European Union’s extended producer responsibility and sustainable procurement of water-repellent textiles

Introduction: This paper explores the impact of the transition from voluntary to mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation in the EU on the Durable Water Repellent (DWR) global supply chain. The query is presented in the context of green procurement. DWR material is essential in outfitting public-facing personnel, thus impacting government purchasing policies for uniforms—a sector valued at about $30 billion a year. Under EPR mandates, apparel commerce is to penalize unrecycled waste and deadstock. DWRs are non-recyclable. Public procurement managers have to reconcile this reality when choosing preferred suppliers. The EPR legislation’s directives are to prioritize firms that follow best-available practices and demonstrate genuine innovation in recyclable DWR technology. Materials and methods: Using a dataset of 12 global DWR producers, we employ Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurational “solutions” of firm-specific factors that impact sustainability evaluation, including percent of waste recycled and water “stress.” We use Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) scores, as the most-used proxy of firms’ sustainability evaluation, to estimate which DWR producers would gain “preferred supplier” status in government contracting, under EPR eco-modulation mandates. Results: The results indicate that firms with the most industrial partners and relatively higher water pollution levels have the highest ESG scores, which is a paradoxical fact. It shows that supply chain complexity and capability add to the ability of DWR firms to invest in ESG capacity overall. However, when it comes to direct ecological damage, overall ESG investment does not lead to improvements in lowering the toxicity of effluents. Conclusions: The findings suggest that DWR producers with the best environmental scorecards are also those with the highest levels of water pollution emissions, regardless of their recycling platforms, as well as those with the most international partners. The implication is that they will be the hardest to regulate under EPR eco-modulation mandates because of jurisdictional oversight and the inability to mitigate their water pollution or recycle their waste.