Five inputs for a truly green fashion ecosystem. Cotance, alongside European organisations representing the textile, clothing and footwear industries, suggests them. The teamwork has developed a strategy that defines the transitional path from a linear to a circular business model. While on the one hand the industry players chart the course to be followed, on the other hand they make specific demands to national governments to facilitate this evolution and prepare the ground for the new way of producing fashion.
Five inputs a circular business model
One: new design requirements for textiles and leather products as part of the Eco-design for Sustainable Products initiative.
Two: clearer product information.
Three: a digital product passport.
Four: measures to fight greenwashing.
Five: actions to discourage the destruction of unsold or returned items.
These are the five inputs drawn up at the end of the meeting between the top management of CEC, Cotance, Euratex and industriAll Europe. They represent the concrete response to the European Union’s sustainability strategy, published by the Commission on March 30.
The objective
“The strategy aims to ensure that, by 2030, ecosystem products placed on the EU market are durable and recyclable“. All this, “as the industry moves from a linear to a circular business model” explain the four confederations. Which, in addition to defining a strategy for their own activities, have also put forward some requests. For example, “the initiation of decisive action by the Member States and the EU (…) to help the relevant industrial sectors decarbonise their production“. Hence, “to become more circular”. Another hot spot: the need for “initiatives to ensure that workers have the right skills for the future”, reads the shared note.
The green transition is our DNA, says leather
“Leather is the best example of a circular economy product, as it is the result of recycling an unavoidable residue of meat production. In doing so, European tanners create wealth and jobs for an entire value chain! The “green transition”? It’s in our DNA! And leather can, and will, become even more sustainable, but this must be done in tandem with our regulators and stakeholders,” comments Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano, Secretary General of Cotance.
Carmen Arias, Secretary General of CEC, on the other hand, points out that “footwear companies are reinventing their business strategies to face the rapidly changing scenario and adverse political and economic scenarios. Digitisation and sustainability can make the difference in maximising the efficient production of their high-quality products. But both public support and consumer awareness are needed. Furthermore, any legislative proposal, to be successful, should consider the complexity of a shoe, its design, the multiplicity of materials and processes”.
Read also:
