Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles outlines the EU’s vision for the future of the fashion industry and the major reforms that will affect the sector in the coming years.

The EU’s overarching goal is to make textile products on the EU market long-lived and recyclable, made as much as possible of recycled fibers, free of hazardous substances and produced in respect of social rights and the environment by 2030.

New rules will be introduced to extend the life of textile products and foster new circular business models. The EU plans to introduce new binding ecodesign requirements for textiles to increase their durability, reusability, repairability, fiber-to-fiber recyclability and mandatory recycled fiber content. Furthermore, hazardous chemicals in textile products will be subject to new rules requiring producers to minimize or even substitute them in clothes and footwear.In addition, the EU plans to boost new circular business models, such as reuse, renting, repair, product-as-a-service, take-back services and second-hand retail.

The work to develop new EU-wide ecodesign requirements will start in 2022. At the moment, the focus seems to be on personal and household textiles, but the plan is to launch a public consultation by the end of the year that could identify further priorities.