Special Report
claims. Furthermore, most major garment manufacturers serving the printwear and promotional products channel sell across the EU, and many UK suppliers distribute EU-made apparel and hence expectations are converging.
For example, for the upcoming ESPR regulation, textiles will be among the fi rst categories required to provide product-level traceability data, such as fi bre composition, chemical treatments, recycled content, and environmental footprints. These are then to be uploaded on EU and national registries as Digital Product Passports. France already has this in play with their Ecoscores (with Italy set to follow in 2026). As a consequence, large promotional buyers are already asking which suppliers are ‘DPP-ready’.
An example of a Digital Production Passport
accounting for the entire product lifetime in supporting a circular economy.” Recent CMA actions have included:
Daniel Bedwell
Daniel Bedwell, business sustainability lead at Beechfi eld Brands, said: “In an industry where we have limited contact with our end users, the DPP is also a great way for us to communicate our sustainability efforts and prove claims and credentials, ultimately building trust in our brand.” The EU’s CSDDD framework is also pushing buyers to verify that suppliers understand their supply chain impacts, from mills and dye houses to cut-and-sew factories. For printwear, this means decorators and promotional suppliers will increasingly need to show where garments come from, not just how they are printed.
3. More locally, UK CMA is enforcing against misleading claims
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made sustainability claims a regulatory priority, and the printwear sector is not exempt.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
• Investigations into misleading green claims across fashion, retail, and promotional goods.
• Requirements for companies to remove or revise vague sustainability marketing.
• Public enforcement announcements that have created reputational risk for brands involved.
Dr Alana James
Dr Alana James, programme lead, impact and programme at Northumbria University said: “To comply with these new evidence-based requirements, transparent communication aligned with the three Cs of effective communication in providing: credible, clear and coherent messaging. “Equally, to ensure that responsible messaging reaches its intended target and builds trust through transparency, the solution lies in enabling technologies such as Digital Product Passports (DPPs) required by the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Product regulation by
Penalties across sectors have reached multi-million-pound levels, signalling the seriousness of misleading claims. For printwear and promotional products businesses, this means claims like ‘eco-friendly shirts’, ‘sustainable uniform range’, or ‘green promotional textile’ are risky unless backed by specifi c, verifi able data such as product carbon footprint and lifecycle assessment (LCA) results, certifi ed recycled content, or traceability documentation. Daniel from Beechfi eld continued: “As a company we have always looked towards better, lower impact materials. “The changes in legislation are helping push the industry in this direction, making more future-proof solutions accessible to us.
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