Fast fashion: EU Europe plans fast fashion crackdown

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Europe wants to make clothing more durable, reuse, and recycle in order to crack down on fast fashion.

The sustainable textiles strategy will focus on clothes at every stage of use, including design, repair and recycling.

The aim is to increase the market for sustainable made garments.

Eco-friendly and hard-wearing clothes will have to be made by manufacturers.

Consumers will be given more information on how to reuse, repair and recycle their clothes.

Iona Popescu of the Environmental Coalition on Standards said that the European Commission wants to bring in products that can be used multiple times rather than thrown away.

She said that the Commission wants to put a halt to fast fashion by introducing rules on textiles to be used in the European market.

Image source, Getty Images

Under the initiative known as the sustainable products initiative, similar rules will apply to the likes of electronics, such as phones and furniture.

Less than 1% of all clothing is recycled.

Clothes use in Europe is the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate behind food, housing and transport.

Textile consumption in the EU requires a lot of water, land, and raw materials and has a big carbon footprint.

Politicians in the UK want the government to change the law to require fashion retailers to comply with environmental standards.

Most of the Environmental Audit Committee's recommendations were rejected by the government, but they made textile waste a priority.

The textiles strategy could set the tone for future legislation outside of the EU, according to the Fashion Roundtable.

If expectations of brands in the UK differ from those in the EU, this will hopefully encourage stronger expectations of future UK legislation.

The EU remains our largest trading partner for the textiles and fashion industry, so it is important for both UK brands and the government to be alert to this strategy.