“Fast fashion”, environmentally friendly? Europe is proposing new rules

The European Commission is proposing new rules to combat the “fast fashion” industry and ensure that the products produced and imported into the unit are more environmentally friendly.

Clothing companies produce new items faster than ever to keep up with the latest trends and then sell them cheap to customers. The production processes that support such a business model are linked to the growth of fossil fuel use, the commission said.

“It is time to end such a harmful model for our planet, health and economy,” take away, make, break and throw away, “- said at a press conference, Executive Vice President of the European Union Frans Zimmermans. reports the German television company Deutsche Welle.

The proposed new rules regarding “fast fashion” are part of a broader push from the EU to make more physical goods more sustainable – from electronics and packaging to food and buildings.

Last year the block announced a broad plan in order to reduce its contribution to climate change by more than half in ten years.

But the new rules, proposed on Wednesday, are aimed at an industry that has become infamous for selling cheap fashion products at low prices.

Pad proposal the commission would set new standards for how durable and reusable clothing should be, and impose bans on the destruction of unsold textiles.

It will also require companies to include on the label information about how durable and recyclable the garment is.

The Commission said that textile consumption was the fourth most negative impact on the environment and climate change, and that the EU dumped around 6.4 million tonnes of textiles each year, or about 24 pounds per person.