The textile sector faces a pivotal shift focused on three R rules. Recovery of demand is under pressure as recent years show a contraction in clothing consumption across Spain, with 2020 turnover down 41.3 percent and an additional decline in 2021. Inflation further squeezes household budgets, dampening sales. Beyond small brands and independent designers who champion durability as the principal pathway to reducing environmental impact, the industry still struggles to commit to truly changing everyday consumer habits. Reuse remains limited, hindered by several factors, and recycling remains an unmet goal. Some observers even foresee a fourth R emerging, a forced reinvention of fashion driven by new European policies and regulations.
Mango for example announced a major policy shift aimed at transparency. The brand will remove the previous tag indicating sustainability, and starting this year, will gradually introduce a QR code to distinguish the most responsible collections. This code will guide buyers to a dedicated website with detailed information about production processes, fabric compositions, and the place of manufacture. The remaining brands will be compelled to follow suit. The European Commission Textile Strategy is steering this change with a Digital Product Passport designed to raise consumer awareness and curb greenwashing in the world’s most polluting industry. The passport aims to document product origin, materials, and lifecycle data so shoppers can verify claims with clarity. — European Commission
waste and land law
In the short term, legislation on waste and contaminated soil is steering the circular economy. The adaptation of the communal waste directive by the Spanish Government set a deadline of 31 December 2024 for the selective collection of textile waste across municipalities. It also requires fashion companies to adopt management and cost responsibilities within three years from the directive’s April 2022 entry into force, anchored in the Extended Producer Responsibility framework, modeled after the Ecoembes approach that coordinates recycling of materials from yellow and blue recycling streams. — European Commission
Major fashion groups operating in Spain have decided to take a proactive step by forming their own Collective System for Extended Producer Responsibility, also known as SCRAP. The alliance includes seven members: Inditex, H&M, Decathlon, Ikea, Kiabi, Mango, and Tendam (formerly Cortefiel). With the alliance charter unveiled yesterday at the Museo del Traje, a state museum linked to the Ministry of Culture and Sports, these companies aim to bolster textile recycling in Spain and move toward a circular model with proper waste management for the sector. — European Commission
Model and funding
Members of the Textile Waste Management Association are not disclosing further details yet. They describe their work as focusing on the business, finance, and data model that underpins the operation. It remains unclear whether the initiative will expand to include additional brand partners. Leadership responsibilities will rotate annually among the partners, and Mango will begin with a board of directors that features representatives from each participant. — European Commission
The culture of recycling and reusing clothes remains remarkably low. There are no reliable official figures on textile waste generation, though estimates suggest as much as one million tons annually. Only about 110,000 tons, roughly 10 percent, are recovered for recycling, while the majority ends up in conventional garbage streams. These numbers underscore the scale of change needed across the industry. — European Commission