The Future of Fashion & Sustainability | 20 The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation Protocol
On July 18, 2024, the European Commission signed and signaled the start of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). While European Union states are not expected to adopt and implement regulations until 2025, ESPR boosts the EU’s environmental and climate goals.
What is ESPR? The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation will set “minimum design standards for individual products sold within the EU” - whether produced in the EU or outside.[1] The regulation will force products to adhere to circularity, waste management, and durability standards. Two key provisions include the introduction of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and a total ban on the destruction of unsold textiles and footwear.[2] Both solutions are likely to have a significant positive impact on the apparel and footwear industries.
ESPR sets the following eco-design requirements:
Improve product durability, reusability, upgradability, and repairability
Make products more energy and resource-efficient
Address the presence of substances that inhibit circularity
Increase recycled content
Make products easier to remanufacture and recycle
Set rules on carbon and environmental footprints
Improve the availability of information on product sustainability
What is the timeline for Implementation? Following this ruling, the European Commission will commence The Ecodesign Forum, where selected stakeholders will design the regulatory framework and working plans to enforce ESPR. Regulations are expected to roll out over the next several years, with the first of several ESPR Working Plans scheduled for the first half of 2025.
What is the impact on Apparel & Footwear?
Amidst growing levels of regulation impacting the fashion industry, ESPR is expected to accelerate the apparel and footwear industry’s move towards circularity. ESPR should force brands to focus on material choices, manufacturing practices, and end-of-life repair and resale services. While full-scale implementation is years away, several brands have begun adopting certain circularity practices in anticipation of these regulations. The most apparent shift has been the adoption of Digital Product Passports (DPPs).
Digital Product Passports (DPPs)
DPPs enable transparency and unlock circularity solutions for brands and consumers. Brands expect to collect and report information on products’ material composition, where they are sourced from, information regarding recycled content incorporated into the product, and supply chain details.[3]
This technology already exists, and EON and Arainee are two of the leading DPP providers for the fashion industry. They’ve partnered with partners across retail and fashion, such as Ahluwalia, Zalando, and Pangaia, and Mugler, Lacoste, and Breitling respectively. DPPs will improve traceability and transparency but are crucial to transforming repair, resale, and recycling services. Arainee x Mugler even provides unique experiences by giving consumers “access to exclusive content and experiences including behind-the-scenes insights, event invitations and early access sales.”[4]
With the rapid expansion of resale services across all segments of apparel and footwear brands, DPPs will make it easier for brands to monitor the lifecycle of individual products and for consumers to access brand services. The sooner brands begin to plan for DPP implementation, the more time they will have to map out their supply chains. Fashion supply chains are a complex web of suppliers and partners. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles mandates DPPs for all textiles sold in Europe by 2030.[5]
Ban on the Destruction of Unsold Consumer Products
Waste generated from discarded apparel and footwear is not a Europe-only issue. Across the globe, an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste is generated annually, with Europe and the U.S. accounting for 12.6 and 11.3 million tonnes each.[6] Today less than approximately “1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new products.”[7] People have likely seen images of miles and miles of clothes ending up in toxic landfills across Ghana or Chile. These are graveyards of discarded, unwanted fast-fashion clothing. Often traders import unwanted and donated clothing, but due to their poor quality, these end up in landfills across “Global South” countries.
Figure 1: calculated proportion of textiles that is destroyed out of the total volume of online sales and the total volume of products put on the market (stock) based on available data. [Sources: (a) Makov et al., 2023; (b) EURATEX, 2023b; Samfunnsøkonomisk analyse AS, 2022; ADEME, 2021; Watson et al., 2020.]
ESPR is a landmark piece of regulation and amongst the first to ban the destruction of unsold consumer products. While the protocol is a step in the right direction, the final implementation and adoption of these rules will dictate how effective they are at curbing fashion’s destructive path. Additional collaboration is needed between industry players, supply chain partners, and governments at a global level to change deep-rooted practices within the apparel and footwear industry.
[1] http://businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/oeko-tex-unpacks-fashion-future-of-sustainability-regulation-and-certification-of-supply-chain/
[2] https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en
[3] https://www.z2data.com/insights/eus-digital-product-passport
[4] https://www.arianee.com/use-cases/mugler-digital-product-passports-customer-experience
[5] https://www.eon.xyz/blog/digital-passport-policy-guide
[6] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19011/meps-call-for-tougher-eu-rules-to-reduce-textiles-and-food-waste
[7] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20240308IPR19011/meps-call-for-tougher-eu-rules-to-reduce-textiles-and-food-waste