This webinar will explore the revised EU Waste Framework Directive and its implications for the fashion and textile sector, with a particular focus on SMEs. It will focus on the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles, a major regulatory shift that will place new obligations on producers, retailers and importers related to product lifecycle management, waste and circularity. The webinar will also explore how international and European standards can support compliance with this directive as well as real-world examples of textile EPR schemes already active in France and the Netherlands.

This introductory webinar is organised by The Centre for Sustainable Design® at UCA in collaboration with BSI as part of the EU Just Fashion project. Just Fashion aims to accelerate climate transition in the fashion industry, by providing businesses in the partner countries with a reference framework and tools to shift their production methods, internal procedures and final products towards more sustainable models that are low carbon, circular and socially inclusive.

This webinar will help participants:

• Understand the Waste Framework Directive: Learn about the key revisions to the directive and their implications for fashion and textile businesses.
• Explore EPR for textiles: Understand the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), who it affects, what obligations it introduces and its expected timeline.
• Review real-world examples: Examine how EPR is already being implemented in countries like France and the Netherlands.
• Identify practical actions for SMEs: Gain actionable steps to begin aligning operations with EPR and Waste Framework Directive obligations.

The webinar will be led by Professor Martin Charter and Dr Virginie Litaudon from The Centre for Sustainable Design® at UCA with input from the British Standards Institution. It is relevant to owners, product developers and compliance managers at fashion and clothing SMEs based in the EU, as well as suppliers to this sector.

It will take place at 10:00 – 11:00 GMT/11.00 – 12.00 CET on 24 November via Teams. It will be in English. The event is free of charge, but you need to register by sending your name, job title and organisation to the organiser. On receipt, you will be sent instructions to join the webinar.