Following the announcement by the UK Government of its intention to consult stakeholders by the end of 2022 on options for textiles, such as an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, the Textile Recycling Association (TRA) has urged UK stakeholders to rally round and work together to deliver a truly robust and sustainable UK fashion and textile industry.
“This statement by the UK government is very welcome” said TRA director Alan Wheeler.Following the announcement by the UK Government of its intention to consult stakeholders by the end of 2022 on options for textiles, such as an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, the Textile Recycling Association has urged UK stakeholders to rally round and work together to deliver a truly robust and sustainable UK fashion and textile industry.#
“If we are serious about tackling climate change and the other problems such as water scarcity, tackling water pollution and micro-fibres release in our seas and oceans, we need to make significant interventions in the current business models that benefit sustainable practices and give them a business advantage over those that refuse to act. EPR and the other business models that are being considered could go some way to achieving this,” he said in a press release.
TRA also welcomed the proposals to look at whether minimum standards can be set for clothing on durability and recycled content and to improve labelling and consumer information on clothing.
The quality of clothing, particularly since the explosion of fast fashion, has been an area of increasing concern for re-use and recycling businesses. The current markets for recycling grades are small in size and low in value. It is value of re-usable clothing that keeps this sector going, but with fast fashion expanding, the ratio of re-use to recycling grades has shifted significantly and this put pressure on profit margins.
By setting minimum standards to ensure that clothing lasts longer and that it is designed for recycling in mind, this could help address some of these issues. At the same time, if mandatory targets for the inclusion of recycled content in garments can be agreed and actually achieved, this will stimulate demand for recycling grades.
This in turn would improve the values for these grades, making their collection and processing more viable, the press release added.
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