EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius has said fashion’s age of under-regulation is over and EU authorities would no longer tolerate the environmental damage and waste created by throwaway fast fashion.
He was speaking at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen. The actions by the EU certainly show that the age of under-regulation has to end. The EU has taken concrete steps to stop throwaway fast fashion.
He wondered why the fashion industry escaped regulation for so long. Now strict action is needed as it has been found that the toll that it puts on natural resources is large he was talking to the media on the sidelines of the event.
Europe has taken the lead in regulating fast fashion. It has taken steps to properly regulate the industry. It outlined a sustainable textile strategy last year that laid out a policy roadmap designed to overhaul the way the industry designs, markets, and disposes of products.
The EU is particularly focused on the environmental aspect because textiles count among the bloc’s highest-impact sectors in terms of environmental impact and consumption. A huge quantity of clothes is discarded in the EU after use creating an environmental nightmare in the shape of earth fills.
The goal of Europe’s policy moves is to do away with fast fashion, which means extending how long clothes are kept in circulation, he added. Over the coming months, policymakers are expected to provide further details on proposed design requirements to make clothes longer-lasting and more repairable, a likely ban on the destruction of unsold goods, requirements for brands to take back old clothes to facilitate more recycling and labeling rules intended to help consumers make better choices.
The EU commissioner appealed to the consumers to shift their behavior to responsible citizens. Currently each EU citizen on average is wasting 12 kilos of clothes every year, and that is unacceptable, he warned.
Fashion to be strictly regulated in the EU
