Discussing Ethics & Sustainability in Fashion at the House of Commons

On Tuesday 8th November 2022, Fashion-Enter Ltd (FEL) CEO Jenny Holloway attended the latest Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion APPG meeting at the House of Commons. As a leading provider in Fashion and Textiles courses and apprenticeships, as well as providing ethical, ‘Made in the UK’ manufacturing, it is crucial that FEL listens and contributes with industry peers. 

The topic of ‘sustainability’ has been rather contentious when it comes to the fashion industry, however, with Climate Change and COP27 back in the headlines, this APPG meeting was all about Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) where the problems and possible solutions were presented. The concept of EPR is to make product manufacturers and distributors responsible for their products and packaging at the end of life. This responsibility is intended to provide incentives for industry to prevent waste at the source, promote more circular design and establish public-private partnerships to help address waste program challenges.

Did you know current findings show:

Less than 1% of material used to produce clothing is currently being recycled into new clothing. Due to this, the fashion industry is accountable for 4% of global waste production and among the top 10 most CO2 emitting industries. Think of the wardrobe staple – a pair of jeans. These jeans typically need 7000 litres of water, 23.45 Kg of Co2e and multiple toxic chemicals. They are produced with little consideration of the amount of resources that are put into making the product and even less concern of the amount of polluting substances that end up back in the environment. Typically, when the customer no longer wants the jeans, they are thrown away, ending up in a landfill or incinerated, creating waste and further environmental impact.

The outcome is a fashion industry that is only focused on driving fast fashion with no responsibility over the impact it causes. If brands would be required to take responsibility over the end of life of their product, the way the industry functions could change dramatically.

Fashion Roundtable recently published a Waste Strategy Report addressing this issue, the report was discussed at the meeting Chaired by John McNally MP, co chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, Member of the Environment Audit Committee and SNP spokesperson on the environment.

Speakers at the meeting included:

1. Anthony Burns, COO of ACS Clothing, whose mission is “to be the leading enabler of the fashion industry’s circular economy in the UK and Europe by providing 3PL+RL* fulfilment services sustainably. To do so, ACS provide brands and retailers with a profitable, circular fashion solution that extends the life of clothing and diverts textile waste from landfill.”

2. Professor Rebecca Earley, Professor of Circular Design Futures at Chelsea College of Arts, Centre for Circular Design.

3. George Harding-Rolls, Campaigns Manager, Changing Markets Foundation, which was “formed to accelerate and scale up solutions to sustainability challenges by leveraging the power of markets.”

4. Professor Rebecca Earley What is circular design? How can this be implemented into a successful zero waste strategy? What does this look like for the future of the fashion and textiles industry?

5. Anthony Burns – What is the landscape for end of life manufacturing? How can recycling successfully evolve from linear to circular business models? What support does industry need to support extended producer responsibility?

While the issues within the sector are numerous and clear to see each contributor discussed possible solutions, they included:

• Governments should incentivise for EPR, not penalise
• Repair strategies
• Sewing back into schools KS2 onwards
• Education on value and heritage linked to innovation
• Education on designing products for circularity and responsible fibres / end of life
• Analytical / commercial technique required for identification of differing fibres to reduce hand sorting
• Brands making costs visible i.e. showing hidden costs through rating systems / labelling to boost consumer awareness
• Retailers to educate staff and consumers on how to take care of their products through mandated minimum requirements
• Technical exchange with Italy. UK is using mostly outdated machinery and technical staff are not trained to use the newest spinning equipment

The group also discussed the problem of dumping unwanted textiles on countries that do not have the facilities to cope and that tougher proposals were needed in order to combat this. Along with the issues surrounding fibres such as microplastics, toxic dyes and water depleting cotton, meanwhile local and sustainable fibre – wool accounts for just 1% utilised globally and yet the UK has 30,000,000 sheep!

The meeting also discussed the prevalence of greenwashing in the fashion industry and how EPR provides the best way forward and rounded off by opening the floor to further questions.

Jenny Holloway commented: “I think it’s incredible what Tamara Cincik has achieved with the Fashion Roundtable with very little funding. Here strap line is from Front Row to Back Row and that’s absolutely spot on. She has an amazing grasp on the detail and the strategy within the fashion sector. 

“It was a robust meeting today and thought George Harding-Rolls was particularly impressive and knowledgeable. He certainly gave me confidence that EPR will occur and will change the fashion greenwashing landscape in 2023. Lots of real change is coming and let’s hope the retailers are prepared and work with the right suppliers!”