Reuters —France’s lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a bill seeking penalties on ultra-fast fashion products, sold by companies like China’s Shein, aimed at helping to offset their environmental impact.
All voting lawmakers unanimously approved the bill, which will head to the senate before it can become law.
Jade Gao/AFP/Getty ImagesThe bill comes as the French environmental ministry said it would propose a European Union ban on exports of used clothes, in a bid to tackle the worsening problem of textile waste.
At the time, the country’s ministry of ecology said that French people throw away 700,000 tons of clothes — two-thirds of which ends up in landfills — each year.
Among the world’s most polluting industries, fashion accounts for between 3% and 5% of global carbon emissions, according to consultancy McKinsey’s State of Fashion report.
Persons:
CNN Shein, Christophe Béchu, Jade Gao
Organizations:
Reuters, CNN, Workers, Getty, McKinsey’s State
Locations:
Zara, China's, Guangdong, AFP, McKinsey’s