One of Europe's most important textile districts chooses fashion free from toxic substances, joining Greenpeace's Detox campaign. “Repercussions for the entire global textile sector”.
A decision that will have repercussions across the entire fashion sector. This is the significance of the announcement by 20 companies from the Prato textile district who, from Milan, the fashion city par excellence, have signed up to Greenpeace's Detox commitment.
The environmental organisation's campaign aims for the production of clothing without the use of toxic substances, both for people and for the environment, calling on fashion brands to commit to eliminating the use of all hazardous chemicals by 2020 and "asks all their suppliers to make publicly available, on an independent online platform, data relating to the discharge of pollutants from their facilities, in the interests of maximum transparency", the organisation explains.
A historic decision, because the Prato district accounts for "3 per cent of European textile production, exporting more than 2.5 billion euros' worth of clothing products every year, made for some of the most famous international brands including Burberry, Prada, Valentino, Armani and Gucci", Greenpeace points out. The companies involved have already published a list of substances to be completely eliminated by 2020, starting with those that will be phased out from this year onwards, such as PFCs and fluorinated compounds.
"The choice made by companies from Prato has repercussions for the entire global textile sector and we hope it will encourage more and more brands in the industry to sign up to Detox", says Giuseppe Onufrio, executive director of Greenpeace Italia. "These companies have chosen a standard of excellence for the management of chemical substances, against which all other initiatives on hazardous chemicals taken by individual brands or groups of companies will be measured. Now that their suppliers have committed to eliminating toxic substances, Gucci, Prada and Armani no longer have any excuse not to follow suit." Thousands of tonnes of yarn and millions of tonnes of raw materials will now be "detoxified".