Sustainable Clothing Action Plan launched at London Fashion Week
A new action plan to make fashion more sustainable and less environmentally damaging was launched today at the start of London Fashion Week, by Defra Minister Lord Hunt.
The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap has brought together over 300 organisations, from high street retailers, to designers and textile manufacturers to battle the environmental impacts of ‘throw away fashion’. Companies and some of the biggest names in fashion have signed up to take actions to make a significant difference to the environmental footprint and social inequalities which blight some of the production and retail processes of consumer fashion.
While having many economic benefits, clothing has a significant environmental and ethical impact ranging from increased carbon emissions, waste, water usage and pollution to child labour and unfair trading conditions. The clothing and textiles sector in the UK alone produces around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2, 2 million tonnes of waste and 70 million tonnes of waste water per year - with 1.5 million tonnes of unwanted clothing ultimately ending up in landfill.
Lord Philip Hunt, Minister for Sustainability said:
“This action plan represents a concerted effort from the fashion industry, including top names in the high street and manufacturers to change the face of fashion.
“Retailers have a big role to play in ensuring fashion is sustainable. We should all be able to walk into a shop and feel that the clothes we buy have been produced without damaging the environment or using poor labour practices, and that we will be able to reuse and recycle them when we no longer want them.
“I’m delighted that so many fashion companies have signed up to the sustainable clothing action plan and I look forward to seeing these actions come to fruition.”
Further information
Page last modified: 20 February 2009
Page published: 20 February 2009