CRUK was recently invited to attend ECRA’s Annual Conference and Member’s Meeting in Antwerp, Belgium. The two associations have developed a close working relationship and increasingly collaborate together on mutally beneficial projects. In September, Adnan Zeb-Khan, CRUK Project Manager was in attendance for the conference programme and presentations and the Members Meeting and reported on how “topical and informative” the sessions were in “helping us better understand the challenges ECRA are facing and how they are planning to tackle them”.
With a shared philosophy regarding promoting sustainability and identifying recycling solutions within the carpet and textile sector both organisations are committed to supporting this wherever possible. Currently and of particular shared interest is the issue of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and how we should be involved and consulted with when policies and legislation are being developed. The current understanding is that EPR for products whose main composition is textiles will most likely be in place for all EU member states by 2027.
Adnan noted that from the many conversations and presentations he was subject to during the conference the following key takeaways were particularly pertinant to CRUK:
- Need to align more with the work ECRA and GUT is doing;
- More lobbying of government and agencies in the UK is needed;
- Look at how we can support our members with EPDs and LCAs;
- Develop a position paper on EPR to be forwarded to DEFRA for wider engagement;
- Look into wider research activities to not only find recycling solutions but to consider the reduction of the CO₂ impact of products;
- The UK is likely to adopt more of the EU Green Deal Strategies, and therefore we need to understand more about these;
- Green Claims Directive (GCD 2026), what you can and cannot say i.e. 100% recycled materials without it being scientifically approved and verified;
- Reorganise how we present and deliver our member meetings.
The points outlined above will inform and guide the work CRUK will concentrate on and develop over the next 12-24 months.