A report by analyst Euler Hermes Global says, the European textile and apparel (T&A) is expected to recover from its current gloom and grow by 15 per cent in 2021. The report attributes this optimism to the liquidity provided by central banks and governments to ailing companies. Also, new job-retention schemes will provide a substantial relief to the labor-intensive industry.

The report asserts even though the share of European textile and apparel industry has declined to less than 34 per cent from 40 per cent in 2009; it has acquired a more solid and competitive base focusing on higher-end items. As Eurostat reveals, between 2009 and 2017, the gross value added by each European employee increased by 25 per cent in apparel, 30 per cent in textile and 48 per cent for leather goods, footwear and accessories

However, aggregate turnover from the European textile and apparel industry will remain 7 per cent below its 2019 levels due to its dependence on international tourist flows.

Making polluters pay

The textile and apparel industry is a major consumer of water resources with estimated 73 per cent of all textile production is either incinerated or landfilled. The rise of fast fashion has contributed to the growing preference for quantity over quality among consumers. Between 2000 and 2015, average clothing utilization declined by about 35 per cent, while global volumes sold doubled to reach more than 100 billion items per year. Apparel consumption has grown by more than 25 per cent in Europe, with France and the UK seeing the strongest increases since 2000. Adding online retail sales of clothing, which are not captured in Eurostat’s dataset, makes the trend even more apparent.

To align environmental concerns with business interests, European manufacturers need to substitute primary resources with recycled materials. They can tackle the financing issues of separate collection, sorting and treatment of waste by introducing taxes based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle .This also encourages producers to find ways to reduce their environmental impact.

Additional public support can be sought to accelerate R&D projects focusing on improving textile waste collection, treatment, re-use and recycling – technologies are much less mature than in the glass or paper industries. The industry should also create demand for recycled materials by assigning targets to companies.

E-commerce to rescue manufacturers from crisis

As Europe has comparatively stricter labor regulation, higher labor costs and a narrower labor force, European manufacturers cannot compete with foreign manufacturers. Since long, NGOs and trade associations have addressed the need to change the European consumers’ buying behavior and align it with environmental targets with the interests of local manufacturers. Even a 10 per cent reduction in apparel imports by Germany and France to boost local European production by 8 per cent.

Researchers Carl Benedict Frey and Michael Osborne say, most garment industry jobs will be computerized by 2023, with tailors standing at 83 per cent and hand sewers at 99 per cent. Automation can help reduce Europe’s comparatively high-cost structure, support funds to increase the competitiveness of European manufacturers and stimulate the robot industries of Germany and Italy. European apparel manufacturers should also accelerate their efforts to develop e-commerce capabilities. Though e-commerce may not fully compensate for store closures, it can provide large retailers with some relief amidst the COVID-19 crisis.