, to assume their responsibilities and to act to minimize the environmental impact”, while the Member States are called upon to adopt fiscal measuresto encourage services such as reuse and repairs.
