How can brands and retailers navigate EU textile and garment regulations?

In the European Union, a person consumes on average 19 kilograms of textiles per year according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). Of those, 8 kilograms are clothing, 7 kilograms are household textiles and 4 kilograms are shoes.

“Nineteen kilograms basically compare to what can fit in a large travel suitcase,” compared EEA expert on circular economy and textiles Lars Fogh Mortensen.

“Out of the 19 kilograms, 16 kilograms become textile waste. The remaining 3 kilograms, we assume, actually pile up in our homes, in our closets, and elsewhere. And if we take the 16 kilos of textiles waste, we only actually collect 4 kilograms of that per person, most of which is exported to Asia and Africa. The 12 kilograms per person per year that are not collected separately end up in incineration or landfills across Europe.”

As Fogh Mortensen further explained, this leads to the consumption of textiles being the fifth highest use of raw materials in the EU, amounting to 523 kilograms of raw materials per person per year. With 19 cubic metres, it is also the third highest water use of all consumption areas.

The Circular Economy Action Plan, which was adopted in March 2020 and is part of the European Green Deal, is meant to tackle this wastefulness, aiming to accelerate Europe’s shift to a resource-efficient, low-waste and climate-neutral economy.

However, navigating the EU policy landscape can be confusing with new legislation being passed and changes being made to existing regulations that are relevant for the textile, apparel and footwear industry. Especially in view of simplification efforts on one hand and those that make EU companies more competitive on a global market on the other. Day 2 of the recently concluded Textile Exchange Conference, dedicated to enabling environments, devoted a few sessions to legislation readiness. FashionUnited has summed up the most relevant information for fashion companies.  

There are eight regulations especially that stakeholders of the textile, garment and footwear industry should know about:

• Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)​
• Green Claims Directive (GCD)​
• Product Environmental Footprint
• Waste Framework Directive
• Textile Labelling Regulation (TLR)​
• Green Industrial Deal
• Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
• Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSDDD)

ESPR

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation is the cornerstone of the European Commission’s (EC) efforts to more environmentally sustainable and circular products. It has been adopted and entered into force last year already, on 18th July 2024. The regulation is setting detailed ecodesign measures for textiles and apparel as one of the first product groups and will thus have the biggest impact for brands, retailers and the textile and garment industry as a whole.

“It will probably change quite a lot of operations down the supply chain and how products are designed,” said Rannveig Van Iterson, head of circularity at Brussels-based consultancy Ohana Public Affairs. “Brands will have to comply with both performance requirements and information requirements. So it is really a double review and an element of how the product will really change and what the performance of that will be. Certain information requirements will also have to be passed on to consumers and public authorities.”

The ESPR is linked to the digital product passport (DPP) as every product regulated under the ecodesign regulation will have to have a DPP associated with it. That means companies placing products on the EU market will have to comply with information and technical DPP requirements. “The standards, details of how the digital product passport is supposed to look and how this system is supposed to work is still being developed. The standards are supposed to be finalised by the end of 2025,” stated Van Iterson.

Part of the ESPR is the ban on unsold goods, which will take effect mid-2026 for large companies. The obligation for companies to report on both the weight and the quantity of unsold goods has already started (one financial year after the adoption of the ESPR), which means that brands will have to include this in their current or next year’s sustainability report at the latest.

“In addition, there is also the ban on the destruction of unsold goods and this applies specifically to apparel and footwear. Here, the main rule is that recycling is seen as destruction. So that means you will have to find other avenues for your unsold goods. This will start as of July 2026. If you are a smaller company, you have actually a bit more time, until 2030,” explained Van Iterson.

Product parameters to consider

Under the ESPR, companies have to significantly improve the design or the environmental impact of the products they produce. In terms of product parameters, Van Iterson highlights physical durability, recycled content, recyclability, environmental and/or carbon footprint and substances of concern as the main ones. Others are microplastics, expected generation of waste, water consumption and water efficiency, energy consumption and energy use and sustainable renewable materials.

“What is not decided yet is whether these will be information requirements or performance requirements, so this will still take some time,” said Van Iterson. “The consultation will come in November but the consultation period will go until next year. We will have the final rules maybe sometime early in 2027, so this will really take some time,” she added.

While recycled content targets have been identified as one of the EC’s most prioritised ecodesign measures, sustainable renewable materials are for now under Annex 1. However, they are of growing interest for stakeholders, especially for Textile Exchange.

“ESPR is a number one priority when it comes to sharing information and sharing knowledge with policymakers,” confirmed Romane Malysza, public affairs strategist at Textile Exchange. “Our objective is to share the information, the data that we have collected over the past two years of expertise.”

Textile Exchange will publish the study “Textile-to-Textile Global Fiber 2030 Project” early next year (in addition to the annual Materials Market Report), which takes supplier-level data and centralised data sources into account and was prepared in partnership with Reverse Resources, Fashion for Good and Texroad. It will provide an overview of recycled fibre production, a breakdown of waste feedstock, textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling capacity and T2T production by fibre categories and countries. In addition, it will include a projection of recycled fibres on the market up to 2030 and identify data gaps and needs.

Recycled content plus sustainably sourced materials

“For us, it is critical that regulating recycled content requirements is done at the portfolio level combined with an information requirement on product level. This is how we think we will be able to achieve requirements and targets,” explained Malysza. “And the second priority is recognising sustainably source-renewable materials along with recycled materials and their ecodesign measures. Because we do believe that, yes, recycled content is critical, but it will not be enough on its own to reach the sustainability goals of the industry,” she emphasised.

“Reducing pressures from textiles would be easiest if we produced and consumed less, that is clear. But sustainably sourced materials is one of the other options to reduce pressures from textiles, production and consumption,” agreed Fogh Mortensen. As examples he mentioned mechanically recycled cotton, organic cotton, viscose, lyocell, modal, flax and hemp. “Overall, there is a potential to use more plant-based and manmade fibres that are not made from plastics, oil and gas,” he summed up.

By definition (according to the UN Development Programme’s SDGs and the definition of circularity by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation), sustainably sourced renewable material are those that are “continually replenished at a rate equal to or greater than the rate of depletion, and that deliver reduced impacts and increased benefits for climate, nature, people and animals”.

Textile Exchange in collaboration with Ohana is currently in the process of proposing the inclusion of sustainably sourced renewable materials alongside recycled materials to the European Commission under the ESPR Delegated Act. One objective is to avoid potential unintended consequences like negative environmental impact, endangering the jobs and livelihoods of workers along the natural fibre supply chain and decreased product quality and durability. This would also work against the currently limited availability of recycled feedstock from textile sources. Textile Exchange is also hoping to lay the groundwork for future policy development such as the Green Claims Directive, eco-modulation in EPR and the Bioeconomy Strategy to boost innovation, competitiveness and green jobs while promoting circular and sustainable production.

Green Transition and Green Claims Directive

The Green Transition Directive was adopted in March 2024. The main difference to the Green Claims Directive is that the latter prohibits certain misleading green claims and bans vague terms, while the proposed Green Claims Directive sets requirements for how companies must substantiate and verify any environmental claims they make. The Green Transition Directive acts as a broad ban on certain greenwashing, whereas the Green Claims Directive provides the technical and procedural framework to ensure the accuracy of other, permissible environmental claims.

In terms of the implications for companies, Van Iterson explained that under the Green Transition Directive, all claims must be as specific as possible and that there needs to be robust substantion proof to be provided to the authorities upon request. In addition, claims are valid for future environmental performance only and need to have an implementation plan and monitoring by a third party in place.

Companies will also have to refrain from broad sustainability claims such as ‘sustainable’, ‘ethical’ and generic ones like ‘eco-friendly’, ‘nature’s friend’ and the like. Labels not underpinned by trustworthy certification schemes are also no longer allowed, which is why quite a few brands stopped their own labels already. Claims on aspects required by the EU mandatory legislation are also prohibited.

According to Van Iterson, one of two things may happen in terms of Green Transition versus Green Claims Directive: “Either Green Claims will remain on hold, and that would mean that companies only have the Empowering Consumers Directive (enabling green transition through better protection against unfair practices and better information, ed.) to rely on when they want to do product claims. This would also mean that the upcoming guidelines for companies would become much more important in terms of giving a bit of a clarity on how to actually do those claims,” said the head of circularity. “Number two is that Green Claims will continue to be negotiated before being adopted. It could, for example, be simplified through an Omnibus process” (more about that below).

Product Environmental Footprint

A product environmental footprint (PEF) quantifies the environmental impact of a product or service across its entire life cycle. This involves analysing all stages, from raw material extraction and production to transportation and end-of-life disposal. At its core is the life cycle assessment (LCA), which takes inputs like raw materials, water and energy and outputs like emissions and waste into account. While a carbon footprint, for example, solely looks at greenhouse gas emissions, a PEF considers a broader range of potential impacts like climate change and the effect on ecosystems, health and natural resources.

The goal is to provide a transparent, standardised method to communicate the true environmental footprint of products and to make them more comparable and prevent greenwashing. Thus, a standardised approach is used, the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) that provides sector-specific guidelines, PEFCR A&F for the apparel and footwear industry.


 “The second version of the methodology was adopted in June this year and is now available for companies to use voluntarily. Its legal application is quite uncertain because that is connected with the Green Claims Directive. If the Green Claims Directive gets adopted, then PEF might actually become mandatory,” explained Van Iterson.

Waste Framework Directive

The Waste Framework Directive entered into force on 12th December 2008 and regulates waste in the EU. The revision of July 2023 targets especially textile waste. It is the legislation that will make Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandatory in each EU member state as of April 2028, meaning producers are given a significant degree of responsibility for the environmental impact of their products throughout their life cycle, including end-of-life management.

It also means that brands will have to pay an EPR fee for each product they sell on the market. The scope will be home textiles, textiles and apparel, footwear and accessories. “The purpose of that is to be able to have the financing available for developing the sorting, collecting and recycling infrastructure in Europe and really help that circular transition,” stated Van Iterson.

Companies that are in scope will have to register in each EU member state that they sell products in. While reporting is not yet harmonised, the new EPR rules and legislation are currently being prepared in each EU member state.

The Waste Shipments Directive should be mentioned at this point, which sets the rules for moving waste into, out of and within the EU to stop illegal waste shipments. This includes tougher controls, specific restrictions on waste exports to non-OECD countries and the electronic submission of documents. The directive entered into force in May 2024, so brands should be aware of the new rules.

Textile Labeling Regulation

Since its introduction in 2025, the Textile Labeling Regulation has encountered many delays and is now expected to be proposed in April of next year. Its aim is to modernise textile and apparel labelling requirements to help consumers make more informed decisions. This could be achieved by better transparency on the fibre composition, origin and sustainability aspects of a garment or textile. The potential introduction of digital labels is also part of the discussion.

Clean Industrial Deal

The Green Deal was launched in 2019 as the EU’s answer to an urgent call for climate action. It aims to cut emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 and to make Europe a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. It has become the Clean Industrial Deal after being criticised for not taking company’s growth perspectives and their competitiveness on a global scale into account.

The Clean Industrial Deal is thus meant as a plan to support EU competitiveness and decarbonisation. It is also supposed to drive the demand for clean and European products and to ensure circularity and access to materials.

In view of all the new EU legislation and with it confusion by those affected has also been the call for simplification, which the EC reacted with a simplification mandate meant to ensure that companies are being supported, specifically through reducing the administration and reporting burden. The simplification effort is being implemented through a series of omnibuses, an omnibus being legal or legislative initiative that amends other pieces of legislation.

Simplification

“This simplification agenda, even though it is meant to make it easier and simpler for companies to comply, it does not necessarily create more business certainty because the rules that were already adopted are now being reopened again. And that means you will still have to comply before knowing it, which does not necessary make it easier for companies, unfortunately, but it is the new reality we need to deal with,” commented Van Iterson.

Currently unaffected by the simplification efforts of the regulations mentioned above are ESPR, EmpCo, Textile Labeling Directive and the Waste Framework Directive, among others. Probably affected will be the DPP and certainly affected the Green Claims Directive as mentioned earlier. Most relevant for the textile industry will be Omnibus 1 and the upcoming Environmental Omnibus, with the latter meant to streamline, simplify and digitise waste management and industrial emissions and the former to simplify sustainability due diligence and reporting rules as regulated by CSRD and CSDDD.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSDDD)

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to disclose information on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact and risks. Its scope covers not only all large European companies and smaller listed ones but also those outside doing business in the EU.

For standardised reporting, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) apply. A key requirement is the "double materiality" approach, which means companies must report on how sustainability issues affect their business and how their business impacts society and the environment. Companies are required to report their own financial risks and opportunities from sustainability issues as well as their impact on the environment and society. All reports must be verified by an independent third party and submitted in digital format.

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires large EU companies and those outside with a significant presence in the EU market to conduct due diligence on their own operations and entire value chains to prevent and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts, specifically forced labour, pollution and climate change. Companies must also create transition plans to ensure their business models are aligned with the EU's sustainability goals. 

While Omnibus 1 is currently under discussion, an agreement was reached on delaying the entry into force of CSRD and CSDDD.

How can companies prepare for EU legislation?

European companies will have to accept that EU legislation will come their way sooner or later, even if they may not be in scope now. So it is imperative to keep abreast of new legislation and changes and to prepare for their implementation.

Secondly, companies can also actively advocate for their needs and requirements in case of legislation that is still under discussion such as the Environmental Omnibus, ESPR and the Textile Labelling Regulation, to name a few.

They should also monitor policy developments to stay well informed.