MEPs back natural fibre ecodesign push

BRUSSELS – Fifteen Members of the European Parliament have called for sustainably sourced renewable materials (SSRM) to be included as an ecodesign requirement in the forthcoming delegated act on textiles under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

In a letter to the EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, signed by members of the European Parliament’s informal Sustainable Textiles Working Group, the MEPs warned that the Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) preparatory study — which focuses heavily on recyclability and recycled content — fails to address the parallel need to promote natural and sustainably farmed fibres such as cotton and wool.