Textiles caused 3rd highest pressures on water, land use in 2020: EEA

The briefing, titled ‘Textiles and the environment: The role of design in Europe’s circular economy’, says per average person in the EU, textile consumption required 9 cubic metres of water, 400 square metres of land, 391 kg of raw materials, and caused a carbon footprint of about 270 kg. The vast majority of the resource use and emissions took place outside of Europe.

The briefing also looks at how circular business models and design can reduce the negative impacts from textile production and consumption by retaining the value of textiles, extending their life cycles and increasing the usage of recycled materials. This requires technical, social and business innovation, supported by policy, education and changes in consumer behaviour.

A key aspect to increase textile products’ circularity is their design. Circular design, such as careful material selection, timeless look or garment multi-functionality, can allow for longer use and reuse of  products, extending the life cycle of textiles, the briefing says.

According to the EEA briefing, optimising resource use and reducing emissions at production stage would also mitigate negative impacts as would better collection, reuse and recycling of discarded textiles.

Textiles are a major source of microplastic pollution as well, mainly through wastewater from washing cycles, but also through manufacturing, wearing, and end-of-life disposal of garments. Another EEA briefing ‘Microplastics from textiles: towards a circular economy for textiles in Europe’ looks at this specific type of pollution, highlighting three key prevention measures: sustainable design and production, controlling emissions during use and improved end-of-life processing.

According to that EEA briefing, pollution could be reduced, for example, by using alternative production processes and pre-washing of garments at manufacturing sites with proper filtering of wastewater. Other promising measures that could be introduced or scaled up include integrating filters into household washing machines, developing milder detergents, and generally taking better care of garments.