Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the implementation of the Automatic-sorting for Circularity in Textiles UK pilot; what funding he has provided to that pilot; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that materials processed through that scheme are retained for domestic reprocessing.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total cost of the Autosort for Circular Textiles Innovation Demonstrator was £4,128,228, with nearly £1.5 million of funding provided by industry and private investors.
One of the project’s aims was to ensure that the processed material was retained through domestic reprocessing. UK Fashion and Textile served as the lead partner, with supporting the UK textile manufacturing sector as one of their key objectives.
In addition, Innovate UK provided robust monitoring throughout the project to ensure it remained within its original scope, which we can confirm it did.
Although the funding phase has concluded, we continue to support this project and its partners to generate economic value that can be retained within the UK.
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn. The Circular Economy Taskforce will initially focus on six sectors that have the greatest potential to grow the economy: textiles; agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; and transport. The Circular Economy Taskforce will assess what interventions may be needed across the textiles sector.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of recycling infrastructure in handling textile waste from fast fashion.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While we do not hold any internal estimates on fast fashion waste volumes in the UK, industry partners provide some insight. WRAP estimates that the UK generated approximately 1.45 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2022, which includes clothing, household linens and more. WRAP-Textiles-Market-Situation-Report-2024.pdf
WRAP does not isolate a proportion of this as fast fashion. However, they note that low-quality textile goods are saturating secondary markets, with the average person in the UK throwing 35 items of unwanted textiles straight into the general waste each year, demonstrating the fast turnover of clothing. The price of our addiction to cheap fast fashion as pressure builds on UK second hand clothing market | WRAP - The Waste and Resources Action Programme
Meanwhile, figures from BusinessWaste indicate that 300,000 tonnes of clothing waste enter household bins annually in the UK, with much of this likely being fast fashion. Fashion Waste Statistics & Facts | Textile & Clothing Waste Facts
The department hasn't made any recent assessments on the effectiveness of recycling infrastructure, however we continue to monitor evidence. Within the Circular Economy Strategy, the Government is developing policy measures to improve circularity in the textiles sector.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the volume of textile waste generated from fast fashion annually.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While we do not hold any internal estimates on fast fashion waste volumes in the UK, industry partners provide some insight. WRAP estimates that the UK generated approximately 1.45 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles in 2022, which includes clothing, household linens and more. WRAP does not isolate a proportion of this as fast fashion. However, they note that low-quality textile goods are saturating secondary markets, with the average person in the UK throwing 35 items of unwanted textiles straight into the general waste each year, demonstrating the fast turnover of clothing. Meanwhile, figures from BusinessWaste indicate that 300,000 tonnes of clothing waste enter household bins annually in the UK, with much of this likely being fast fashion.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the environmental impact of fast fashion.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not made an assessment of the environmental impact of fast fashion.
The Government is funding action on textiles through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). As part of this work, WRAP has produced a number of reports including the Textiles Market Situation Report 2024 which looks at textile consumption, manufacturing and the post-consumer textiles market. This report, as well as a range of WRAP’s other textiles-related reports, are published on their website at: https://www.wrap.ngo/taking-action/textiles/key-resources.
WRAP also manages the Textiles 2030 voluntary initiative on our behalf. This supports businesses and organisations within the fashion and textiles industry to transition to more sustainable and circular practices.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to introduce an extended producer responsibility scheme for the textile sector.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has asked his department to convene a taskforce of experts from across Government, industry, academia and relevant non-governmental organisations. The Taskforce will help to develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis. The Taskforce will consider the evidence for action right across the economy, and as such the Taskforce will evaluate what interventions may need to be made in the textiles sector as it helps to develop the Circular Economy Strategy.
In the meantime, we continue to fund action in this area through the Textiles 2030 voluntary initiative which supports businesses and organisations within the fashion and textiles industry to transition to more sustainable and circular practices.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England, published on 18 December 2018, what his policy is on (a) extended producer responsibility and (b) product standards for (i) textiles, (ii) bulky waste items, (iii) construction and demolition materials, (iv) vehicle tyres and (v) fishing gear.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are not exploring Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles, furniture, construction and fishing gear while we focus our efforts on delivering EPR for packaging. The Government remains committed to introducing EPR for packaging in 2025.
We are working on product standards for textiles, bulky waste items, construction and demolition material and fishing gear through:
We do not have current plans to consult on EPR or product standards for vehicle tyres, but we will keep this option under review.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report by Textile Exchange, indicating that there are likely to be only 30 million tonnes available globally of "preferred materials" for fashion production, accounting for 19 per cent of global demand; and what steps are they taking to reduce the use of "non-preferred materials".
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Defra has not made an assessment of the Preferred Fiber and Materials Report by The Textiles Exchange. One of Defra’s delivery partners, WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), manages Textiles 2030, which commits signatories, who represent 62% of the fashion industry, to meet ambitious targets to reduce water and carbon consumption. WRAP has also done research on sustainable clothing design and produced guidance on fibre and fabric selection.
In July, Defra announced proposals for keeping textiles in use for longer and minimising textile waste. These proposals, which will be subject to consultation in 2024, include a requirement for non-domestic settings such as businesses to separate their textile waste from other types of waste so that it can be collected for reuse or recycling. This separately collected textile waste should not enter landfill or be incinerated. Defra is also proposing that certain retailers provide in store facilities so that customers can return their pre-loved textiles for recycling or reuse.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support UK based fashion businesses to compete with businesses in the EU.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Export Support Service (ESS) brings together information from across government, making it easier for exporters to find what they need in one place. The service also includes an Export Policy Hub which helps answer complex queries and analyse business intelligence to identify barriers to exporting and a Europe Market Access Centre, where local market experts in Europe will provide exporters with expertise.
Officials work closely with representatives from the textile and footwear sectors to understand how government can help businesses increase their UK manufacturing capabilities while increasing their exports.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department have taken to improve (a) environmental and (b) human sustainability practices in the fashion industry.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The textiles and fashion industry plays an important role in the UK’s social and cultural heritage, and is a major driver of economic growth - with UK designers and manufacturers exporting around the world. Improving the creative industries’ environmental impact was identified as a priority in our Creative Industries Sector Vision, published in June 2023.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) works with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the work they are doing on textiles waste management. Defra’s ambitions for minimising textile waste are outlined in ‘Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste’ which constitutes a new Waste Prevention Plan and was published on 28 July 2023. Defra funds Textiles 2030, a voluntary initiative with over 110 signatories from the fashion manufacturing industry covering 62% by sales of the UK clothing market. Signatories are committed to reducing their carbon and water usage and to other circular economy principles such as agreeing good design principles so that their products are durable and recyclable.
DCMS also supports the UK Research and Investment (UKRI) £15 million Circular Fashion programme, launched in 2022 to bring the sector, academia and government together to understand and drive the fashion and textiles industry towards sustainable and responsible practices.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to tackle waste generated by the consumption of fast fashion.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government’s 2018 Resources & Waste Strategy for England identified textiles, which includes waste generated by the consumption of fast fashion, as a priority sector for action. Our ambitions to minimise textile waste will be outlined in the upcoming document Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste, which constitutes a new Waste Prevention Programme for England. We expect to publish this in summer 2023.