EC-backed project to raise awareness of fast-fas

EC-backed project to raise awareness of fast-fashion impacts

16/04/2021

The Smart Textile & Garments project, funded by the European Commission and implemented by Germany company sequa, has launched a pan-European campaign aiming to raise awareness of the social and environmental effects of fast fashion.

The Beyond Your Clothes campaign said clothes consumption has increased by 60% in only 15 years and is expected to rise exponentially as markets reopen.

The pandemic has created an unprecedent level of unsold garments, that will be burnt or destined for landfill, and while only 1% of clothes are recycled, recycling companies are under immense pressure and are at a “critical point” due to the pandemic.

The low prices paid for goods translates down the supply chain as low wages, “an almost complete erosion of the labour and social rights of workers” and in some instances, child labour, said Smart.

The EU’s Strategy for Sustainable Textiles aims to reduce the impact of fast fashion on the environment by adopting a Circular Economy Action Plan. This includes promoting “eco-design measures” to ensure that textiles are fit for circularity, as well as establishing the uptake of secondary raw materials and tackling the presence of hazardous chemicals. It said it will empower business and consumers to choose sustainable textiles and have easy access to reuse services.

The Strategy for Textiles is part of a wider approach called the European Green Deal, which identifies textiles as a priority sector for the EU in the quest for a carbon neutral and circular economy.

EC-backed project to raise awareness of fast-fas - sportstextiles: Lea

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EC-backed project to raise awareness of fast-fashion impacts

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