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EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

environment.ec.europa.eu

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Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#251

Post by ragall »

WalterBright wrote: post #87
jjkaczor wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has already been happening for decades - and it isn't the "net benefit" most think it is - here is just one example - but there are dozens of similar articles that can be found: https://www.udet.org/post/the-hidden-cost-of-generosity-how-...

> Imported secondhand clothing is sold at prices that local textile producers cannot compete with. As a result, local garment industries collapse, unable to survive against the flood of cheap imports. Hence, jobs are lost in manufacturing and design, stifling innovation and economic growth.What was intended as charity often becomes a form of economic sabotage. Isn't that another version of the Broken Window Fallacy?…

Whether or not is a net loss for the planet as a whole is irrelevant. Africa countries need jobs to sustain a middle class so they no longer accept donations of clothes.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#252

Post by jadenPete »

I think what bugs me about EU legislation like this is how micro-targeted it is. Why apparel specifically? If waste and a disregard for the finite-ness of natural resources is the problem, why not impose a blanket, Pigovian-style tax on all extracted resources?

I got the same feeling when they mandated USB-C on Apple devices. If the problem of waste were tackled categorically, then the state wouldn’t need to get involved in matters it has no business getting involved in.

It has to stop at some point. Eventually, the regulations will become so complicated, unknowable, and unenforceable, that they’ll have no choice but to say “this is enough” and start tackling the root of the problem instead.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#253

Post by eddythompson80 »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #212
michaelt wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn't that good though? It's good for shoppers (if they're informed), the recycler, and the environment. It's bad for the original maker. Imagine a factory mix-up means some ExampleCo jeans are made of much lower quality materials than normal. They'll wear out much faster. But ExampleCo's quality control does its job, notices the inferior quality before they hit store shelves, and sends them for recycling. If the r…

>and sends them for recycling. >If the recycler sells them on ebay as 'never worn ExampleCo jeans' then the recycler will have undoubtedly violated a contract they have with ExampleCo and will lose in civil court and pay significant penalties greater than the money they made selling never worn ExampleCo jeans and also, undoubtedly, suffer from not having ExampleCo as a customer for their services in the future.

But the recycler has all the papers and documentation that they lawfully contracted an overseas company for wholesale recycle of the product. What's your civil court's jurisdiction? You might be able to play wack-a-mole with ebay, temu, alibaba express sellers through civil court in your jurisdiction assuming you have the money of course.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#254

Post by throwaw12 »

ericmcer wrote: post #218
motbus3 wrote: post #204

I'm reading the comments and I get confused. I kinda think this is a good idea and it is not like the government is purely making it a 3rd party problem only. This might make production more complicated for a while, but nowadays it is much easier to predict demand and produce quicker in smaller batches. In the 90s you might need change a whole factory setting for every single piece of fabric but nowadays it is that m…

It would not be a good idea because the goal of companies are not to get you to consume only what you need, they want you to consume more. You should check out "Ascension" (it is on Paramount unfortunately). It gives a pretty close up look at China and factory culture and how their entire country is mobilized to push maximum consumption. The corporation's don't view Americans high per-capita consumption as a problem…

> It would not be a good idea because the goal of companies are not to get you to consume only what you need, they want you to consume more.

It's good exactly because of this. Every company is pushing us to consume more, and Wall Street is at the top of this, growth at all costs (including human lives, mental health, just anything)

Only way to save Earth is to stop the Wall Street greed machine.

We should be making shoes which lasts 4 years, clothes which last at least 2 years with no "fashion" industry pushing us to change it every 2 days.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#255

Post by ErroneousBosh »

lp4v4n wrote: post #211
motbus3 wrote: post #204

I'm reading the comments and I get confused. I kinda think this is a good idea and it is not like the government is purely making it a 3rd party problem only. This might make production more complicated for a while, but nowadays it is much easier to predict demand and produce quicker in smaller batches. In the 90s you might need change a whole factory setting for every single piece of fabric but nowadays it is that m…

>Here, we don't have winter, fall or anything anymore. It's like this in a lot of places now. We're seeing climate change in the interval of a generation. It's absolutely scary. > The acid rain from the 90s destroyed most of green on adjacent cities and when it is hot it gets in unbearably hot and when it is cold it gets stupidly cold. What country do you live in if you don't mind telling us?

> It's like this in a lot of places now. We're seeing climate change in the interval of a generation. It's absolutely scary.

You're seeing the first detectable solar maximum in 40 years.

If you were born before the late 70s, you will not have experienced climate like this, or solar activity like this. The past few 11-year sunspot cycles have been an absolute bust.

This is what weather patterns were like in the early 80s.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#257

Post by WalterBright »

ragall wrote: post #251
WalterBright wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imported secondhand clothing is sold at prices that local textile producers cannot compete with. As a result, local garment industries collapse, unable to survive against the flood of cheap imports. Hence, jobs are lost in manufacturing and design, stifling innovation and economic growth.What was intended as charity often becomes a form of economic sabotage. Isn't that another version of the Broken Window Fallacy?…

Whether or not is a net loss for the planet as a whole is irrelevant. Africa countries need jobs to sustain a middle class so they no longer accept donations of clothes.

Just send them money, then, rather than breaking windows to provide fake jobs.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#258

Post by jeppebemad »

anymouse123456 wrote: post #189

It’s shocking to see this legislated. As if companies are just out here wantonly destroying otherwise valuable goods that could have been easily sold at a profit instead. I guarantee this problem is far more complex and troublesome than the bureaucrats would ever understand, much less believe, yet they have no problem piling on yet another needless regulatory burden.

I personally know that L’oreal will buy back and destroy products of theirs from outlets, just to keep the prices up. These items are often bought in bulk on grey markets by discount outlets. Not only does L’oreal destroy the products, they pay for them to do so. None of this is shocking IMO.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#259

Post by ragall »

awongh wrote: post #206

Compared to the USA, is a contributing factor because things can't be put on discount sale in the EU? In american many things are always on a discount, and there are so many channels through which this discounted merchandise is funneled. Which has to be a major way retails manage excess stock. A lot of people don't realize that european retailers are legally disallowed from selling at a discount. Edit to clarify: thi…

> Compared to the USA, is a contributing factor because things can't be put on discount sale in the EU?

Nonsense. They can.

> In american many things are always on a discount, and there are so many channels through which this discounted merchandise is funneled. Which has to be a major way retails manage excess stock.

Major fashion brands refuse to do any discount at all to avoid damaging the brand. No second hand, no outlets, no rebranding, nothing at all except burning the excess.

> A lot of people don't realize that european retailers are legally disallowed from selling at a discount.

False. They aren't allowed to *falsely* claim that an item is discounted, which happens all the time in the US.

Re: EU bans the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear

#260

Post by linuxhansl »

First, seems like a good thing. I wouldn't have stopped at apparel, but it's a start.

Second, in the short term this is going to lower profits for some companies.

Third, hopefully in the long run it will lead to less waste.

Is it perfect? Of course not, no real legislation ever is. If there's a better way to get started on reducing waste I'd like to hear it, though.

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