| London's position as one of the leading
global capitals for green fashion received a further boost after
a raft of clothing, textile and retail firms announced they
are to sign up to the UK government's Sustainable Clothing Action
Plan (SCAP).
Speaking at an event at London
Fashion Week to mark the one-year anniversary of the
SCAP
initiative, UK environment minister Dan Norris said over 40
firms had endorsed the plan, which aims to promote sustainable
clothing best practices and requires signatories to commit
to reduce their environmental impacts, primarily through improved
supply chain and recycling practices.
Recent new signatories include the British Retail Consortium,
Ethical Fashion Forum, Levis Strauss and the Society of Dyers
and Colourists, which join high profile members such as Asda,
Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury, Nike and Adidas.
Norris said that the initiative was "progressing as planned"
- adding that the voluntary commitments made at the launch
of the scheme last year were either "well underway or now
completed".
For example, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury
have all increased their ranges of Fair Trade and Organic
clothes, increased take-back and recovery of unwanted clothing
and improved supply chain traceability in the past year.
Meanwhile, Tesco is preparing to launch an online capsule
collection of sustainable clothes in partnership with green
clothing firm From Somewhere after a meeting at last
year's Estethica ethical clothing show at London Fashion Week.
In addition, Defra said that 170 organisations have worked
with the government on a project to develop new best practices
for reducing the environmental impacts of cleaning clothes
and using dyes and maximising reuse and recycling of clothes
and textiles.
The government also announced that it has made £3.5m available
over three years through its Responsible and Accountable Garment
Sector (RAGS) fund, which is inviting bids from organisations
working to improve working conditions in the clothing business.
"The Department for International Development will soon be
inviting proposals to our RAGS fund - giving businesses, unions
and NGOs the opportunity to drive better working conditions
in export garment production in Asia and Africa," said International
Development Minister Gareth Thomas.
"We want responsibly and ethically produced clothing to be
the norm in the UK."
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