“Whilst the apparel and footwear category may be one of the first to compare products made from renewable and non-renewable materials, it will not be the last,” the letter says.

“Attributes such as renawability and biodegradability need to be more properly and coherently assessed in PEF.”

The letter was shared in a Tweet by MEP Hilde Vautmans (BE, Renew) and later by MEP Calenda. Read the letter here:

https://twitter.com/hildevautmans/status/1488208667224772617

You’ve Got (More) Mail

Another letter to the Commission, initiated by MEP Anna Cavazzini (DE, Greens) and addressing the upcoming strategy on Sustainable Textiles, was also shared at the end of January. This one was signed by 35 members of the Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA) Group.

These letters follow a joint letter to the Commission signed by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden in October of last year. Again, the authors highlighted concerns with the upcoming strategy on Sustainable Textiles.

EU Geen Claims Expected to Require PEF Methodology

The European Commission is preparing to table proposals on environmental claims, reports European news media Euractiv in its continuing series on the EU’s Sustainable products initiative (SPI). The intent behind the proposals is to make the information reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU.

It is anticipated that companies will have to substantiate their environmental claims using the EU’s PEF methodology, but whether this will be mandatory or voluntary remains to be seen. It is also unknown to what degree businesses will need to certify PEF compliance.

Given the methodology’s limitations, campaigners such as Make The Label Count say it is too soon to communicate PEF data on consumer-facing labels.

We must “ensure the claims that companies will use on their labels are credible, that consumers are not misled and to help the industry to make the green transition the EU wants to see,” says Make The Label Count.

The PEF methodology, campaigners say, is incomplete. It currently downplays or excludes critical environmental impacts such as microplastics and does not reflect the EU’s own sustainability and circularity goals.