The topic of EPR, Extended Producer Responsibility, for those who deal in textiles, has been bubbling under for a while.
We have talked about this before on the Regenex blog. This article offers a recap and an update on latest developments.
It comes as the British Fashion Council signals its support for legislation in this area by the end of the current parliament, in a recently-published paper, Introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Textiles and Fashion in the UK.
What does EPR for the fashion industry have to do with laundries?
Well, textile waste from the fashion, domestic and commercial sectors is now being seen as a single and hugely problematic entity.
Our industry is now being firmly counted in with fast fashion as a major cause of the UK’s textile waste mountain which, according to UKFT and the University of Leeds, could now be as much as 3,264 kilotonnes per year.
Estimates are that only half of that is clothing – the rest comes from hospitality and healthcare plus the public sector, automotive, agriculture, building and construction.
So the responsibility to minimise waste and recycle properly is just as much laundries’ concern as the fast fashion brands synonymous with this issue.
What is EPR again?
EPR is an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the end of the product’s life cycle. Businesses that place products on the market (‘obligated producers’) become responsible for managing their products when these are discarded by consumers.
In the context of textiles, obligated producers are typically brands, retailers, and online markets that place textiles on the market. That could include laundries, that buy and service stock for hospitality and healthcare customers.
The responsibility imposed on these producers may be financial, such as fees for disposal, or operational, such as organising collection, but probably both.
What is the fashion industry proposing for textiles?
The BFC advocates the development of tEPR – the ‘t’ is for textiles – involving fees for disposal of unwanted textiles as a way for the UK to follow the lead of other countries in the march to low carbon ideals, and for fashion to foster an international advantage.
Lower fees in return for good practice would encourage eco-friendly behaviour with higher, inflexible costs slapped on to ‘free riders’, no matter how small that business.
Under BFC proposals – which come with aims to make it the law by the end of this parliament – income generated from tEPR would be invested in continued research and innovation in circular business models, sustainable manufacturing and the recycling infrastructure needed to transition to a circular textile economy across the UK.
How and where EPR is already in action
While this might sound a long way off, let’s remember that EPR is already active and implemented UK and internationally in other sectors, including packaging, electronics and car tyres.
Some countries already apply it to textiles. To date, countries with mandatory EPR policies covering textiles include France, Hungary, Latvia and the Netherlands, with Australia and others operating voluntary EPR schemes.
The BFC argues that industry should now lead the call, lobbying the UK Government for legislation to drive sustainable growth and reduce waste, emissions and pollution – with the next steps being further research, piloting and consultation.
What are the implications for UK laundries?
While laundry owners and managers could be forgiven for thinking ‘this is just more costs and restrictions on my business at a time when things are already tough’ the argument is that welcoming and pushing for EPR will help the whole industry.
If some of us are scratching our heads and wondering how on earth we can get from here to net zero, EPR will help things along collectively, with forward-thinking standards, systems and stipulations that will sweep us all towards a better, much more sustainable future.