The European Commission has just adopted new measures to prevent the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear and so curb the resulting mountain of waste. See what the measures entail!
On 29 January, the European Committee of the Regions hosted Municipal Waste Europe for a partnership event on textile waste, taking stock of the first year of mandatory separate collection of textile waste in the EU.
Speakers discussed challenges on the supply and demand sides, along with the role of policy. Read all about it!
The Textiles Recycling Expo will focus on solving the pressing issue of textile waste, including the recycling of fabrics, clothing, footwear, fibres and non-wovens. It will feature the latest sorting, shredding and recycling technologies, pioneering textile recyclers, and fibre and fabric manufacturers using reclaimed materials.
The textile and apparel value chain is one of the most resource-intensive sectors, generating significant waste and relying heavily on a vulnerable workforce.
In recent years, businesses in this sector have adopted circular economy strategies to address sustainability challenges. However, most of these efforts focus on material efficiency and waste reduction, often neglecting social dimensions.
This PhD dissertation addresses this gap by exploring how to integrate social justice and equity into circular transitions at the business level. Through case studies in the Netherlands, Spain and India, it investigates how businesses can adopt circular practices inclusively and how policymakers can enable a more just circular transition.
The transition to a circular economy in the textile and apparel value chain is an opportunity to address the environmental challenges facing the industry. However, without a strong focus on social justice, this transition risks perpetuating poor working conditions, gender inequality and vulnerability for workers, particularly in low-wage, labour-intensive roles.
This policy brief identifies five key recommendations for policymakers:
Align circular economy goals with just transition principles
Identify and protect vulnerable populations
Address income disparity and strengthen labour regulations
Enhance participatory mechanisms and access to justice
Implement restorative mechanisms and support reskilling initiatives
This side session will introduce the EU Textiles Ecosystem Platform, a European Commission initiative designed to support stakeholders across the textiles ecosystem value chain. Find out what it is and how it works!
A new EU-funded project has been launched to develop a deposit-return system for used textiles across Europe. Known as TexMat, the initiative will reward consumers for returning reusable and recyclable items, while notifying producers when discarded textiles require waste management.
SustainableSolutionsMatch empowers European businesses on their path to a sustainable and circular economy. It brings solution seekers and providers together to tackle real challenges and find practical answers.
Whether you're looking for innovative ideas or reliable partners, this event brings solution seekers and providers together to tackle real challenges and find practical answers.
The EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles calls for policy interventions to reduce waste and overconsumption in this sector. However, future policies may have unintended impacts.
This study examines the unintended effects of past and future textile policies, with the goal of evaluating scientific tools for improving ex ante impact assessments and so mitigating unintended effects in future.
It finds that the unintended impact of a policy can be just as important as the impact that it was designed to achieve. Stakeholder engagement, combined micro- and macro-economic modelling, extended consideration of the EU's resilience and the inclusion of a behavioural and social component are all key to reducing unintended impacts.
The textiles sector needs to become more circular, and traceability of components across the supply chain, transparency of information, and reliable data for circular business models are the cornerstones of this process.
The Delegated Act for Textiles under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation is being prepared and will shape the Digital Product Passport in the textiles sector. The DPP must allow for the needs and capacities of actors throughout the supply chain in order to unlock circular business models and achieve the EU's environmental and social goals in the textile industry.
This policy brief gives an overview of the most pressing practical challenges facing these actors and provides actionable policy recommendations.
