Wednesday 7 October 2020

EAC to revisit inquiry into sustainability of fashion sector

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) is to revisit the issue of sustainability across the UK's fashion industry.

The work will follow-up on its 2018 inquiry, which was called 'fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability' and comes as a result of continued concerns around the environmental impact of the sector, as well as working conditions in the UK garment industry.

The government rejected the majority of the EAC's prior recommendations, which included a producer responsibility charge to pay for better clothing collection and recycling.

Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Philip Dunne, said: “Two years, four fashion seasons and billions of tonnes of harmful emissions from textile production later, my Committee has decided to revisit its fashion sustainability work.

“The fashion industry has a major environmental footprint – from the extraordinary amount of water to create cotton and polyester, to the sheer scale of waste with many items being worn once and thrown away. Our thirst for the latest trends is simply unsustainable."