22.11.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 443/109
3.4.
The EESC points out that companies need financial support to adopt automated sorting technologies for non-rewearable textiles, as well as the development of improved recycling facilities, including the possibility of designing local and regional recycling and sorting hubs.
Furthermore, building infrastructure for repairing clothes, such as stores and shops, must represent a key issue for stakeholders in the industry.
In this regard, the Committee salutes the EURATEX initiative to create five ReHubs (textile recycling hubs) near the European textile and clothing districts for collecting, sorting, processing and recycling industrial, pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste.
The Committee considers that technical, environmental, social and energy standards for recycled products are needed, and should be transposed and applied at ISO level and inserted in the international trade agreements.
3.5.
The EESC is worried that textile waste can be exported as second-hand products and considers that immediate action on this is needed at EU level.
Effective chemical controls must be implemented across all value chains.
Furthermore, the EESC calls for the launch of global sustainability best practices that require buyers and brand owners to check and demand compliance with CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI technical standards.
3.6.
The Committee considers that sector-specific and harmonised social and environmental rules for public procurement must be developed in the Union, facilitating cross-border participation and a level playing field with the final goal of having mandatory and harmonised systems across the EU.
A European tripartite committee should be established, including the social partners and civil society organisations, for monitoring and supporting the social and environmental criteria in purchasing practices in the textile sector.
4.
Consumers and digitalisation 4.1.
The EESC asks the European Commission to prepare an impact assessment on possible improvements to the labelling for textiles produced/sold in the internal market.
Fair access to information for consumers concerning a repair score, traceability and information on the digital label must be ensured.
The Committee considers that introducing extensive labelling requirements regarding the recycling degree and footprint of textile products could represent an important incentive for consumers to choose more sustainable textile products.
4.2.
The EESC believes that a large-scale information campaign at European level can help citizens to make informed sustainable choices, while incentives should be provided for consumers to choose quality over quantity, for example through different VAT rates for sustainable/unsustainable products in the internal market.
4.3.
Transparent and common shared data regarding products, recycled and re-used compounds, destruction of goods, chemicals used in the production process, the social and labour impact of the production process and the environmental impact concerning every company in the supply chain are important for the monitoring of these supply chains.
Furthermore, creating an open data framework and ensuring free access for consumers, civil society and the social partners is crucial for improving the textile sector's environmental and social situation.
The EESC considers that consumers' digital literacy must be taken into account and the data content should target all the stakeholders in the supply chain.
The right balance must be struck between the need for transparent data and the protection of industrial property rights.
4.4.
The EESC is worried that less than 1 % of textiles worldwide are recycled into new textiles (3), and considers that the future EPR scheme should produce the right incentives that encourage fibre-to-fibre textile recycling instead of false circularity processes like the use of polyester from recycled plastic bottles for example.
5.
Education and working conditions 5.1.
The Committee points out that more detail could have been given on social aspects within the textile sector and more initiatives would have been welcomed.
The green transition must go hand in hand with the just transition, and the Committee is disappointed that further initiatives related to social dialogue and collective bargaining have not been announced.
(3)
European Commission — Strategy for textiles.