The textile industry in the past year
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A lot of exciting and positive things have happened in the textile sector during 2022. Among other things, the European Commission presented a textile strategy in March as part of its circular economy action plan.
The goal is to reduce the environmental impact of textiles throughout the value chain. This means that there will be requirements for design and durability that will make it easier to repair, recycle, and reduce the use of chemicals and the extraction of new natural resources. The strategy will ensure a more circular and sustainable industry, and include producer responsibility for textiles.
The EU Commission's textile strategy contains an impressively large and broad commitment with concrete measures that will make textiles more environmentally friendly and circular. It also proposes solutions to the problem of overproduction and overconsumption of clothing, which contributes to a major waste problem in many countries. A lot of perfectly usable clothing is thrown away, and much of it ends up in large garbage mountains, such as in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
As a follow-up to the textile strategy, the European Commission will prepare proposals for various regulations that ensure that textiles are environmentally friendly and circular by 2030. When the EU rules are adopted, they will be implemented in Norway through the EEA Agreement. This is a major green shift for the textile industry, which consumers will also benefit from as clothing will be of better quality and will last longer.
This pleases Smallmatters, who only use existing textiles and recycled materials in our production. We strive to have clean materials that can be recycled and not use mixed materials in what we make. It is very demanding, but it can be done! It is a small contribution from a small player, but it is important, and we hope we can be a driving force and contribute to more knowledge about the challenges the global textile impact has on the environment and climate. Both about what you as a consumer can set as demands and what we as producers can actually contribute.
Textiles pose a major burden on the climate and environment throughout their entire life cycle, from production to consumption and waste treatment. Natural resources such as cotton, wool, silk, wood and oil are used to produce textiles. In addition, the textile industry uses a lot of water, chemicals and large areas of land. Less than 1% of all materials used in textiles today are recycled into new textiles; globally, over 70% ends up in landfills or is burned. Every second, truckloads of clothing are thrown away, large parts even unused. Then we know that there is a lot that can be done. We who make products from textiles must take responsibility, but you as consumers can make demands on what you buy.
Norway is a small textile country, with very little domestic production, but at the same time we are a major consumer of textiles. Approximately 80,000 tons of textiles come onto the market in Norway each year, which is approximately 15 kg per capita. The amount of textile waste from Norwegian households has doubled in the last 20 years, and over 50% of textiles end up in residual waste and are burned in Norway, which is a source of greenhouse gas emissions as many of the textiles contain synthetic and fossil-based fibers. The remaining textiles are donated to voluntary organizations and 97% are exported to recycling markets outside Norway.
Unfortunately, there are few alternatives to reuse, incineration and landfill, as the technology related to material recycling is still immature, but there are companies today that break down used textiles and create a mass that becomes fiber that is very suitable for new textiles. The requirement is that the textiles are as pure as possible. That is, not a mixture of several materials such as cotton and polyester. Therefore, it is even more important that when making textiles, you think about reuse and recycling already in the design and production phase.
Textiles must be made from clean, good-quality materials, so that their lifespan is extended and they can be recycled without having to extract new natural resources.
Norway must have in place sorting of textiles from residual waste by 2025. This is a requirement from the entire EEA area. The Ministry of Climate and Environment must now consider the proposals from the Norwegian Environment Agency. The key players in the industry have provided input on how to make the textile industry circular and sustainable.
The main measures in the textile strategy:
- Requirements for textile design
- Information requirements and digital product passports
- Reduce overconsumption and prevent unsold/returned textiles from being thrown away and destroyed
- Extended producer responsibility
- Limiting microplastic emissions
- Tightening regulations against greenwashing
