Is it wrong to buy disposable fashion? This French bill could crack down on unsustainable clothing.
Fast fashion advertising could soon be banned in France under new proposals to crack down on polluting industries.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Anne-Cecile Violand, also calls for imposing penalties on low-cost clothing to cover their environmental impact.
It will be considered by the Sustainable Development Committee on March 14 and could then be passed by the Senate.
“Ultra-fast fashion is an environmental disaster. Clothes are poorly made, widely purchased, rarely worn and quickly thrown away,” Environment and Transition Minister Christophe Besh said on Tuesday after a discussion with industry stakeholders. I wrote about it in X magazine.
He supports proposals to ban advertising that: fast fashion Establishing environmental penalties for selling products, including through social media influencers, and clothing.
Mr. Becciu also expressed support for the strengthened policy. Consumer information Fast fashion brands should speak out about the environmental impact of their clothing and encourage consumers to reuse items.
Shane targeted by France’s anti-fast fashion bill
Chinese Singaporean fast fashion retailer Shane are specifically targeted in the proposal.
“Shane We offer 900 times more products than traditional French brands,” and the brand releases more than 7,200 new clothing models a day, for a total of 470,000 products. added that it is available.
It says this will allow the brand to attract a wider range of customers, achieve “enormous sales economies” and set “lower prices than ever before.”
This forces European fashion brands to increase production in order to compete.
Last month, Shane london stock exchange. The filing said the ultra-fast fashion brand, which sells in more than 150 countries around the world, was seeking a valuation of about $90 billion, according to Bloomberg. This will be LSE’s largest ever initial public offering (IPO), but the company’s manufacturing practices may come under intense scrutiny.
The high turnover rate of inexpensive fashion items “influences consumer purchasing habits by creating buying impulses and the need for continuous replacement,” it suggests, with negative environmental, social and economic impacts. The book warns.
The environmental impact of fast fashion
According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), more than 100 billion items of clothing are sold around the world every year.
in FranceAccording to the environmental group Refashion, in 10 years, the number of clothing items sold annually has increased by 1 billion, reaching 3.3 billion items and more than 48 clothes per person.
Worldwide, the textile and clothing industry accounts for about 10% of greenhouse gases. emissionsmore than air and sea transport combined, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Also contributes to water pollution20% of this is due to fiber dyeing and processing. micro plastic Since it is made of synthetic material, it will fall off when washed.
Furthermore, it is well documented that cheap clothing is associated with labor and human rights violations.
What is being done to combat fast fashion pollution in Europe?
Various laws are gradually being introduced by the EU to curb the impact of polluting industries. For example, the Climate Change and Resilience Act plans to require environmental information to be displayed on products such as clothing.It also targets things that are misleading. environmental labelaims to reduce packaging materials and promote product repair and reuse.
The EU Circular Economy Package furthers this goal by introducing bonuses.
Product repair and promotion Round Encourage local economy and eco-design.
But these measures are not enough to address the environmental threat of fast fashion, the French bill argues, adding that there is a need to return to sustainable production levels.
What will change under France’s fast fashion bill?
The bill proposes increasing consumer information and awareness about the environmental impact of fast fashion. We also aim to encourage reuse. repair Developing clothing to fight disposable culture.
It imposes greater responsibility on producers and proposes fines based on a product’s environmental impact and carbon footprint, similar to those already imposed in the auto industry.
sustainability and recyclability Violand told Radio France that the scheme would be implemented on a sliding scale and could reach up to 10 euros per item sold, or 50% of the purchase price, by 2030.
The fines will be used to fund waste management, repair bonuses and public awareness campaigns, as well as encourage fair competition for businesses to operate in more sustainable ways.
Finally, the bill would ban advertising of fast fashion brands and products. fossil fuel advertising Banned under the Climate Change and Resilience Act.
The bill has received support from industry voices, including a French menswear designer and the president of the National Lifestyle Federation (FrancePierre Talamont (National Clothing Federation) said brands should be penalized for “commercial marketing and overproduction practices that encourage people to buy clothes to wear seven or eight times and then throw them in the trash.” .
These players “don’t create” work But destroy them,” he added.
