204
D. Machek et al.
under the same Annex (Article 67). According to the European Chemical Agency, a
number of restricted substances concern textiles (European Chemical Agency n.d.).
Many of the restricted substances are used during the production process of textile
products.
The 2008 framework Directive on waste (WFD) (Directive 2008/98/EC), in its
revision in 2018 based on the introduction of the EU Circular Economy Package in
2015 (EC 2015), also incorporated several requirements specific to textiles, along
with a few other product streams such as electronics and furniture (Directive (EU)
2018/851). The revision requires EU Member States to set up systems promoting
repair and recycling activities for textiles (Article 1 (10)) and to separate textile waste
from other municipal solid waste from 2025 onwards (Article 1 (12) (b)). Article
1 (12) (e) of the revision further puts mandates on the European Commission to
consider preparation for reuse and recycling targets for textile waste by 2024. Though
those new requirements do not address upstream of clothing industry directly, they
all aim at closing textile material loop, which in turn would reduce environmental
impacts related to production process.
Finally, triggered by the 2011 Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility,
the EU introduced in 2014 a new mandate on the disclosure of non-financial information (Directive 2014/95/EU). Large companies with more than 500 employees have
to publish their policy they implement regarding environment and social matters, as
well as diversify company board members.
An in-depth analysis of actors directly engaged in the EU governance structure
reveals that the European Parliament has been a strong advocate for having concrete
legislative measures (Heinz 2018). They pushed for, for instance, the development
of 2014 non-financial information disclosure Directive, as well as the mandatory
separation of textile waste under the WFD (Directive (EU) 2018/851; European
Parliament 2019).
15.2.2 Sweden
Policy development related to environmental impacts of textiles in Sweden during
the last decade was triggered by the mandate set at Article 29 of (then new) 2008
WFD (Directive 2008/98/EC) that required all the EU Member States to establish a
waste prevention programme. In search for the content of such a programme, Nordic
countries identified textile waste as one of the priority product groups, and started
to explore potential policy measures through their policy collaboration mechanism
of the Nordic Council of Ministers (Tojo et al. 2012). The main issue the countries
sought to address was not directly related to waste, but production phase of environmental impacts via closing and slowing the material loops. The Nordic Council
of Ministers have been also active in exploring the potential of setting standards
for textile products within the framework of the so-called EU Eco-design Directive,
whose use is currently limited to energy related products (Directive 2009/125/EC;
Bauer et al. 2018).
D. Machek et al.
under the same Annex (Article 67). According to the European Chemical Agency, a
number of restricted substances concern textiles (European Chemical Agency n.d.).
Many of the restricted substances are used during the production process of textile
products.
The 2008 framework Directive on waste (WFD) (Directive 2008/98/EC), in its
revision in 2018 based on the introduction of the EU Circular Economy Package in
2015 (EC 2015), also incorporated several requirements specific to textiles, along
with a few other product streams such as electronics and furniture (Directive (EU)
2018/851). The revision requires EU Member States to set up systems promoting
repair and recycling activities for textiles (Article 1 (10)) and to separate textile waste
from other municipal solid waste from 2025 onwards (Article 1 (12) (b)). Article
1 (12) (e) of the revision further puts mandates on the European Commission to
consider preparation for reuse and recycling targets for textile waste by 2024. Though
those new requirements do not address upstream of clothing industry directly, they
all aim at closing textile material loop, which in turn would reduce environmental
impacts related to production process.
Finally, triggered by the 2011 Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility,
the EU introduced in 2014 a new mandate on the disclosure of non-financial information (Directive 2014/95/EU). Large companies with more than 500 employees have
to publish their policy they implement regarding environment and social matters, as
well as diversify company board members.
An in-depth analysis of actors directly engaged in the EU governance structure
reveals that the European Parliament has been a strong advocate for having concrete
legislative measures (Heinz 2018). They pushed for, for instance, the development
of 2014 non-financial information disclosure Directive, as well as the mandatory
separation of textile waste under the WFD (Directive (EU) 2018/851; European
Parliament 2019).
15.2.2 Sweden
Policy development related to environmental impacts of textiles in Sweden during
the last decade was triggered by the mandate set at Article 29 of (then new) 2008
WFD (Directive 2008/98/EC) that required all the EU Member States to establish a
waste prevention programme. In search for the content of such a programme, Nordic
countries identified textile waste as one of the priority product groups, and started
to explore potential policy measures through their policy collaboration mechanism
of the Nordic Council of Ministers (Tojo et al. 2012). The main issue the countries
sought to address was not directly related to waste, but production phase of environmental impacts via closing and slowing the material loops. The Nordic Council
of Ministers have been also active in exploring the potential of setting standards
for textile products within the framework of the so-called EU Eco-design Directive,
whose use is currently limited to energy related products (Directive 2009/125/EC;
Bauer et al. 2018).