To tackle overproduction and the overconsumption of clothes and footwear, the Environment Committee MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) calls on the Commission and EU countries to adopt measures that put an end to fast fashion. In this respect, they adopted their recommendations for EU measures to ensure that textiles are produced in a circular, sustainable and socially just way. The own-initiative report was adopted with 68 votes in favour and one abstention and is expected to be adopted in plenary before the summer. The European Commission presented the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles on 30 March 2022 to address the entire lifecycle of textile products and propose actions to change how we produce and consume textiles.
Fast fashion has to be out of fashion
Starting with a clear definition of the term based on “high volumes of lower quality garments at low price levels”, MEPs explained their recommendations to drive fast fashion out of fashion. They said textile products must last longer and be easier to reuse, repair and recycle and the destruction of unsold or returned textiles should be banned. They underline that textiles should be produced in a manner that respects human, social and labour rights, the environment and animal welfare throughout their supply chain. They also pointed out that there is a need for binding targets and measures addressing the entire lifecycle of textiles and that consumers should be better informed to help them make responsible and sustainable choices, including through the introduction of a ‘digital product passport’ in the upcoming revision of the ecodesign regulation.
“People and the planet are more important than the textile industry’s profits”
Quote Rapporteur Delara Burkhardt (S&D, DE) said that consumers alone cannot reform the global textile sector through their purchasing habits, stated: “If we allow the market to self-regulate, we leave the doors open for a fast fashion model that exploits people and the planet’s resources”. Burkhardt disclosed that the EU must legally oblige manufacturers and large fashion companies to operate more sustainably, underlining that people and the planet are more important than the textile industry’s profits. Burkhardt continued: “The disasters that have occurred in the past, such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh, growing landfills in Ghana and Nepal, polluted water, and microplastics in our oceans, show what happens when this principle is not pursued. We have waited long enough – it is time to make a change!”
