Tackling a Mountain of Textile Waste

Closing the loop on textile

One of the most challenging issues we face to become truly circular is to reinvent how we design, make, use and recycle textile.

The EU states that:

“In clothes and furniture, medical and protective equipment, buildings and vehicles, textiles are the fabric of everyday life. European consumption of textiles has the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate change, after food, housing and mobility. It is the third sector for higher use of water and land use, and fifth for the use of primary raw materials and greenhouse gas emissions. The average European throws away 11 kg of textiles every year. Around the world, a truckload of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every single second. Global textiles production almost doubled between 2000 and 2015, and the consumption of clothing and footwear is expected to increase by 63% by 2030. In parallel with this relentless expansion, negative impacts on resources, water, energy consumption, and the climate continue to grow. The need to address the production and consumption of textiles is now more urgent than ever before.”

The European Union has announced an ambitious strategy for sustainable and circular textiles to push for real change. At Arapaha we are excited about this positive development.

But we can and need to go faster and further.

Therefore at Arapaha:

1. We design all our textile products with materials that have the lowest carbon footprint,
2. We use the most benign manufacturing methods available,
3. We use blockchain based digital passport to inform all stakeholders in the lifecycle of our products transparently,
4. We only produce if there is demand and
5. We support our customers to repair and resell the products to make use of our products as long as possible
6. We take responsibility for to take back all our products once the consumer is done using them.

Some of the key measures of the EU strategy include:

• New design requirements for textiles under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, setting mandatory minimums for the inclusion of recycled fibers in textiles, making them longer-lasting, and easier to repair and recycle. Under the proposed regulation, sustainable textiles products will become the norm in the EU. The proposal would also ban the destruction of unsold products under certain conditions, including unsold or returned textiles.
• Clearer information on textiles and a Digital Product Passport based on mandatory information requirements on circularity and other key environmental aspects.

Tight controls on greenwashing, with stricter rules to protect consumers and direct links to the upcoming Green Claims Initiative.

More information on the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textile can be found here.