Eleven European textile companies have joined forces in the new European Circular Textile Coalition to put pressure on the political agenda for circular textiles. In a manifesto, participants call on the EU to use post-consumer recycled textiles (PCR) as a catalyst for green jobs, innovation in the textile industry and a better competitive position.
Reju, Resortecs, COLEO, Tissage de Charlieu, Synergies TLC, Nouvelles Fibers Textiles, Sympany, European Spinning Group, Ariadne, Erdotex, Utexbel and Noyfil.
The coalition urges the EU to combine its regulatory ambitions with investments in recycling and production systems. “If the system is not prepared for this, many sustainability rules will prove useless. This is especially true for the most progressive regulations. Our goal is to close this gap,” emphasizes the coalition in a press release.
Europe produces 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste every year. The majority of it is landfilled, burned or exported. Only one percent is recycled into new clothing. Laws like extended producer responsibility (EPR) require brands to increase these percentages, but in practice this proves challenging.
To enable rapid change, the group proposes three policy principles. Firstly, a competitive European textile chain should be ensured by relocating production back to Europe (nearshoring). Secondly, high-quality textile-to-textile recycling (T2T) should be prioritized. Post-consumer textile waste (PCR) will serve as the main raw material instead of unworn industrial waste. Ultimately, the use of recycled fibers in textiles should be made mandatory, with ambitious but achievable goals.
In order to implement the manifesto, the companies are calling on other actors in the textile value chain to join. The European Circular Textile Coalition also announced discussions with political decision-makers. In the press release, she positions herself clearly: “Voluntary efforts have proven clearly inadequate. We need binding agreements to increase demand for recycled materials. Action must be taken now.”
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