Michael Vasileff’s Post

For CISUTAC we worked on an overview of the key instruments within the reach of local and regional authorities to improve the circularity of #textile material flows, especially via citizens and engagement. See below 3 recommendations for textile #waste #collection 👇

CIRFS: European Man-made Fibres Association Executive Seminar on May 29, 2024, in Brussels is just around the corner and promises to be a highly engaging event!   👉 Chris Deloof from ReHubs ♻ will present on: "ReHubs - Moving the European Textile and Fashion Industry Fast Forward on Textile Waste Recycling," highlighting ground-breaking efforts in textile waste management and recycling.   👉 Other Seminar Highlights :   ☑ EU Trade Strategy ☑ Strategic Dependencies ☑ Free and Fair-trade Actions. ☑ Transition Pathways ☑ Industrial Policy ☑ Eco-design for Circular and Sustainable Textiles ☑ BISFA & Generic Fibres Names ☑ Envisioning a Future Industrial Deal Complementing the Green Deal   👉 Why Attend? ➡ Network with industry leaders and experts. ➡Discover the latest trends, strategies, and environmental legislations in the man-made fibres sector.   👉How to Register Don't miss out and secure your place now by registering here: https://bit.ly/4btqVfE #mmf #recycling #seminar #environmentallegislations  

🚀 A significant step in the right direction but room for refinement.   📢 The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) recently highlighted crucial issues in the ongoing trilogues regarding the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) revision focused on textiles.   🔑 **Key Points:** • EuRIC emphasizes the importance of swiftly concluding a deal on the WFD while advocating against the application of EPR fees to second-hand textiles. EPR should focus on new textile products to effectively drive a high-quality circular economy. • EuRIC stresses that second-hand textiles play a crucial role in the economy and are ranked high on the waste hierarchy. Therefore they should be excluded from EPR to prevent negative impacts on textile reuse and recycling markets.   💬 **Our Opinion:** Extending EPR to second-hand textiles will harm the reuse sector, which plays an essential role in the sustainable management of textile waste. We need clear guidelines to ensure EPR fees are fair and based on the actual recyclability and environmental impact of textile products, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Let’s continue to refine these policies to support both innovation and sustainability in the textile industry. 🌍👗   #CircularEconomy #TextileRecycling #SustainableFashion #WasteFrameworkDirective #EuRIC #fashiontofiber

We are honoured to have been one of the contributors of the recently released report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The report explores how a mandatory, fee-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy is a necessary part of the solution to build a circular economy for textiles that can match the scale of the global textile waste problem. In a circular economy, textile products are used more, made to be made again, and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs. In this system, businesses contribute to supporting infrastructure in proportion to what they place on the market. EPR policy places responsibility on producers with regard to the collection, sorting and recirculation of these products. In its current form, the implementation of EPR policy is incomplete and leaves opportunities underutilised. To change this and achieve a circular economy for textiles on a global scale, unprecedented collaboration across governments is needed. As an organisation we are committed to working with all the textile industry players to implement textile EPR in the East Africa Community region. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ddYPW_QE #CircularEconomy #EPRfortextiles #PushingtheboundariesofEPR

A Competitive, Circular Europe: With or Without Plastics? 👉 As competitiveness takes centre stage in this mandate, the question remains: How can EU policymakers boost Europe’s economic and industrial strength while advancing sustainability and circularity? 🤝 Join us on 20th November at the European Parliament in Brussels for an insightful discussion on the future of Europe’s plastics sector. Together with CEFLEX - A Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging, EUMEPS, Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP), Plastics Recyclers Europe, Plastics Europe, VinylPlus®, European Plastics Converters | EuPC is proud to sponsor this event that will bring together industry leaders and policymakers to address the challenges and innovations defining the journey toward a more resilient, sustainable Europe. 📌 For more information and registration check the website https://lnkd.in/eTJj_9y9 or contact The Parliament at events @theparliamentmagazine.eu #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #Competitiveness #PlasticsIndustry #Innovation #EUParliament

Some really good points in this piece from Textile Recycling Association, there needs to be regulation and enforcement around any business who exports unsorted textile , there are some great Textile sorters out there who work tirelessly to ensure the textile they export is sorted and graded so the African markets receive textile that can be sold and that way, the system works. And those markets receiving good quality , graded second textiles is a vital part of the economy of those countries. However when others act by simply sending everything, unsorted textiles , then we are just sending our waste to another country to deal with. Remember , there is no throw away, away becomes someone else's problem and the sooner the Irish government and the EU act to prevent textile waste being exported the better . As citizens of this planet we all have a responsibility to slow down consumption , ask do we need that new thing and consider what we do with what we no longer want, but it takes big actions for us to act sometimes and if every country is faced with dealing with their own textile waste after all the reusable has been sorted , then maybe we will all realise we all have a part to play .

WHERE NOW FOR EUROPE'S TEXTILE RECYCLING INDUSTRY? Europe's textile sorting and recycling industry is facing an unprecedented crisis - even more severe than during the pandemic. This is the dire warning of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) and Municipal Waste Europe (MWE). The pair have released a joint statement highlighting challenges the industry faces, calling for urgent intervention from the European Union. The current crisis recently saw German recycler Soex go bankrupt - and other major recyclers are said to be facing serious financial challenges. The war in Ukraine, supply chain challenges in Africa, and the rise of ultra-fast fashion are said to have radically changed the global market for used textiles. Exports of used textiles from the EU fell from 464,993 tonnes in 2022 to 430,185 tonnes in 2023, leaving operators with overflowing warehouses and skyrocketing processing costs. Financial strain across the entire value chain, from sorting facilities to recycling mills, has led to job losses and a growing risk of textile waste #incineration. Investing in recycling technologies, revising the Waste Framework Directive, and implementing Extended Producer Responsibility schemes are viewed as essential to protect Europe’s circular economy ambitions. OUR STORY: https://lnkd.in/eXrBtaCZ #Sustainability #TextileRecycling #CircularEconomy #EuRIC

Regulation is long over due in this sector to manage textile waste. However we the Global North need to be very careful that our seemingly moral guilt does not lead to over production of cheap clothing that is then imported by the countries in the Global South that we have made dependant on OUR discarded material. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, we need to learn from our mistakes not simply make new ones because we have suddenly found our moral compass. It has been widely shared and quoted that reuse is 70 x better for the environment, but did we ask whose environment? If this only applies to the environment for the Global North then how is it any better? The majority of the sub Saharan markets import used clothes to fill demand like any other economy. There are a number of factors to consider but the primary reasons are, financial viability and plain and simple geography. The clothing brands that we have access to daily are not all so easily accessible to everyone and so the import of good quality used clothing fulfils that need. The EU and the rest of the world needs to tackle the issue of exporting waste and regulations need to be put in place to control this. The notion that we simply export waste is nonsensical. Did you that Kenya which is a major hub for export of used clothing from the UK and EU already has very stringent requirements for import? An importer from Kenya has to submit an application for import and each container has to meet the following criteria: Import Declaration Forms (IDF) issued by Kenyan authorities Customs declaration (Entry) A Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from the PVoC agent for regulated products. an import standards mark (ISM) when applicable. valid Commercial invoices from the exporting firm. valid pro forma invoices from the exporting firm. In addition to the above all containers have to be inspected at the point of loading by an inspector from agencies like SGS & Bureau Veritas to name but two. The inspectors will demand that bales are opened and re-baled, that bags of shoes are emptied and refilled in order to meet compliance. All loads from the UK also have to be fumigated before they can be shipped. As you can see this is a very stringent process and debunks the the suggestion that we export 40% waste. EPR is required to tackle the growing issue of textile waste, the primary focus needs to be on tackling over production by the brands. In a conversation Jo-Anne Godden had with our BDM Mohammed Patel, she gave a great analogy in that if a bathtub is overflowing we don't reach for a cloth or mop to wipe the floor, what we do is turn off the tap and then we tackle the mess. In the same way we need to manage over production and then we can work on fixing the issue of waste. There is certainly work to be done, a multi agency collaboration is required and not simply a knee jerk reaction to inaccurate and manipulative reports.

If our textile waste was to be included and we couldn’t ship them to elsewhere to be someone else’s problem. Would it become one of the big sticks to force, sorry spur the much needed investments, commitments and admittance of responsibility and ensure we incorporate end of life consideration into our designs? Why does it have to be? Why can’t we (collectively, as the textile and clothing industry) be bold enough to make the first move now and implement reduced impact designs, collaborate between ourselves to arrange collection for end of life/take back schemes without government intervention and legislation? It’s frustrating. In my opinion the big volume global brands currently playing the ‘who’s going to blink first’ could instigate this change and rapidly. Funding won’t come out of thin air and it will be way overdue if it’s to funded by EPR levies. For me, the speed of response to get in-country systems up and running just isn’t fast enough and it’s worrying. The science is there with the various circular textile systems being built to bulk scale. Yet we are no where near being able to arrange the actual physical feedstock needed and to reduce our impact. I haven’t (yet) won the lottery to help the investment along myself! #textile #recycling

🌿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 🌿 The European Commission has launched a preparatory study through its Joint Research Centre (JRC) to explore ecodesign requirements, establish green public procurement criteria, and review the EU Ecolabel criteria for textile products. 📝🧵 As part of this initiative, the 𝗝𝗥𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 on draft study deliverables. This will be done through written comments and participation in three technical working groups. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/dX-jf2Fs. This research aligns with the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and follows the Methodology for Ecodesign of Energy-related Products (MEErP), adapted to focus on the sustainability aspects unique to textiles. Additionally, the study will analyse information following EU Ecolabel Regulation 66/2010. #Sustainability #Textiles #Ecodesign #EUInitiatives #GreenPublicProcurement #Ecolabel