What is the ecodesign law in the textile sector?

A good sustainable management begins by guaranteeing the circularity of products. In other words, before implementing new regulations or adapting to innovations in the sector, it is necessary to know how to manage waste, during and at the end of the process. For years now, companies in various sectors have been governed by strict regulations that guarantee, at least, the responsibility for the company’s waste (and now it’s the textile’s sector’s turn). It will be the same companies that will have to take care of the fabrics that are no longer used.

 

 

The next few years are going to be key to regulation in sustainable matters. There are different directives on the table that will shake up the textile
 the textile sector and its companies.

 

Basically, the term ecodesign takes the environment into account when making decisions for the production and development of products. It claims that the design and development of the product is organically integrated with the environment.

Sustainability has been talked about in the textile sector for a long time, but 2024 is the key year. Under the Ecodesign Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR), several ways of sustainable regulation are opened, it is a directive aimed at regulating the sustainable product and the digital product passport. In less than 6 months it is expected that there will be an ecodesign law that applies to all small, medium and large companies in the textile and fashion sector. This future directive wants to promote a sustainable economy so that it is environmentally efficient, as well as includes compliance with standards on durability, repairability, reuse, recyclability, environmental footprint, carbon footprint, release of microplastics, presence of worrying substances and waste generation, among others.

 

The ESPR is a proposal for a Sustainable Products Regulation that tries to regulate the ecodesign requirements of products destined for the EU market. These 3 are the principles that are considered essential to guarantee a sustainable, green and transparent future:

 

Product design is essential. To respond to this concern, the design must be reviewed periodically to guarantee an environmental and sustainable responsibility.

 

 

You also have to control the product, and for that you have to have access to traceability. Ensures oversight and encourages compliance with ecodesign requirements. The digital passport idea is that any product can be scanned by a machine to obtain unique data of the product.

 

 

Apply full transparency on products that have not been sold and that have been destroyed. The disposal of the material must have a justified report explaining the amount of product destroyed and the reasons. This requirement is requested at all stages of the value chain.

 

The proposal establishes mandatory minimums in sustainability and recycling of textile material. Promotes the inclusion of recycled fibers in textiles, making the products more durable and easier to repair and recycle. In addition, the European Commission report on ecodesign for sustainable products explains that the design of the product determines up to 80% of its environmental impact during its life cycle, for this reason the directive must take into account the requirements mentioned above and put the ecodesign in the center.

 

 

In addition, the ESRP regulation expands the REACH law by including more classes of hazards and those substances that negatively affect the reuse and recycling of materials. The REACH law is a European regulation that arises from the need to regulate the protection of human health and the environment against the risk that the manufacture, commercialization and use of chemical substances may entail.

 

In order to comply with the provisions established by this regulation, companies must identify the dangers associated with the substances they manufacture and market in the European Union, determine how to use them safely and communicate all information related to their properties and dangers to the users.

 

After having analyzed the regulations to come (read our previous article) and the ESPR directive focused on ecodesign, there are several actions that companies in the textile sector should start doing immediately to adapt to the change before the end of the year.

 

The current textile model does not guarantee or take into account the circularity of the materials. That’s why, Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) produced a report based on the European Union strategy for the sustainability and circularity in textiles. 

 

“Until now, global textile companies have not been able to articulate an adequate vision of what sustainable fashion systems should look like. Consequently, non-governmental organizations have denounced the numerous inconsistencies and deficiencies of the current performance and future plans”. For this reason, and as a consequence, there are a series of legislative initiatives aimed at restructuring the sector in ecodesign and waste management of textile products.

 

There is no consensus on what are the characteristics of a sustainable, fair and waste-free company in the textile sector. But according to the mentioned report, based on the best practices of the European market, there are 4 key criteria that must be applied simultaneously to guarantee a model that goes beyond circularity:

 

Design for physical and emotional durability.

Demand-driven production to eliminate backorders and discounts.

Total supply chain transparency and post-sale traceability.

Extension of the use phase after the first ownership.

 

Adapting to changes is not easy, especially if a strictly defined law must be followed. For this reason, from T2T we want to help you and facilitate your adaptation to the new needs of the planet. The aforementioned directives and future regulations that will affect the sector have been established to remedy the environmental and climate chaos affecting our planet. Together 2 Transform firmly believe in the power of change and constant improvement, that’s why we do what we do.