Sustainability in textiles has become a law in the European Union, a norm in the United States, and a reluctant obligation in the countries where the brands outsource garments. The scope of sustainable production has been enlarged from agriculture to industrial production.
Everything is happening rapidly on the sustainability front. A few years back the sustainable procedures adopted for cotton growth were appreciated by the brands as they involved lower use of water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. Farmers got a premium on the crop thus produced. It is still so but the major brands all over the world now have made it mandatory for suppliers to use cotton produced through sustainable practices. Hundreds of NGOs are facilitating the farmers in cotton-growing countries to use sustainable practices that reduce the carbon print during cultivation. The cotton thus produced is certified by accredited agencies and is traceable through technology giving rise to the farm-to-garment concept. The day is not far when there will be no buyers for cotton grown through old conventional practices. In Pakistan, the low cotton production has been attributed to various factors but one reason in this regard is that the big spinning mills that procure the bulk of the cotton now buy only certified traceable crops. The farmers producing cotton through conventional ways have to rely on small spinners that buy for domestic needs. They buy mostly on a monthly to weekly or even day-to-day basis. It is lower and the cost is higher because of the excessive use of water, chemicals, and pesticides.
The recycling of PET bottles is now a norm around the world. It produces enough polyester fiber to replace a substantial need for virgin polyester. This is termed as the lowest level of sustainability because the end product is the same non-degradable plastic. The major aim is to eliminate plastic from clothing which accounts for 54 percent of the textile sector and must be higher in garments. Polyester or manmade fiber is used in larger quantities because it is cheaper than cotton. Then there is viscose which is a degradable material that is produced by cutting more than 200 million trees per year. It has a huge environmental impact and tree-cutting promotes deforestation.
The European Union has gone much ahead on textiles sustainability. In December 2019, the Von der Leyen Commission unveiled its European Green Deal, an ambitious plan to transform the EU’s economy into a fair, sustainable, and prosperous one. The European Green Deal is a comprehensive growth agenda that aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent while ensuring that no one is left behind in this transition. However, the creation of this new growth strategy was not a simple process. The European Green Deal is the result of an evolution in the European Commission’s thinking and of a series of policy developments across different areas since 2011.
This case study reflects back specifically on the steps which the European Commission took to take a lead in circular economy policies globally. From initially aiming at improving resource efficiency, to redefining growth with positive social, environmental, and economic benefits, this case study analyses this policy-making process.
After these two small initiatives came the concept of circular economy in Textiles. The circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.
Sustainability is good for the earth but its flip side would soon be witnessed in the form of job losses in developing economies. The cotton farmers would see a decline in cotton uptake as the recycling of textile waste would recover most of the cotton that would be sold as raw material by spinners who would book it from the recycling mills in advance. This will not happen in a year or two but might take decades as the recycling capacities are enhanced. A European plant has already declared that its recycled cotton production capacity would be enough by 2030 to produce 1.4 billion T-shirt equivalent fabric.
The EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) was a comprehensive body of legislative and non-legislative actions adopted in 2015, which aimed to transition the European economy from a linear to a circular model. The Action Plan mapped out 54 actions, as well as four legislative proposals on waste. These legislative proposals were put forward by the European Commission along with the Action Plan and included targets for landfill, reuse, and recycling, to be met by 2030 and 2035, along with new obligations for separate collection of textile and bio-waste. The Action Plan covered several policy areas, material flows, and sectors alongside cross-cutting measures to support this systemic change through innovation and investments. It also announced a sectoral strategy for plastics. More than EUR 10 billion of public funding was allocated to the transition between 2016 and 2020.
All 54 actions were adopted or implemented by 2019. The EU is now recognized as a leader in circular economy policy-making globally. The waste legislation was adopted in 2018, following negotiations with the European Parliament and the Member States in the European Council. According to Eurostat, jobs related to circular economy activities have increased by 6% between 2012 and 2016 within the EU. The action plan has also encouraged at least 14 Member States, eight regions, and 11 cities to put forward circular economy strategies.
By rethinking resource efficiency and material flows, the European Commission developed a framework to promote systemic change. Engaging policymakers across different policy areas and levels of governance, as well as various stakeholders, has aimed to promote a collaborative approach. The co-leadership with the institution between the Directorates-General responsible for Industry & Enterprise, and the Environment, was crucial to this process.
The EU Commission states as half of total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress come from
resource extraction and processing, the European Green Deal 4 launched a concerted strategy for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, and competitive economy. Scaling up the circular economy from front-runners to the mainstream economic players will make a decisive contribution to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and decoupling economic growth from resource use while ensuring the long-term
competitiveness of the EU and leaving no one behind.
Specifically, on Textiles the EU states that they are the fourth highest-pressure category for the use of primary raw materials and water, after food, housing, and transport, and fifth for GHG emissions. It is estimated that less than 1 percent of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new textiles. The EU textile sector, predominantly composed of SMEs, has started to recover after a long period of restructuring,
while 60 percent by value of clothing in the EU is produced elsewhere. In light of the complexity of the textile value chain, to respond to these challenges the Commission will propose a comprehensive EU Strategy for Textiles, based on input from industry and other stakeholders.
The strategy will aim at strengthening industrial competitiveness and innovation in the sector, boosting the EU market for sustainable and circular textiles, including the market for textile reuse, addressing fast fashion, and driving new business models. This will be achieved by a comprehensive set of measures, including applying the new sustainable product framework as set out in section 2 to textiles, including developing eco-design measures to ensure that textile products are fit for circularity, ensuring the uptake of secondary raw materials, tackling the presence of hazardous chemicals, and empowering business and private consumers to choose sustainable textiles and
improving the business and regulatory environment for sustainable and circular textiles in the EU. In particular, by providing incentives, support to product-as-service models, circular materials, and production processes, increasing transparency through international cooperation, and providing guidance to achieve high levels of separate collection of textile waste, which Member States have to ensure
by 2025; boosting the sorting, re-use, and recycling of textiles, including through innovation, encouraging industrial applications and regulatory measures such as extended producer responsibility.
