EU Regulations Promote the Sustainable Development of the Textile Industry

The operation of the international garment and textile industry certainly does not run out of thin air. It must abide by relevant laws and regulations and the industry can actually comply with it to reduce pollution or avoid the use of potentially harmful chemicals.

In terms of environmental legislation, the EU is usually a global leader and implements many laws and regulations to promote sustainable practices in the industry as a whole and to encourage companies to be more environmentally friendly and meet or exceed legal minimum standards.

Some legislation is aimed at specific industries, such as the EU's eco-label system for textiles and garments. It is a voluntary system that allows companies to label eco-labels on their products if they are in the fiber production process. In addition, the use of hazardous substances that adversely affect the global environment of water and air is restricted, and the risk of allergic reactions is reduced, and products are not likely to shrink compared with traditional products. They have high color fastness and are resistant to washing. The characteristics of resistance to dry friction and sunlight resistance are the same as those of traditional products.

At the same time, there are other laws and regulations that are highly relevant to the environmental performance of the textile and garment industries and other few industries.

The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the EU are currently exercising control over the use of biocides in textiles and negotiating the final version of the new EU Biopesticide Product Directive. Members of the European Parliament and ministers are in favor of the current version of the decree, and they are currently discussing the removal of contradictions.

The EU ministers hope to implement a special authorization for the use of all types of biocidal products in phases between 2013 and 2020. The European Parliament Gazette pointed out that the scope of the decree will be extended to all products produced by the EU market that are treated with a killer, such as sleeping bags, sofas or odorless socks.

EU regulation of nanomaterials

Another upcoming EU directive that regulates nanomaterials and special laws that have a profound effect on the garment and textile industries will be submitted for discussion this year.

Many reports point out that the EU's existing environmental health regulations are not sufficient to deal with the unusual behavior of materials produced using nanotechnology, and that microscopic particles may be transferred to the environment and human hazards.

For example, a report published by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly-Identified Health risks of the European Union states how to identify the toxicity of nanomaterials via nanoparticle and its potential consumer products. May hurt.

The nanomaterials tend to form crystals, which attract or lose electrons, have photocatalytic activity, form surface charges, solubility in water, and other characteristics, and are expected to eventually be able to compose complex nanometers under the new EU nano law. Substances are classified and controlled according to their degree of harm.

According to the report, according to the Nano Decree, according to whether the basic particles can be naturally or artificially reduced to the nanometer scale, nanocomposite nanoparticles of different nanocomposites are evaluated and classified, and supervised to achieve reduction. The purpose of nanomaterial damage.

REACH regulation

However, the really important EU law in this area is, of course, the REACH Chemicals Policy Act, which is the European Union's Registration Evaluation Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, which was already in force in 20076. Formally implemented on the 1st of the month, chemical substances have been classified as a set of authorization evaluation systems that are still under development.

The REACH Act implicates textile and garment companies and has impacted these companies. The chemical substances of the scorpion group (according to the tonnage of the production or import, and the specific chemical characteristics) of the scorpion group were passed by the European Chemicals (EC) in charge of the implementation and supervision of the REACH Act in November (2010). Agency, ECHA) completed its registration and entered the most important milestone.

REACH regulations stipulate that any company that produces or imports chemicals can enter the EU market only after it has been registered and approved within the period specified by ECHA. The registration period is divided into 2010, 2013 and 2018 according to the scale of production or import of the company. three phases.

The first phase of the REACH regulation relates to chemical substances produced or imported by companies in excess of 1,000 metric tons per year; chemicals that cause production, or imports of more than one metric ton per year; carcinogenic, genetic mutations, harmful to the reproductive system; and annual production or imports More than 100 metric tons of chemical substances that are hazardous to the environment have been registered as scheduled before November 30, 2010.

The second stage is the annual registration period for chemical substances with production or import volume ranging from 100 to 1,000 metric tons to May 31, 2013. The third stage is the registration of chemical substances with annual production or import volume ranging from 1 to 100 metric tons. The deadline is May 31, 2018.

The current ECHA auditors are currently working with the REACH Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) to check whether the active ingredients used in the EU chemical compound have been registered in the chemical control system. ECHA has also published on its website a 2010 list of REACH registered substances and a webpage (http://www.europa.eu/chem_data/list_registration_2010_en.asp) for textiles and clothing companies to check online whether their chemical substances have been used. Complete the registration.

Another general law that is of vital importance in relation to environmental policies in the textiles and clothing industry was announced this year that the revising and naming of directives on industrial emissions may force manufacturers to reduce their pollution emissions.

The regulation was amended in June 2010 and affected industries (including textiles and clothing industry) will have to adopt “Best Available Technologies” to reduce pollutants including nitrogen oxides, dioxide*, and dust before 2012. Asbestos and heavy metal emissions.

This new law combines and revise seven existing air pollution control directives, in particular the large combustion plant directive and the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive. (Asian Textile Union)