Textiles and apparel industry association Euratex has launched a manifesto, urging EU policy makers to act to establish a true circular fashion system. The manifesto is the first step of a new strategy that aims to bring the industry together to find ways forward on circularity. The manifesto makes recommendations for future EU actions, and paves the way for a new industry collaboration, which includes discussions on the presence of hazardous chemicals.

Among the recommendations, the manifesto calls for a new toolbox to bring together public and private initiatives, in order to remove barriers, increase awareness, invest in technological innovation, stimulate demand and develop new business models; coordination across all institutions at the EU level to be able to cover the full complexity of circular fashion and textiles; smart regulation to identify and alleviate areas that the industry cannot address alone, and encourage future innovation; and clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each actor in the value chain.

The manifesto shows that finding new ways for unprecedented coordination is possible. It is significant because it is the first time so many organisations in the fashion industry have come together to work with policy makers on a unified approach to circularity.