MEPs attack fast fashion by tackling textile waste

While the French government is trying to put the brakes on fast-fashion players, EU Parliament members (MEPs) are following their own agenda, and are tackling the issue of textile waste.

On March 13, The European Parliament voted on a bill designed to force the fashion industry to shoulder the costs for collecting, sorting and recycling unwanted and used fabrics, apparel and shoes. In the EU alone, 12.6 million tons of textile waste are produced each year. Only 1% of textiles that have reached the end of their useful life are said to be recycled worldwide.

The bill does not concern only textile waste, since it also refers to food waste, but fast fashion is firmly in the EU lawmakers’ sights, given the huge volume of textiles and apparel that fashion brands are bringing into the EU. The bill, which passed on Wednesday by 514 votes to 20, had been previously approved at committee level. The new legislation will now be debated within the EU’s 27 member states.

The bill stipulates that anyone selling textiles and textile products in the EU will bear the costs of their waste collection, sorting and recycling. This obligation will apply 18 months after the directive will have been implemented, instead of 30 months after as proposed by the EU Commission. The new rules apply to clothes and fashion accessories, blankets and bed linen, curtains, hats, shoes, mattresses and rugs, as well as products that contain leather and faux leather, rubber and plastic.

“We also wish to include non-household products, mattresses and rugs, and products sold via the e-tail channel,” said Polish MEP Anna Zalewska, the EU Parliament’s rapporteur on textiles. The bill will be implemented by the new Parliament, following the EU elections scheduled on June 6-9.

The focus is now on the changes the bill might undergo in the coming months. Countries like France (via ReFashion), Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Finland have already introduced laws that force those that commercialise textiles and apparel to pay for the collection of products at the end of their life-cycle, through various solutions. It remains to be seen to what extent the future EU law will take these different national measures into account.