The Spanish apparel company Ecoalf, one of the first major brands that decided to lead the battle for circularity and sustainability within the fashion industry, has attended the last informal meeting of the Ministers of the Environment of the European Union.
Considered a leader in the field of sustainability in Spain, this was a recognition of Ecoalf’s transformative work that inspires citizens and other companies. The goal was to discuss and seek solutions that change the way brands produce, develop the circular economy and preserve biodiversity.
As a B Corporation company, the Ecoalf Foundation is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to promote the recovery of waste in order to recycle it and avoid its negative impact on the environment through the development and application of new scientific and technological knowledge.
Ecoalf took part a two-day meeting during which the Founder and President, Javier Goyeneche, had the opportunity to get involved and share his thoughts on how the European Union can seek and implement new solutions aimed at promoting the long-awaited transformation of the production system towards a circular industrial model.
The Transition to a Circular Economy
As part of the working meetings organised by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, all the EU environment ministers were invited to take part in an informal meeting of ministers in Stockholm on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th of April this month.
A meeting that followed the model of informal meetings that each EU Council presidency can hold outside of the official EU Council meetings chaired by its presidency to discuss initiatives related to more specific issues. In this case, the topic was the increasingly structural issue within the Union's borders, the long-awaited green transition to a circular economy.
Chaired by the Swedish Minister for Climate and the Environment, Romina Pourmokhtari, each of the other European environment ministers was asked to attend, along with a specific industry representative from each country whose work could serve as inspiration for both the general public and other European businesses.
Using Fashion to Advance Climate Protection
The Spanish fashion firm had the opportunity to address and share their views directly to those responsible for finally adopting, modifying and approving the set of measures being prepared by the EU in terms of the circular economy, and more specifically with the potential to transform the production system, feeding the development of the circular economy and contributing to the preservation of biodiversity.
The ministers discussed how the circular economy and climate protection enables a dialogue on how to facilitate the necessary changes in the way retailers produce and consume. After this first meeting, the same day continued with different sessions and meetings structured in three parallel working groups, during which the various EU ministers and business leaders who had been invited to participate in this meeting were able to discuss the conditions, incentives and public-private partnerships that would be necessary to achieve a circular economy.
These issues were followed by new topics such as how business can contribute to halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity, how industry can help to increase the useful life of materials, contribute to circularity, improve their resilience and increase the sustainability of production systems, or how companies can combine their commitments to achieve "carbon neutrality" with greater competitiveness and more prosperity.