ESPR Textile Ecodesign Study Highlights Durability, Recycling and Chemical Transparency Challenges

The report, developed by the Öko-Institut and academic partners, aims to support the EU’s preparatory work on textile rules under the ESPR. Textiles are among the first product groups targeted due to their significant environmental impact and high consumption volumes within the EU market.

Durability Identified as the Key Sustainability Lever

A central finding of the study is that durability should be prioritised over other design parameters because extending garment lifetimes significantly reduces resource use and waste generation.

Researchers found that durability testing across the textile sector currently lacks harmonised standards. Existing methods measure factors such as abrasion resistance, colourfastness and dimensional stability, but they do not always simulate realistic wear conditions.

Experimental testing on cotton T-shirts showed that none of the tested garments met all durability criteria after 30 wash-dry cycles, highlighting the difficulty of setting reliable minimum thresholds.

The report concludes that durability requirements should initially be based on the properties of new garments, with future updates incorporating improved testing standards and ageing simulations.

Design Barriers to Recycling and Circularity

The study also identifies structural barriers preventing effective textile recycling. Mixed materials, coatings and elastane content complicate fibre-to-fibre recycling processes and reduce recovery rates.

To address these issues, the report proposes design restrictions, including:

• Limiting garments to no more than two material types per layer
• Ensuring minor materials account for at least 10 percent of fibre content to improve sorting detection
• Restricting elastane content to 5–10 percent to maintain compatibility with mechanical and chemical recycling technologies.

These measures aim to improve automated sorting and increase the supply of recyclable textile waste streams.

Low Recycled Content Targets Proposed for 2030

The report highlights the limited availability of recycled textile fibres today. Global fibre-to-fibre recycling currently accounts for less than one percent of total fibre production, with most recycled polyester originating from PET bottles rather than textile waste.

As a result, the study recommends modest recycled content targets for garments such as T-shirts and jeans by 2030:

• 10 percent recycled cotton
• 3 percent recycled polyester
• 5 percent recycled polyamide or man-made cellulosic fibres
• 15 percent recycled wool.

These initial targets are intended to stimulate demand while allowing recycling infrastructure to scale.

Chemical Data and Digital Product Passport Integration

Chemical transparency is another major issue highlighted in the report. Thousands of substances used in textile production may fall under the ESPR definition of Substances of Concern, yet tracking them through global supply chains remains difficult.

To improve transparency, the study recommends integrating SVHC disclosure into the public section of the Digital Product Passport (DPP). It also calls for information on functional chemicals such as dyes or water-repellent finishes to be included in technical product specifications.

Label and Implementation Considerations

The report explores the possibility of an EU ecodesign label for textiles, similar to the energy label used for appliances. However, researchers caution that aggregating multiple durability indicators into a single performance score would be complex.

Instead, the number of wash cycles a garment can withstand could serve as a simple durability indicator for consumers.

Stakeholders involved in the study also recommended phased implementation, starting with high-volume basic garments such as cotton T-shirts to maximise environmental impact and give industry time to adapt.

Summary

A new study supporting the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation identifies durability, recyclability and chemical transparency as key priorities for textile regulation. Proposed measures include durability benchmarks, limits on complex material blends, recycled content targets and Digital Product Passport disclosures, highlighting significant design and compliance implications for the textile and chemicals sectors.