European Union seeks ways to discourage ‘fast fashion’ in clothing

The European Union (EU) has warned consumers to stop treating clothes like disposable tissues as it seeks to counter the growing use of pollution-causing “fast fashion”.

New rules proposed by the EU’s executive arm would impose mandatory minimum use of recycled fibers by 2030 and ban the destruction of unsold products. The regulations of the European Commission (EC) try to contain the release of microplastics and improve global working conditions in the clothing industry.

“We want sustainable products to be the norm,” said commission vice president Frans Timmermans. “The clothes we wear should last more than three washes.”

This would require profound changes in an industry that, in order to keep costs and prices low, produces short-lived goods in developing countries in Asia and Latin America, often under poor working conditions.

“All textiles must be durable, recyclable, made from recycled fibers and free of hazardous substances. The strategy also seeks to promote the reuse and repair sectors and avoid textile waste,” said Timmermans.

Almost 75% of the clothes and textiles used in the EU are imported. In 2019, the 27-nation bloc imported 80 billion euros ($89.2 billion) worth of clothes, mainly from China, Bangladesh and Turkey, according to the EC. The average consumer discards 11 kilos (24 pounds) of textiles per year.

Although the rules target clothing made for mass consumption, the EU wants luxury brands to set the standard for sustainable fashion in a sector where the fleeting and ephemeral are essential to profit.

“There is a cultural shift underway,” Timmermans noted, adding that the big fashion houses “are always the first to show the way forward.”

“The designers, the artists, understand that the world has changed and we must return to the way we design fashion,” he said.