The American Circular Textiles (ACT) group co-leads an open letter, with Politically in Fashion and UpWest, urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to give appropriate recognition of textile reuse and recycling in the forthcoming review of the FTC Green Guidelines. The FTC Green Guides explain how reasonable consumers likely interpret marketing claims and how they are substantiated to avoid consumer deception, are the subject of recycling-focused workshops on May 23 to help expand the Guide’s scope of sustainable marketing framework.
“Attention to textile-focused issues are missing from these workshops. The FTC cannot continue to ignore the need for comprehensive, multi-stakeholder, conversations around textile reuse, repair and recycling and how they are marketed to consumers,” said Rachel Kibbe, ACT executive director. “That is why ACT, along with 22 signers (and growing), urge the FTC to include textiles in the Green Guidelines discussion to mitigate confusion around textile recycling for brands, marketers, retailers and consumers.”
According to ACT’s recent report, in the U.S. textile waste has grown 80% since 2004 and is our fastest growing waste stream. We send over 30 billion pounds of textile waste to our landfills and incinerators annually, which costs U.S. taxpayers and private haulers billions of dollars a year. “In 2021, PoliticallyInFashion was proud to organize a similar ‘Call to Action’ to the FTC urging them to commence the decennial review of the Guides,” said Hilary Jochmans, Founder of PoliticallyInFashion. “We were very pleased that shortly after, the FTC announced the process would begin within months and we look forward to a similar positive response from the FTC now.”
“As a small brand with a takeback program we continue to look for more ways to make meaningful change. With the Green Guides under review, now is the optimal time to include conversations around the ever-growing issue of textile waste, ” said Jamie Schisler, a spokesperson from UpWest.