Three key changes to expect under the EU Textile Strategy

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Three key changes to expect under the EU Textile Strategy

15-8-2024

THREE KEY CHANGES TO EXPECT UNDER THE EU TEXTILE STRATEGY

How can manufacturers prepare themselves for the incoming EU Textile Strategy? ITMA outlines three changes they can expect to see.

The EU Textile Strategy, being developed by the European Commission (EC), forms part of the broader Green Deal programme of environmental measures aimed at making the 27 countries within the union completely carbon neutral by 2050.

Under the new rules, textile manufacturers globally, will see a swathe of changes to the modus operandi.

“In five years from now, textile trading in the EU will be completely transformed as the bloc moves from an open market to a much more demanding one,” observes Dirk Vantyghem, director of the Brussels-based textile and clothing industry body Euratex. “The EU’s Textile Strategy will introduce 16 separate pieces of legislation that companies have to comply with, and this new framework of rules and regulations will see the market move from being based solely on free trade, to free-but-fair trade.”

Under the Green Deal, the EU aims to lead by example and establish a new growth strategy for European textile manufacturers based on a digitalised economy and new rules and standards.

“The EU Textiles Strategy is paving the way for a new type of industry,” says the head of the European Commission’s Unit for Tourism and Textiles (DG GROW), Marie-Helene Pradines. “It is based on the guiding principles of eco-design and an end-of-life producer-financed system, with digital enforcement at the borders of EU member states, completely transparent information to consumers that is free of greenwashing, and the removal of impact from today’s global textile manufacturing supply chain.”

Here are the biggest changes textile manufacturers can expect to see under the new rules as detailed by textile and garment tech exhibition organiser, ITMA.

Social Dimension

In April the EU Parliament passed new legislation banning the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour. Should a product be found to have been manufactured using forced labour, it will be prohibited from entering the EU market and shipments will be halted at the borders of member states.

EPR for waste

From January 2025, all post-consumer textile waste generated in EU member states will have to be separately collected and sorted and this will be paid for by fees levied on manufacturers via nationally-set Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.

The EPR schemes will be based on ‘eco-modulation’, in which the fees are reduced for manufacturers who can demonstrate either the durability of their products, provide environmental certifications or incorporate recycled materials into their collections. But manufacturers are concerned over how the proposed EPR scheme for the EU will guarantee a level playing field with external competition.

Digital Product Passport

By 2030 all textile products for sale in the EU will need a digital product passport (DPP) which will most likely take the form of a scannable QR code or some other tag. DPPs will include information about a product’s origins, material composition, supply chain, sustainability, recyclability and possibly much more, gathered from a range of sources.

Pradines previously told attendees of a webinar that the rules aim to ensure all textiles have an eco-design.

From design to manufacturing, sustainability and circularity are the guiding principles,” Pradines explained. She added that products not built with recyclability in mind should not be sold on the EU market beyond 2030.

Earlier this year ITMA created a four-part series of webinars to help manufacturers navigate the challenges and opportunities of the EU Textile Strategy 2030.

By Just Style

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