Our Purpose

The fashion industry is one of the most important industries in the world with billions in turnover and great influence in the global economy. The textile and clothing industry plays an important role in Europe, employing 1.7 million people and generating an estimated turnover of 166 billion EURs. However, it also has a significant impact on the environment which seems hardly compatible with the Commission’s European Green Deal and circular economy goals. Considering supply chain pressures from an EU consumption perspective, clothing, footwear and household textiles is the fourth highest — or fourth worst ranked — pressure category for use of primary raw materials and water. Moreover, textile waste is one of the most pressing, but perhaps not frequently talked about environmental problems faced globally.

Over the past few years, the EU has been implementing a number of initiatives aimed at greening the sector which, undoubtedly, will leave their mark on the post-pandemic period. However, a harmonized legal framework ensuring minimum sustainability and circularity standards across the Member States still needs to be defined. In the path towards a more sustainable fashion sector, the right to repair is considered key also by the civil society that, in April 2020, published a position paper with recommendations to the Commission on how the 2021 EU Textile Strategy should look. In this so-called Civil Society Strategy, various organizations call for the respect of human rights and the establishment of high social and environmental standards throughout the whole value chain. They point out that the introduction of a right to repair would create new jobs, prevent textile waste and tackle the issue of hazardous chemicals contained in garments.

The ECOMODA consortium supports practically the respecting text by developing effective results with a great impact at the local, national and EU levels. To achieve this ambitious goal, the project will undertake many actions in training, financial grants, market stimulation, technology transfer, IPR protection, etc. The project “ECOMODA” constitutes the first step into a new dynamic sustainable community of diverse private/public actors committed to supporting skills development and employment opportunities across EU in the Textile, Clothing, Leather, Footwear and Leather Goods sector on young people.