Corporate Responsibility Update nr. 4, 2022
EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles
The EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles addresses the production and consumption of textiles, whilst recognising the importance of the textiles sector. It implements the commitments of the European Green Deal, the new circular economy action plan and the industrial strategy. The ambitious action plan will make sustainability the norm. Modint endorses the vision for 2030 to build a competitive, robust and innovative textile- and apparel sector, striving to European market where textile products are sustainable, repairable and recyclable and circularity is the norm. Click here for the factsheet.
Event
In the news
Xinjiang
- What Retail Really Wants from the Uyghur Bill: ‘You Really Have to Guess What the Issue Is’
- China Has ‘No Intention’ of Curbing Xinjiang Textile Industry
Sector
- Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices (CFRPP): Learning and implementation community – opportunity for companies
- Een nachtmerrie voor je trui maar dé oplossing voor een duurzame kledingindustrie: krimp
- How Brands Are Stepping Up Their Sustainability Game
- Consumer Advice Centre warns against misleading advertising
- ‘License to Greenwash’? Report Slams Popular Certifications as Sustainability ‘Smokescreen’
- China’s BCI-Snubbing Cotton Sustainability Standard Goes Into Effect
- Online retailers in Duitsland geven meeste duurzaamheidsinformatie, blijkt uit onderzoek
- How can Digital Fashion Design help us be more sustainable?
- Uzbek Cotton Now ‘Free’ of Child and Forced Labor, ILO Says
- Dirk Mulder (ING): ‘Verkoop van tweedehands kleding via platformen lijkt duurzaam, maar is het niet’
- Podcast: De oplossing voor een duurzame kledingindustrie
Companies
- Li Ning refutes US claim of using North Korean forced labour in its supply chain as his sports goods are banned in America
- G-Star Raw, Bestseller Champion Organic Cotton With ‘Textiles in Transition’
Law & European/Dutch poltics
Europe
- EU moves to legislate sustainable fashion. Will it work?
- Proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition and annex
- Questions and Answers on EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
Netherlands
- Kamerbrief over verduurzaming van industrie
- Written questions - The message 'Companies do too little about corporate social responsibility'
- Postponement letter answering parliamentary questions Hagen (D66) about the waste mountains created by moving textile products from Europe to Ghana
- Legislative proposals for corporate responsibility (Modint gequote)
- Government letter - Making industry more sustainable
Materials
- In 2050, all our clothing will come from plants, just like in 1900 (Michiel Scheffer)
- Research into sustainable bamboo from Europe
In the news
Xinjiang
What Retail Really Wants from the Uyghur Bill: ‘You Really Have to Guess What the Issue Is’
American retail’s Big Four trade groups are calling for greater clarity, uniformity and transparency on the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which was signed into law in December and whose “rebuttable presumption” barring the majority of products from China’s Xinjiang region is scheduled to take effect in June, reports Sourcing Journal. Read more (please note you may need a login to read the complete article).
China Has ‘No Intention’ of Curbing Xinjiang Textile Industry
Human-rights and labor campaigners urged the Biden administration on Friday to wield the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) as a sharp instrument for ensuring the United States isn’t complicit in the modern-day slavery of persecuted Muslim minorities both in the Xinjiang region and the rest of China.The bill, which was signed into law in December and is poised to go into effect in June, creates a rebuttable presumption that all goods in Xinjiang are manufactured with forced labor and therefore barred from entering the United States unless clear and convincing evidence demonstrates otherwise, writes Sourcing Journal (please note you may need a login to read the complete article).
Sector
Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices (CFRPP): Learning and implementation community – opportunity for companies
Purchasing practices are at the heart of business and are vital in efforts to improve labour standards and are therefore a key priority for MSIs and many purchasing companies at the moment. Companies who are committed to improving purchasing practices and are wanting to intentionally take new steps towards progress and share learning with others, are invited to join our CFRPP ‘Learning and Implementation Community’. unity, if they are already members of one of the MSIs involved. Read more>>
Een nachtmerrie voor je trui maar dé oplossing voor een duurzame kledingindustrie: krimp
Modemerken hebben hun mond vol van recycling, biologisch katoen en hergebruik. Maar de meest effectieve manier om de milieu-impact van de kledingindustrie te verlagen, blijft onderbelicht: minder groei.Van sportmerk Nike en prijsknaller Primark tot luxemodemerk Gucci: is er nog een kledingbedrijf dat geen werk zegt te maken van verduurzaming?Ze verwerken het in hun missie, publiceren dikke rapporten over de stappen die ze zetten om klimaatneutraal en/of volledig circulair te worden, en nemen duurzaamheidsmanagers aan die afdelingen van meer dan honderd werknemers aansturen rondom ‘maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen’, schrijft Emy Demkes van de Correspondent. Lees meer (u heeft wellicht een inlog nodig om het complete artikel te kunnen lezen).
How Brands Are Stepping Up Their Sustainability Game
As consumers become more aware of sustainability, some fashion brands are making concerted efforts to not just be seen as an eco-conscious brand, but to change their practices and supply chains to reach legitimate sustainability goals, writes Sourcing Journal (please note you may need a login to read the complete article).
Consumer Advice Centre warns against misleading advertising
This article is translated from German to English
The sustainability of products is an important purchasing criterion for the majority of Germans. This is evident from the recently published "Global Sustainability Study 2021". "For consumers, the criteria are sometimes difficult to understand," says consumer law expert Jennifer Häußer of the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer advice centre. "If there is no more detailed information about this in the ads, customers are easily misled and buy products with wrong ideas." The consumer advice center has filed a lawsuit against the company Hunkemöller. Read more (the original article is in German).
‘License to Greenwash’? Report Slams Popular Certifications as Sustainability ‘Smokescreen’
The European Commission’s proposed greenwashing ban could have its work cut out for it, a new report claims.Certification labels and multi-stakeholder schemes, meant to guide the fashion industry on a more sustainable path in the absence of robust environmental legislation, have only served to provide brands and retailers with a veneer of accountability while pushing their own damaging business agendas, the Changing Markets Foundation said. Read the report.
China’s BCI-Snubbing Cotton Sustainability Standard Goes Into Effect
China’s homegrown cotton sustainability standard, which took effect Friday, might have a long road ahead before it gains the confidence of the international community, experts say.“On the heels of the Uyghur Act in the United States, widespread fraud and allegations of greenwashing in cotton and other fibers, a ‘labels without substance’ approach to sustainable fashion is a thing of the past,” Crispin Argento, managing director of The Sourcery, which helps brands and retailers source sustainable cotton, told Sourcing Journal. Read more>> (please note you may need a login to read the complete article).
Online retailers in Duitsland geven meeste duurzaamheidsinformatie, blijkt uit onderzoek
Webwinkels in Duitsland geven online de meeste informatie weer met betrekking tot hun duurzaamheidsbeleid. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam, schrijft FashionUnited. Lees meer>>
How can Digital Fashion Design help us be more sustainable?
What comes to your mind when you think of digital fashion? AR filters? Direct to avatar clothing? Skins for gaming? Digital Fashion is all of this and more and could also help us towards a fairer and more sustainable fashion system. And we are not only talking about the production phase, reducing waste in samples and so on. Sustainable practices can be adopted by digital fashion designers to ensure a better production process, from creation to the consumer.One key approach for a brand to consider its sustainable impact is the utilisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, writes Sourcing Journal (please note you may need a login to read the complete article).
Uzbek Cotton Now ‘Free’ of Child and Forced Labor, ILO Says
The Cotton Campaign Framework - for Responsible Sourcing of Yarn, Garments, Textiles and other Cotton Products from Uzbekistan. Read more>>
Dirk Mulder (ING): ‘Verkoop van tweedehands kleding via platformen lijkt duurzaam, maar is het niet’
Het kopen van tweedehands kleding is erg in opkomst. Met name bij jongeren die het belangrijk vinden om duurzame kledingkeuzes te maken. Lees meer>>
Podcast: De oplossing voor een duurzame kledingindustrie
Podcast: De oplossing voor een duurzame kledingindustrie. In deze aflevering onderzoekt Emy Demkes, correspondent kleding bij De Correspondent, wat de meest effectieve manier is om de milieu-impact van de kledingindustrie te verlagen. Beluister de podcast.
Companies
Li Ning refutes US claim of using North Korean forced labour in its supply chain as his sports goods are banned in America
Li Ning, the triple-gold Olympic medallist in gymnastics, said his namesake company has not found any forced labour in its supply chain, defending one of China’s largest athletic brands after its exports were banned this week by US customs, reports SCMP. Read more>>
Bestseller, G-Star Raw and Essenza Home to boost transparency of organic cotton
Brands Bestseller, G-Star Raw and Essenza Home have linked up with the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) initiative to launch a new multi-year project targeting transparency and fairness across the organic cotton sector, writes Eco-textile News (please notice you may need a login to read the complete article).
Law & European/Dutch poltics
Europe
EU moves to legislate sustainable fashion. Will it work?
The EU has developed a strategy for sustainable and circular textiles. Experts say it is a strong starting point, but social impact should be core to sustainability legislation, writes vogue magazine. Read more>>
Proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition and annex
This proposal amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive to empower consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair commercial practices and better information. Read more>>
Questions and Answers on EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
Why do we need to act on textiles? Read more>>
Netherlands
Kamerbrief over verduurzaming van industrie / Letter to Parliament on making industry more sustainable
Read the letter here (in Dutch).
Written questions - The message 'Companies do too little about corporate social responsibility'
Read the questions here (in Dutch).
Postponement letter answering parliamentary questions Hagen (D66) about the waste mountains created by moving textile products from Europe to Ghana
Read the letter here (in Dutch).
Legislative proposals for corporate responsibility (Modint gequote)
Companies are obliged to assess the social and environmental impact of their own activities, including those of direct and indirect trade relations. Where necessary, companies should take action to prevent or mitigate damage. This is reported by Modint, the network for the interior, carpet, textile and clothing industry. Read more>>
Government letter - Making industry more sustainable
Read the letter here (in Dutch).
Materials
In 2050, all our clothing will come from plants, just like in 1900 (Michiel Scheffer)
A century ago, all our textiles were of vegetable origin. Reliving old times, predicts Michiel Scheffer, programme manager Sustainable Textiles: "In 2050, we will wear clothes made from well-known and new vegetable crops and we will no longer make textiles from fossil raw materials." Read more (in Dutch)
Research into sustainable bamboo from Europe
Bamboo is a sustainable all-rounder: you can use it in clothing, textiles and as a building material. Now it is mainly imported from Asia, but recently the largest European nursery is in Portugal. Bamboo Europe is investigating how we can make the European bamboo industry as sustainable as possible, reports Change. (article is in Dutch).
