A whitepaper has been delivered to Members of the European Commission ahead of the EU’s Initiative to tackle microplastics unintentionally released into the environment due to be published on 17 May 2023.
The whitepaper commends the European Commission’s ambition and calls for the mandate of filters in new washing machines as the only effective, near-term solution to reduce the release of microplastics in the environment.
Fashion Revolution’s 2022 Global #FashionTransparencyIndex finds that just 24% of the 250 largest fashion brands in the world, reviewed in our Index, disclose what they are doing to minimise the impact of microfibres and microplastics, despite textiles being the largest source of microplastics in the ocean.
Further, less than a third of brands have published a time-bound, measurable target for the reduction of textiles deriving from fossil fuels. Even less, 24%, disclose progress on these targets. Considering that clothing production is projected to double again in the next decade, with 73% made from synthetics by 2030, further testing planetary boundaries. Reducing the production and use of synthetic textiles, which shed microfibres, should be a critical focus of any policy and regulatory action when looking at the fashion industry's impact on microplastic pollution. There is no fashion on a dead planet.
Fashion Revolution recognises that a variety of solutions are needed to reduce the release of microfibres into the environment but as the only effective near-term solution, Fashion Revolution endorses calls on the EU to mandate for filters in washing machines to significantly reduce the release of microplastics into the environment and therefore deliver on the EU’s strategy for sustainable and circular textiles within the Circular Economy Action Plan.
Read the whitepaper at microplasticsolutions.org