Hybrid Event: EPR for circularity: towards a more sustainable EU textile sector
29 November 2023, 15:00 – 17:30 CET
Hybrid event: European Parliament room : ASP 1H1
and online
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is one of the key policies to implement the obligation to separately collect textile waste for EU Member States as of 2025. EPR schemes oblige producers to contribute to a more effective end-of-life phase of products and cover the costs of waste management. It is an important tool to ensure the reduction of the environmental impact of textiles, promote circularity, and contribute to more efficient end-of-life management.
To ensure an effective implementation of EPR schemes, it is necessary to reach a common understanding of a few key issues: what are the current barriers to the widespread practice of circularity in textiles; what are the costs for the industry to transition towards a circular economy; and what are the necessary organizational changes.
Indeed, EPR should look beyond waste management costs that may support local or short-term needs, but lack a vision towards the overarching objective of enabling circularity in line with the European Green Deal and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Horizon Europe project CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in textile management to increase the circular use of textiles in the EU, and to minimise the environmental impact of the sector. CISUTAC’s vision on EPR proposes a set of guiding principles for an EU-wide textiles EPR that supports the transition to a circular economy. Within CISUTAC, partners are working towards developing a shared vision on strategies for a more circular and sustainable EU textile sector, which will be used to advise the project on strategic directions, to identify relevant innovation gaps and possible solutions emerging from CISUTAC. The vision will be based on an assessment of EU developments and national measures enabling circularity, and will cover ten key elements including, among others, waste prevention and reduction, product eco-design, reuse and repair, green public procurement and consumer dimension.
The purpose of the event is to enable a constructive dialogue between project partners, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders on the key topic of EPR, contributing to the policy debate on the recently published proposal for revision of the Waste Framework Directive.
The event will provide a platform for CISUTAC to present its vision on EPR and generate awareness raising on the importance of EPR for circularity, followed by an exchange of views on opportunities and challenges with setting up environmentally effective EPR schemes and advancing harmonised implementation across EU Member States.
Draft agenda:
14:15 Arrival and accreditation of external participants in front of the EP main entrance
15:00 – 15:15: Welcome and opening remarks
- Malte Gallée MEP
- Françoise Bonnet, Secretary General, ACR+
15:15 – 15:30: Vision for a European EPR that drives textile circularity
- Ekaterina Stoyanova, Policy Officer Sustainable Businesses, EURATEX representing CISUTAC
15:30 – 16:15: Panel discussion 1: How can EPR support the organization of textile waste management?
Moderator: Ilias Grampas, Deputy Director, EBCD
Panelists:
- Wolfgang Trunk, Team Leader, Circular Economy – From Waste to Resources, DG Environment, European Commission
- Marije Slump, Policy Officer Circular Economy, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, The Netherlands
- Maud Hardy, General Manager, Refashion
- Jean-Benoît Bel, Research Lead and Projects Management, ACR+
Q&A
16:15 – 16:25: Reactions from MEPs
16:30 – 17:15: Panel discussion 2: How to design accountable and effective EPR to support the transition to sustainable textiles industry?
Moderator: Ilias Grampas, Deputy Director, EBCD
Panellists:
- Marie-Jeanne Gaertner, Project and Advocacy Officer, RREUSE
- Branson Skinner, Co-Founder & Executive Producer, OR foundation
- Lars Mortensen, Circular Economy, Consumption and Production Expert, European Environment Agency (EEA)
- Mauro Scalia, Director Sustainable Businesses, EURATEX
Q&A
17:15 – 17:25: Reactions from MEPs
17:25 – 17:30: Closing remarks by Malte Gallée MEP
