Northern Europe: Eco-label becomes a new requirement for textiles

The Nordic countries' increasing requirements for product design, stricter requirements for chemicals, increasing concerns for quality and longevity, and a ban on the burning of unsold textiles are part of the Nordic eco-labeled new requirements for textiles.

Clothing and textiles are the fourth most environmentally and climate-damaging consumer sectors in the EU. There is therefore an urgent need to reduce environmental and climate impacts and move to a more circular economy, where textiles are used for the long term and materials are recycled. One area where Nordic eco-labelling has tightened requirements is in product design. To ensure that textiles are designed to be recycled so that they can be part of a circular economy, the Nordic eco-label has strict requirements for unwanted chemicals and bans plastic and metal parts that have only decorative purposes. Another new requirement for Nordic eco-labeled textiles is that manufacturers will in future have to measure how much microplastic is released when washing synthetic textiles.