EU proposes new rules to discourage disposable fast fashion
ABC News
The European Union plans to counter the polluting use of fast fashion and is warning consumers to stop using their clothes like disposable facial tissues
BRUSSELS -- The European Union warned consumers to stop using their clothes like throwaway items and said Wednesday that it plans to counter the polluting use of mass-market fast fashion.
New rules proposed by the EU's executive arm call for a mandatory minimum use of recycled fibers by 2030 and would ban the destruction of many unsold products. The European Commission rules also seek to contain the release of microplastics and improve global labor conditions in the garment industry.
“We want sustainable products to become the norm,” commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said. “The clothes we wear should last longer than three washes.”
The changes would require a massive shift in an industry that in order to keep costs and prices down, produces items with a short life span in developing nations in Asia and Latin America, often under poor working conditions.
