How can you, as a sector, prepare for the major challenges that affect every link in the supply chains? This question was central last week at the Circular Textile Days, where Clara Kuindersma and Gloria Carta went.
Challenges for the sector
The textile sector faces plenty of big challenges; long, hard-to-trace supply chains, production locations and markets that are connected over long distances, huge production and consumption volumes, an immense surplus of second-hand textiles, and a whole load of international legislation that is coming.
Digital Product Passport
The Digital Product Passport was perhaps the most frequently mentioned term these days. As part of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, producers will be required to add this passport to their products. And give insight in their chains and impact. Textile is one of the first sectors where the Digital Product Passport applies. But other sectors, you will have to follow as well.
Companies can, or must, already start preparing for this now. For example, by mapping their supply chain and collecting the corresponding data.
Gloria: “The Digital Product Passport asks a lot from companies, but once all the infrastructure is mapped out, we can expect many beneficial effects from it; on the level of manufacturers, consumers, and society as a whole.
The time of reckless pollution is over, and with all the sustainability legislation, we are really going to take the necessary steps. However, it is complex, and I understand that companies are still figuring out how to get started. My advice is to seek collaborations; you don’t have to do it alone."
Do you want to know more about the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation? Read the article down below.
