EU, UK looking to fund textile recycling by taxing clothing companies: The EU and the UK government are preparing to follow the lead of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Italy in taxing fashion companies in a bid to crack down on discarded textiles clogging landfills globally, Bloomberg writes. The governments are reportedly preparing to enact legislation to have fashion brands fund textile recycling programs to ease the clothing waste burden suffered by countries like Ghana, which receives some 15 mn discarded garments on a weekly basis. Fashion companies would pay a tax based on the volume they produce, similar to schemes for other hard-to-repurpose products like batteries and mattresses. Textile waste averages some 4 mn tons annually in the EU, and in the US reached 17 mn tons in 2018 — an 80% increase above levels recorded in 2000, Bloomberg notes.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • A slowdown in a major ocean current — approximately 30% since the 1990s — on the back of melting Antarctic ice could have an adverse impact on the earth’s climate and sea levels. (The Guardian)
Tags: