Key actions for sustainable and circular textiles: Introducing mandatory Ecodesign requirements?
Extending the life of textile products is the most effective way of significantly reducing their impact on the climate and the environment. To achieve this, product design has a key role. Failures in quality such as colour fastness, tear strength or the quality of zippers and seams are among the main reasons for consumers to discard textiles. Increased durability will enable consumers to use clothing for longer and at the same time support circular business models such as reuse, renting and repair, take-back services and second-hand retail, in a way that creates cost-saving opportunities to citizens.
Other design aspects affecting the environmental performance of textiles include their material composition, including the fibres used and their blending, or the presence of chemicals of concern that hamper the recycling of textile waste, less than 1% of which feeds into new textiles globally. In factories, 25-40% of all fabric used is either leftover or becomes waste. Around 20% of the separately collected used textiles in Europe are downcycled for use as industry wipes or other applications, while the rest is lost.
While sorting and advanced recycling technologies need to be further developed, improving product design is the first step to address technical challenges. For instance, fibres are often blended with others, (e.g. polyester with cotton), which makes recycling more difficult due to low availability of technologies to separate textile waste by fibre. Moreover, elastane, often added to increase the functionalities of fabrics, can act as a contaminant in almost all textile fibres recycling technologies, impacting the economical feasibility and environmental cost of the recycling process. For thermo-mechanical recycling, blending of different types of polyester can also adversely affect the processing of textile waste and the quality of the recycling output.
Voluntary schemes developed by the Commission, such as the EU Ecolabel criteria for Textile Products and the EU GPP criteria for textiles products and services, already include requirements related to environmental aspects of textiles products. They encompass, for example, detailed criteria for good quality and durable products, restrictions of hazardous chemicals, as well as requirements on environmentally sustainable sourcing of textile fibres. Work on the environmental footprint of apparel and footwear products with representatives of the textile industry is ongoing and due for completion by 2024.
Building on this knowledge, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, subject to its approval by the co-legislators and a dedicated impact assessment, the Commission will develop binding product-specific ecodesign requirements to increase textiles’ performance in terms of durability, reusability, reparability, fibre-to-fibre recyclability and mandatory recycled fibre content, to minimise and track the presence of substances of concern and to reduce the adverse impacts on climate and the environment. In doing so, specific attention will be paid to the cost-effectiveness and proportionality of measures, as well as the affordability of textiles. As part of the requirements and subject to the impact assessment to define their scope, the Commission will introduce mandatory criteria for green public procurement, the scope of which will be defined following an impact assessment, as well as requirements regarding Member States’ incentives concerning textile products.
The Commission will prioritise products with the highest potential and impacts in terms of environmental sustainability. The initial assessment of the Commission shows that this should include for example personal and household textiles, carpets and mattresses. The final list will be defined on the basis of a consultation for adopting the first work programme under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, to be launched by the end of 2022.
The presence of hazardous substances used in textile products placed on the EU market, around 60 of which are considered as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction, is a source of concern that the Commission is addressing under REACH. Furthermore, by developing criteria for safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials, the Commission will support industry to substitute as much as possible and otherwise minimise the substances of concern in textile products placed on the EU market, as announced in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. This is in line with the actions to increase the protection of workers exposed to hazardous substances as defined in the EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027.
Pursuing the zero pollution ambition in the production of textiles guides also the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive[1] and the on-going review of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document (BREF) for the Textiles Industry.
Source: European Comission