Navigating the Complexities of Sustainability Legislation

Vicki M. Young
·4 min read

The road ahead in achieving sustainability in the textile industry, particularly in the area of “extended producer responsibility” (EPR), is fraught with complexities.

“I think the biggest issue that we’re dealing with is the harmonization of legislation,” Randi Marshall, head, U.S. government and public affairs, H&M Americas, said. “We’re seeing a lot of state level legislation moving toward a patchwork of regulatory issues [and] solutions coming to the table,” she said, adding that each one is slightly different from the other, which makes compliance difficult. Marshall explained that one piece of legislation might require one thing, while another might require a different disclosure.

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Marshall, along with Chelsea Murtha, senior director, sustainability, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), spoke at a panel moderated by SJ editor in chief Peter Sadera on the legal framework.

Marshall also spoke about EPR responsibility and the logistics that is required. She said H&M is working on it in the U.K., Spain and now in the U.S., but “everyone has a different approach to it.” In Europe, the apparel that are being collected are “funneled through to a special channel,” but in the U.S., collections of clothing include people dropping off their apparel. The fast-fashion firm is working with certficates’ office to calibrate a product solution, as well as with counsel, but that also involves reverse logistics and looking at where the technology gaps exist, Marshall said.

She said there are many stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, both inside and outside of a company. “If you have a global supply chain, it is more than just the brands, it is more than just the sustainability managers. It’s who needs to be at the table to have a good understanding of what it is that’s actually going on,” Marshall said.

Marshall also said that she’ll also pass along contact information with advocates, noting that “this is how you get legislation that has consensus that is passable.” Because most elected officials are experts in whatever areas they’re busy legislating and it’s usually not textiles. She noted that advocates who see the “industry shift towards a more circular, sustainable industry” need to tell the congressmen the story of how and what and why so they understand how it all connects with their decision-making.

“And so what we really need to do is is lean into what the possibilities are in a circular economy…. That’s your foot in the door,” Marshall said.

“I think chaos is the right word to describe it,” Murtha said of the current backdrop. She spoke about chemical management and reporting labeling claims, as well as specific requirements about what it means to be recyclable, in addition to the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides for the use of environmental marketing claims.

“One of the issues with things happening at state levels is sometimes the state legislators don’t know what they don’t know,” she said, explaining that many people just don’t have the expertise in all of the nuances.

Murtha said that in California, there was a legislative Bill now on hold that was requiring everyone selling in the state to pay into a fund that manages statewide collection and recycling of discarded apparel and fabrics. That made everyone from textile and apparel producers to brands and retailers in the state liable for the waste the industry creates.

“Another issue with the bill is that brands have to manage counterfeit products. So, that doesn’t really make sense if you’ve already had a violation of the IP violation and now your teammates are actually responsible for recycling the product somewhow,” Murtha said.

She said that just because states don’t have the right to make international trade policy, which has been the primary way the industry has been regulated, doesn’t mean that states shouldn’t be an expert because they do have a role to play. That is why AAFA got involved in California last year because it saw what was developing. And in working on the reporting of information requirement, Murtha said there’s been some really “constructive conversations” with the organization sponsoring it about how to build the legislation and what would or wouldn’t work for the industry.

“And luckily those conversations [we had] ended up in a really good place, with a pretty ambitious, but also possible [legislative] bill,” she said.