section three fast fashion: more fashion, more toxics
Unfortunately, one of the critical applications of the precautionary principle has not yet been sufficiently integrated – if at all – into companies’ supply chain operations: to ensure that inherently hazardous substances are eliminated, rather than merely “managed”. The reality is, there are no “environmentally acceptable” or “safe” levels of use and discharge for inherently hazardous substances, and the sooner companies eliminate all uses, the better the environmental and health outcomes can be.
However, transparency that will drive real change should go beyond just making their RSLs available. Brands should perform an inventory of all chemicals used or released during the production processes of making their articles, and screen those chemicals for intrinsic hazardous properties. These are necessary steps towards making a comprehensive sectorial black list for progressive elimination, including a priority list for immediate action with concrete short-term elimination timelines.
While only managing121 inherently hazardous substances is inappropriate, not even acknowledging the concern about hazardous substance use in textiles is even worse. Many other brands in this sector do not even publish their full RSLs or provide information on whether they restrict APEOs – including some of the brands highlighted in this study. Zara (Inditex) does not make its RSL publicly available.122 GAP describes its RSL, but it is not apparently publicly available.123 PVH mentions its RSL list and policy, but does not publish either of them.124 Worse still, some of the other brands in this study, such as Esprit, Metersbonwe and Victoria’s Secret, are either completely non-transparent to their customers, or irresponsibly show no public awareness of the issue of hazardous chemical use in their products and their supply chain, as there is no publicly available information on their websites about RSL lists or relevant policies.
Brands also need to ensure that details of the uses and discharges of individual hazardous chemicals by their supply chains are disclosed and updated regularly to concerned parties, including the local community, for each facility. This chemical by chemical disclosure is necessary to empower these local communities to act as a “watchdog” for each brand’s real practices on the ground, will greatly help brands and suppliers to be accountable to local communities and workers, and will raise overall awareness about local water contamination.
Greenpeace International Toxic Threads: The Big Fashion Stitch-Up 35