It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

European Union

Consumer Trends / Europe Markets

13 July 2023

3 minutes

The highest price dispersion is found for alcoholic beverages and tobacco. This is mainly due to large differences in taxation on these products across the 36 countries. Less dispersion is observed in the prices of clothing and footwear.

Denmark is Most Expensive EU Member State for Clothing and Footwear

An analysis of price levels for consumer goods and services in the European Union (EU) shows Switzerland, Iceland and Norway lead the table in terms of price levels indices for household final consumption. The data has been released by Eurostat.

Staff Writer

EU Textiles Strategy / Waste Framework

6 July 2023

3 minutes

The EU generates 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste per year. Clothing and footwear alone accounts for 5.2 million tonnes of waste, equivalent to 12 kg of waste per person every year.

EU Wants Mandatory EPR: Producers to be Responsible for Full Lifecycle of Textile Products

Producers would soon be held responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products, according to the new proposals to introduce mandatory and harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles in all EU Member States.

Special Correspondent

Going Circular / EU Funding

20 June 2023

3 minutes

Lenzing and Södra acknowledge and are committed to complying with the waste hierarchy. Their procurement will be limited to the group of materials that cannot be reused in any other way. The project partners’ aim is not to undermine the repurposing of used textiles, but to prevent valuable fiber resources from being sent to landfill or incinerated.

Industrial Scale Chemical Recycling of Textiles Project of Lenzing-Södra Gets EU Funding of €10 million

Lenzing and Södra are pooling their decades-long experience, knowledge and technology to develop the OnceMore process under a project, which will receive €10 million in funding from the European Union. The joint project will make a significant contribution to the EU’s action plan for circularity.

Staff Writer

Ecodesign / Europe Rules

16 June 2023

3 minutes

MEPs want the Commission to prioritise a number of product groups in its first working plan to be adopted within three months after the entry into force of the new rules. These priority products include iron, steel, aluminium, textiles (notably garments and footwear), furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants and chemicals.

New EU rules to Make Sustainable Products the Norm, Ban on Destruction of Unsold Textiles

Europe has moved a step ahead in its bid to make products in the EU more environment-friendly, circular and energy efficient throughout their lifecycle with a key committee of the European Parliament voting to to make sustainable products the norm.

Staff Writer

EU Textiles Strategy / Transition Pathway

8 June 2023

5 minutes

In June 2023, the European Commission published a call for commitments for stakeholders in the textiles ecosystem. The purpose of the call is to collect commitments from stakeholders on the concrete actions that they will take in order to bring forward actions identified in the transition pathway.

EU Lays Out Transition Pathway for Textiles Ecosystem

The just-released Textiles Transition Pathway of the European Union aims to identify what the digital and green transitions, increasing resilience and competitiveness mean for the textiles ecosystem and what specific actions and commitments are needed to accompany this transition.

Special Correspondent

EU Textiles Strategy / Harmonisation

2 June 2023

3 minutes

Global textiles policy at the moment is undeveloped, and there is a significant opportunity for industry, policymakers and NGOs to come together to identify the most appropriate way to deliver circularity and achieve reductions in environmental impact.

There's a Need for Harmonisation of Textile Policies Across EU Member States, Says Policy Hub

Policy Hub, a voice seeking to emerge as one for circularity in the global fashion-apparel-footwear industry, has released a report calling for a harmonisation of textile policies across EU member states.

Staff Writer

EU Textiles Strategy / Recommendations

1 June 2023

3 minutes

The European Parliament says consumers should have more information to make sustainable choices, and has called for a ban on the destruction of unsold and returned textile goods in the upcoming revision of the ecodesign regulation.

European Parliament Sounds Death Knell for Fast Fashion; Issues Call for EU and National Measures

The European Parliament today adopted with brute majority recommendations for the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles that would work to end fast fashion and help consumers make more ethically responsible and sustainable choices.

Special Correspondent

World Trade / EU Deficit

18 May 2023

2 minutes

A growing deficit is a cause for concern; the objective of the EU’s Industrial Strategy is to strengthen its resilience and “strategic autonomy” is not happening. Instead, dependency has increased, and becomes critical in certain raw materials and fibres.

EU Trade Deficit in Textiles and Clothing Jumped 48% in 2022

Euratex, the voice of the European textile and clothing industry, has urged on the need to stabilise inflation, restore consumer confidence and ensure a level playing field for this industry.

Staff Writer

Supply Chains / Small Players

16 May 2023

2 minutes

Due to the high competition between small suppliers in the garment sector, brands are able to purchase orders for very low prices, even below the cost of production. These include costs required to meet code of conduct compliance, as well as necessary production costs like energy or transport prices.

Europe's Fashion SMEs: Squeezed by Unfair Trading Practices, But Power Dynamics Beginning to Change

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth under the aegis of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office have come out with a report that reviews unfair trading practices (UTPs) in textile supply chains, along with a case study analysis of emerging best practices.

Staff Writer

Supply Chains / Europe Trade

19 April 2023

4 minutes

Brands Using Lopsided Trading Practices to Throttle Small European Suppliers

A report on fast fashion purchasing practices in the European Union paints a grim picture of the tenuous trade relations between brands and manufacturers, with business-to-business power imbalances, giving buyers even more influence in defining terms and conditions than elsewhere.

Staff Writer