Mandatory ecodesign requirements for textiles and textile products are an essential tool to reduce the environmental impacts of the textiles sector and make the industry circular. Before they are put on the market, clothes should comply with concrete requirements for minimum lifetimes, as well as durability, reusability, repairability and recyclability. In addition, requirements should prevent the presence of hazardous and toxic chemicals, and limit microplastics release at all stages, the report added.
Between 2000 and 2015, the amount of clothes produced in the world doubled, with European Union (EU) households spending €527.9 billion on clothes and textile products every year. Studies show that by using clothes for an average extra 9 months, the overall footprints would be reduced by 20 to 30 per cent. Given that 80 per cent of product environmental impacts are determined at the design stage, mandatory minimum ecodesign requirements for textiles, supported by robust technical standards, would be an essential step to begin the transformation of the textile sector towards circularity, as per this report.
ECOS said that ambitious legislative tools, based on comprehensive and clear methodologies, can ensure measurability, enforceability and comparability among products and services. Tools must also address trade-offs between different sustainability parameters.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)