On Monday 20 July, 26 European and international scientists called on the European Commission to incorporate plastic microfibre emission reduction measures into the future textile delegated act under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (2024/1781).
Coordinated by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the researchers issued a letter criticising the Joint Research Centre (JRC)’s preparatory study concluding that a lack of harmonised measurement methods mean it is not yet possible to define reduction measures.
They believe that there is enough scientific knowledge to act: synthetic textiles are said to be one of the EU’s main sources of microplastic pollution, and that without new measures, microfibre emissions are expected to increase by around 22% by 2030. Changes to design and manufacturing processes alone could significantly reduce these emissions.
The Commission is being urged to introduce performance requirements that limit microfibre shedding; build on existing ISO standards; make filtration devices mandatory at the textile manufacturing stage; and integrate these measures into the impact assessment for the future delegated act.
Read the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/myt (Original in French by Lionel Changeur)