Press Release: SEEC & Slow Fashion Caucus Congressional Briefing
Leading Textile Stakeholders Brief the Congressional Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition and Slow Fashion Caucus on Circularity Solutions
Washington D.C., October 4, 2024 – In a collaborative effort to address the environmental impact of the fashion industry, leading textile stakeholders American Circular Textiles (ACT), The RealReal, The Nature Conservancy, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) participated in a congressional briefing hosted by the Slow Fashion Caucus and the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) on Thursday, October 3.
The briefing focused on the growing problem of textile waste and explored potential Federal policy solutions that encourage a circular economy model in the apparel industry.
“The textiles and fashion industries have a significant environmental footprint, and transitioning to a circular economy is essential for a more sustainable future,” stated Rachel Kibbe, CEO of American Circular Textiles. “We appreciate the opportunity to work with the SEEC and Slow Fashion Caucus, and fellow stakeholders, to address the urgent opportunity to develop durable Federal policies that prioritize reuse, repair, and recycling within our textile sector. These conversations are critical to remaining competitive in a global context, creating domestic jobs and economic opportunity, while also supporting positive consumer behavior and safeguarding our environment.”
The briefing emphasized the environmental benefits of a circular fashion model, such as reducing textile waste, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and conserving water. It also addressed solutions for tackling microfiber pollution and discussed how improved trade policies could support more circular textile systems. Key policy areas explored included:
● A Unified Federal Textile Waste Framework: These programs would hold producers financially responsible for the end-of-life management of their products, potentially incentivizing more sustainable design and production practices.
● Investment in Textile Recycling Infrastructure: The United States currently lacks robust infrastructure for recycling textiles efficiently. Policy initiatives could help spur investment in this area.
● Trade Policy and De Minimis: Ultra-fast fashion companies take advantage of the De Minimis trade loophole, contributing thousands of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere and skirting tariffs. Closing the De Minimis loophole is crucial, but as important is allocating the funds that would result from closing the loophole to domestic textile manufacturing and circular solutions.
● Policy solutions for consumer microfiber emissions from laundry care: Existing filtration systems exist to capture microfibers at scale in home laundry. Federal policy could provide a unified framework to make this implementable and affordable for manufacturers and consumers, alike.
“At The RealReal, we believe a circular economy is fundamental to our mission of creating a more sustainable future for fashion. Resale is the industry’s most effective and scalable solution for reducing its environmental impact, and we view it as a cornerstone of the circular economy. That’s why we collaborate with policymakers and industry partners to advocate for policies that support textile resale and the consumers who value it.”
- Bert Barnes, Director of Sustainability, The RealReal
“AAFA was grateful to have the opportunity to speak about the need for a cohesive, federal approach to supporting textile, apparel, and footwear manufacturers and brands in their quest to achieve circularity. We emphasized that Congress has an important role to play in ensuring that the funding necessary to build out necessary infrastructure is distributed to states, localities, logistics providers, and recycling innovators. We also made clear that Congress is currently missing an opportunity to use trade policy to both incentivize the use of recycled materials and lower cost barriers for consumers who want to make more sustainable choices. We look forward to further work on federal approaches to textile circularity with our fellow speakers and Members of Congress.”
- Chelsea Murtha, Senior Director, Sustainability, American Apparel & Footwear Association
“Microfibers are entering our homes, our water, and our bodies. By implementing policies that require affordable washing machine filters, we can significantly reduce the pollution flowing from our homes into our waterways and bodies”
- Patrick Jurney, Plastics Project Director, The Nature Conservancy
About American Circular Textiles:
Founded in 2022 by Circular Services Group CEO Rachel Kibbe, American Circular Textiles (ACT) is a coalition of leading fashion and textile organizations aligned on responsible domestic circularity and sustainable fashion public policy, with an emphasis on apparel and footwear reuse and recycling. ACT operates under the belief that systemic and scalable change in fashion requires industry players to hold hands and develop a collective voice. The coalition aims to facilitate a transition from a linear to a circular fashion economy, educate and raise awareness around the fashion industry’s current gap in sustainability practices, and to advocate for responsible public policy solutions.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kelly Vogt Campbell, Intuitive Communications
For American Circular Textiles (ACT)