The textile recycling and chemical sectors in Europe are ringing alarm bells after a recent event in Brussels in which talks between regulators and industry stakeholders raised the prospect of financial ruin for some and a missed opportunity for circular textile supply chains.
The talks were organized by chemical industry bodies and were held among delegates from the European Commission, member states, apparel brands and other stakeholders to identify serious concerns related to proposals to supplement the existing REACH regulation on skin sensitizers submitted to the Commission by France and Sweden in 2019.
The main fear is that the impact of the proposed more restrictive regulations on chemicals classified as skin sensitizers used in textiles and leathers will have unseen negative consequences when it comes to pushing for a circular European textile sector.
Nate Sponsler, AFIRM Group director, told Ecotextile News after the meeting, “We are seeing an absolute explosion of chemical restrictions. They are growing exponentially. I would say it’s going too far, because it’s going to jeopardize all the other priorities, such as fabric recycling. We seem to be trying to save the textile recycling industry right now. I spend a lot of my time defending it to legislators in Europe, California and elsewhere, because they will put them (recyclers) out of business if they continue on this path.”
The main problem, according to Sponsler, is that if a substance is classified in a harmonised way to be recognised as a skin sensitiser, as foreseen in the current proposal, it would automatically be banned in finished products without further analysis, discussions or specific risk assessments in just three years. ” This is where NGOs and EU regulators want to get. But this would be enormously destructive for both virgin and recycled textile materials, because they are literally reusing dyes and inherited chemicals for mechanical recycling”.
Those who recycle textiles in Europe agree. ” According to Remi Veldhoven, innovation manager at Dutch textile recycler Wolkat, mechanical fabric recyclers can do little to ensure compliance with a growing list of REACH restrictions, since it is not financially or logistically possible to test all clothing arriving in their facilities prior to the recycling process.
Since tests can only be performed after production and chemical defects at this stage can rarely be corrected, financial losses will be significant, said, since the recycler has already borne the costs associated with the transfer and processing of used clothing into regenerated fibres.