Ten years to transform textiles – countdown to Textiles 2030
London. Wednesday 7th April 2021
- Textiles 2030 - the first in a new wave of global sustainable textile agreements.
- Major high-street names join Textiles 2030 for virtual launch on Monday 26th April - for business and media.
- ‘Textiles 2030’ Roadmap to be revealed on launch day.
- WRAP urges business to help change clothes and homeware for good and halve their climate impact.
Textiles 2030, the most ambitious ten-year programme for clothing and textiles in the world, will have its official launch on Monday 26th April – WRAP announced today.
Textiles 2030 has already secured commitment from more than 10 brands and retailers, 20 re-use/recycling organisations and 10 affiliates meaning that the agreement is on track to have half the UK market signed up at launch. The first major high-street names to join Textiles 2030 include Dunelm, John Lewis, M&S, Next, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Ted Baker, Tesco and The Salvation Army.
Over the next decade, the voluntary agreement will slash the impact that UK clothing and home fabrics have on the environment through practical interventions along the entire textiles chain.
The Textiles 2030 Roadmap will set out the water and carbon reduction targets, and the key milestones and activities to introduce circularity at scale. These goals will transform the UK’s make-use-dispose fashion culture into one where products are made sustainably, used longer and then re-used or recycled.
The Target-Measure-Act approach will be used so that textiles businesses set tough targets, measure impact and track progress on both an individual business basis, and towards national targets and public reporting.
Textiles 2030 environmental targets are:
- Cut carbon by 50%, sufficient to put the UK textiles sector on a path consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change and achieving Net Zero by 2050 at the latest.
- Reduce the aggregate water footprint of new products sold by 30%.
Marcus Gover, CEO of WRAP: “The UK Parliament has investigated the textiles sector twice in recent years and is now looking at UK fashion companies to act. Our research shows that consumers want sustainable clothes not disposable fashion. Textiles 2030 is about transforming textiles and creating a fashion sector fit for the future. We need fast, effective action from businesses more than ever. Brand and retail signatories must show their commitment by signing up to Textiles 2030. Businesses who fail to engage will be noticeable by their absence. If your business is not already involved in Textiles 2030, now is the time to sign up.”
Minister Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: “It is time for businesses across the textiles sector to join Textiles 2030 and play their part at this critical time for the planet. Through Textiles 2030 we invite your commitment to work with WRAP, like-minded businesses and other partners towards a thriving, sustainable, circular UK textiles sector. I would like to see every CEO involved in this initiative.”
The agreement builds on the foundation of the SCAP 2020 voluntary agreement (Sustainable Clothing Action Plan) which saw businesses respond to growing public demand for fashion with a softer environmental footprint, by adopting robust measurement and targeted action.
The UK’s Textiles 2030 is the first national agreement in what will become a global network of new initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of clothing around the world, led by WRAP.
This new wave will be coordinated under the Textiles Action Network which is being developed by WRAP and supported by the Laudes Foundation. The project will deliver the first ever readymade plan to achieve global circular economy targets on clothing by co-ordinated national action. These plans can be used by individual nations and tailored to suit their circumstances, whilst still directing action towards global targets.
WRAP, in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI), will develop a set of globally relevant targets and will launch the second commitment, in Denmark, in summer 2021.
The launch of Textiles 2030 will be marked by an extensive virtual event on Monday 26th April, the details of which will be announced in the coming weeks. Please register for the event here
If your business is not already in involved in Textiles 2030, contact WRAP here.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
WRAP invites journalists interested in attending to contact the Media Relations team here.
WRAP textiles experts will be available for interview.
Voluntary Agreements - WRAP design, develop, convene, manage and support collaborative change programmes, mobilising businesses, governments, local authorities and other stakeholders to reduce the end-to-end environmental impacts in key sectors of production and consumption – food, textiles and plastic packaging.
SCAP 2020 (launched in 2012) set out to cut carbon, water and waste by influencing product design and manufacture, re-use and recycling. The agreement includes 140 members across the sector, including brands and retailers representing nearly half of all UK clothing sold. By the end of 2019, with one year to go:
- The carbon target was exceeded with a reduction of -15.9% per tonne of garments.
- The water target was exceeded with a -19.5% reduction per tonne of garments.
- The waste target recorded a -2.3% reduction against a -3.5% target per tonne of garments.
WRAP is a global NGO based in the UK. It works with governments, businesses and individuals to ensure that the world’s natural resources are used sustainably. It is the charity leading The UK Plastics Pact (a world first) as well as Love Food Hate Waste, the Courtauld Commitment, the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, Textiles 2030 and Recycle Now. WRAP works collaboratively and develops and delivers evidence-based, impactful solutions to reduce the environmental cost of the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the plastic packaging we use. Founded in 2000 in the UK, WRAP now works around the world and is a Global Alliance Partner of The Royal Foundation’s Earthshot Prize.
Read Our Plan for a Sustainable Planet. Follow our citizen campaigns on Instagram: Love Food Hate Waste @lfhw_uk Recycle Now @recyclenow_uk Wasting Food: It’s Out Of Date @OutOfDateUK Wales Recycles @WalesRecycles Clear on Plastics @ClearOnPlastics Love Your Clothes @LoveYourClothes_UK
Contact Frances Armitage, Media Relations Specialist: [email protected] Mob 07971 656 172