MPs demand fashion bosses reveal environmental records

The Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee has written to the UK’s
ten leading fashion retailers, including Marks and Spencer, Primark, Next,
and the Arcadia Group, to submit evidence to the Committee’s inquiry into
the sustainability of the fashion industry, to state what steps they are
taking to reduce the environmental and social impact of the clothes and
shoes that they sell.

Environmental Audit Committee Chair Mary Creagh MP said in a statement:
“The way we design, produce and discard our clothes has a huge impact on
our planet. Fashion and footwear retailers have a responsibility to
minimise their environmental footprint and make sure the workers in their
supply chains are paid a living wage. We want to hear what they are doing
to make their industry more sustainable.”

The retailers, which also includes Asda, TK Maxx and Homesense, Tesco,
JD Sports, Debenhams, and Sports Direct, have been asked to respond on the
concerns that the demand for fast fashion is fuelling the need for quick
turn-arounds in the supply chain, leading to poor working conditions in UK
garment factories, in order for the committee to offer recommendations to
the Government on how to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion
industry.

The Committee wants each retailer to provide information on: whether
they pay the living wage to garment workers and how they ensure child
labour is not used in their supply chains; whether they use recycled
materials; how long clothes are kept and how they encourage recycling;
whether they incinerate unsold or returned stock; what steps they are
taking to reduce the risk of microplastics contaminating the ocean; and
what other steps they are taking to reduce the environmental impact of
their clothing ranges and how they audit success.

Environmental Audit Committee asks fashion chains M&S, Primark and Next
to reveal what steps they are taking to reduce environmental and social
impact of their clothes

In the letter, Creagh said to the fashion chains: “As you will be aware,
there are increasing concerns about the social and environmental footprint
of the clothing industry. There are also concerns about fair pay for
garment workers. Clothing production involves water and energy intensive
processes resulting in pollution and greenhouse gases. It uses chemical
dyes, finishes and coatings – some of which are toxic. Synthetic fibres
used in clothing result in ocean pollution as plastic microfibres are
released when washed, entering the ocean and ultimately our food chain.”

The Environmental Audit Committee has given the retailers until October
12 to respond, and has added that it may call in some of the biggest
retailers into Parliament for “further questioning” when the hearings for
the inquiry start in November, and added that all responses would be
published, including nil returns.

Commenting on the government’s request for evidence, Peter Andrews, head
of sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said in a statement:
“As our population grows, more people are buying more clothes, which does
impact the environment. However, because of the efforts of leading fashion
retailers, many of the clothes that we now buy have lower individual
environmental impacts.

“This has been achieved through sourcing more sustainable materials,
designing products that are made to last, and encouraging customers to
return unwanted clothes for reuse. Looking ahead, we know more needs to be
done. Clothing production is a global market place and the best answers to
its environmental and social impacts will be achieved with collaborative
global actions.”

Committee examining the sustainability of fashion industry reveals
preliminary evidence

As part of the ongoing inquiry, the committee also revealed details of
preliminary evidence already submitted by experts, campaigners, and
sustainable fashion innovators earlier this year. Which includes evidence
from the Textiles Recycling Association that shows that the UK consumes new
clothing at a higher rate than that any other European nation, at 26.7
kilograms per capital, in comparison to Germany at 16.7 kilograms and
Denmark at 16 kilograms.

While evidence submitted by the British Retail Consortium reveals that
academic research in Leicester, a UK sourcing hub, found that between 70
percent and 90 percent of garment workers are paid below the minimum wage
and do not have employment contracts, and are subject to intense and
arbitrary work practices.

Traid’s submission added that clothing production has roughly doubled in
15 years. During the past 10 years studies suggest that the number of items
of clothing purchased per consumer has increased more than two fold, while
adding that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothing ends up in
household residual waste every year, with around 80 percent going to
landfill and 20 percent incinerated.

The textile reuse and international development charity, which is
working to stop clothes from being thrown away, added that clothing
production uses a large volume of water and can result in extensive water
pollution. In 2016, the water footprint of clothing in use in the UK was
around eight billion cubic metres (with each cubic metre equalling 1,000
litres) of water. Adding that countries such as China, India and Pakistan,
which now supply most of the cotton for UK clothes, are more likely to
suffer severe water stress and scarcity.

Research from Professor Thompson at the University of Plymouth revealed
that there is clear evidence that marine habitats around the UK and
globally are being contaminated with synthetic fibres, and that a single
domestic wash can release in the region of 700,000 fibres to wastewater.
While some fibres are intercepted in wastewater treatment, he notes that
some escape to the environment.

While submissions from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers added
that the global fashion industry produced 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2
equivalent in 2015, more emissions than international flights and maritime
shipping combined and that a pair of 501 Levi’s jeans will use 3,781 litres
in its full lifecycle, from growing cotton and its manufacture through to
consumer care and end-of-life disposal.

Image: courtesy of – where the British designer
highlighted how “disposable” items are harmful to the environment in her
AW17 ad campaign