On Tuesday 5 January, the European Commission published the roadmap for the future EU strategy for sustainable textiles, launching the first phase of public consultation.
Announced at the presentation on 11 March of the new European Action Plan for the Circular Economy (see EUROPE 12444/1), this strategy will aim to “create conditions and incentives to boost the competitiveness, sustainability and resilience of the EU textile sector [...] and addressing its environmental and social impacts”, the roadmap states.
This could include setting targets to significantly increase reuse and recycling efforts and to make public procurement greener in the EU.
In addition, the strategy will identify “textile-specific and horizontal actions along the whole value chain” to address weaknesses in sustainable production (e.g., by ensuring the use of secondary raw materials and combating the presence of hazardous chemicals), sustainable lifestyles (e.g., by promoting 'product as service' and other sustainable business models) and the collection and recycling of textile waste.
Finally, the initiative will also aim to strengthen the protection of human rights, environmental duty of care and due diligence across value chains, including by improving traceability and transparency.
The presentation of the strategy is scheduled for the third quarter of this year.
The public consultation will close on 2 February.
To see the roadmap and contribute to the public consultation: http://bit.ly/2JN5lvs (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)