Dirty Fashion: Crunch time

The report finds that while some industry frontrunners and major producers have aligned with EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) for closed-loop manufacturing, a significant majority of fashion brands—particularly US and luxury labels—lack transparent policies or commitments. It argues that voluntary initiatives are insufficient to drive sector-wide change and calls for mandatory EU legislation on due diligence and environmental standards to eliminate pollution and deforestation in the viscose supply chain.

• A significant portion of the fashion industry remains inactive regarding responsible viscose production; 75% of the 100 brands contacted have made "few or no commitments to stamp out dirty viscose."
• There is a notable geographic and sectoral divide in engagement, with 90% of US companies landing in the bottom two categories of the assessment, and luxury brands such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, and Versace showing a "complete lack of engagement, commitments and even transparency."
• Major viscose producers representing over 50% of global production—including Aditya Birla Group, Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), Lenzing, Sateri, and Tangshan Sanyou—have either aligned or committed to align with EU Best Available Techniques (BAT) within two to three years.
• Sateri and Asia Pacific Rayon (APR), both owned by Royal Golden Eagle Group, are linked to high risks of sourcing from ancient and endangered forests, including deforestation of forested peatlands in Kalimantan.
• Transparency regarding the implementation of EU BAT remains low among producers; only ENKA and APR disclose facility-level performance against EU BAT or BREF values on their websites.
• The report argues that voluntary measures are ineffective for sector-wide change and urges the European Commission to implement mandatory human rights and environmental due-diligence legislation for the textile industry.
• Circular technologies for viscose, such as using pre- and post-consumer waste, are currently implemented at too low a scale to be transformative, and fibre-to-fibre recycling is not yet practiced globally.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2020). Dirty Fashion: Crunch time. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-WEB-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-DEC-2020-1.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Dirty Fashion: Crunch time. 2020. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-WEB-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-DEC-2020-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Dirty Fashion: Crunch time |date=December 2020 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-WEB-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-DEC-2020-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2020dirty, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Dirty Fashion: Crunch time}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CM-WEB-DIRTY-FASHION-CRUNCH-TIME-DEC-2020-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }