Why is France immediately paying its citizens to repair their clothes?

What’s happening?

French citizens will soon receive a subsidy for every piece of clothing they repair.

according to Le Monte, Citizens pay around Rs 650 to fix a pair of heels and Rs 900 to Rs 2,300 to repair a dress.

Business Insider A fund of $171 million has been set up, from which payments will be made over the next five years.

according to The TelegraphThe government will provide subsidies to citizens from tailors and shoe repair shops that sign up to a government program led by eco-organization Refashion.

“From October, consumers will be able to support the repair of their clothes and shoes,” said Environment Secretary Berengere Couillard on Tuesday during a visit to the Paris premises of La Caserne, a center for responsible fashion.

Why does the government do that?

Fashion is big business in France.

In France in 2022, 3.3 billion items of clothing, shoes and household linen will be put on the market, according to Refashion.

According to BBCConsumers in France spent an average of Rs 46,000 on clothing in 2020.

The French throw away 700,000 tons of clothes every year. Two-thirds of this ends up in landfills.

The first goal is to reduce the number of discarded garments.

“For example, this will make people who have bought shoes from a brand that makes a good quality shoe or an equally good quality ready-to-wear, want to fix them instead of getting rid of them,” Couillard said. Quoted CNN.

“That’s exactly the goal, to create a circular economy for shoes and textiles so that products last longer, because in government we believe in the second life of a product.”

The second is to help repairers and create jobs.

“The goal is to support repairers,” Couillard said, referring not only to sewing workshops but also to brands that offer repair services.

BBC Couillard was quoted as asking “all sewing workshops and shoe manufacturers to join the system”.

Couillard also cited BBC Tackling ‘fast fashion’ and encouraging consumers to buy ‘virtuous products’ is another goal of the government, it said.

according to inside, France ranked 12 out of 180 in Yale University’s annual Environmental Performance Index.

The index ranks countries based on parameters such as climate change performance, environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

The aid is part of a wider reform of the textile sector, one of the most polluting industries on the planet, launched by the French government from the end of 2022.

Its goals include making brands more traceable and financially supporting organizations that specialize in recycling and repurposing clothing.

“I hope the French are aware of what we can see, which is the influence of the textile industry around the world today,” Couillard quoted. CNN.

“So they can recognize for themselves the inadequacy of the method we’re using now.”

In April, France announced a rebate for citizens who repair household appliances instead of throwing them away.

Citizens who get home appliances repaired from a business are entitled to around Rs 2,700 for small items like vacuum cleaners and around Rs 8,000 for computers.

Doubts abound

But some doubt the scheme will improve matters for tailors.

As told by Jeremy Liotet, a tailor at Retouches Paris in the French capital’s second arrondissement telegraph, “It might help, but I’m not sure it will really change the lives of tailors.”

“We need to rethink the entire apparel industry. The current industry is based on free market capitalism, selling a million clothes in the world … I think this is more of a government announcement than a deep desire to change things.

Others are unhappy.

said Pascal Morand of the Haute Couture and Fashion Federation Le Monte He was concerned about the impact on luxury goods.

“A silk organza should not be considered more durable than polyester based on its physical resistance,” Morand said.

BBC “The government must stop throwing the French public’s money out the window,” right-wing MP Eric Poguet was quoted as saying.

with inputs from agencies