WEFT Independence Charter
WEFT helps the fashion and textiles industry understand and plan for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and eco-modulation across multiple jurisdictions. We work with brands, retailers, manufacturers, policymakers, producer responsibility organisations and trade bodies. We collaborate widely, but we do not advocate on behalf of any of them.
This Charter sets out the boundary we hold between serving clients and shaping policy. It is a public commitment, and we expect to be held to it.
What we advocate for, and what we do not
We advocate openly for effective, evidence-led textiles EPR and circularity policy. Well-designed regulation serves the public interest, global sustainability and a functioning circular economy, and we are clear about that position rather than hiding it.
We do not advocate for the commercial interest of any individual brand, client or sector group, and we are not a lobbyist. We do not shape our public analysis to suit a client and clients are free to take our evidence to policymakers themselves. Where we find that a factor applies across many players in the market, it is no longer one client's case but market-wide evidence, and we may use it in our policy work on that basis.
How collaboration and independence fit together
We work with the industry, not around it. We include brands and partners whatever their current products or environmental impact, because helping them improve is the point, not judging where they start. Working with someone is not the same as advancing their commercial interest.
Our Commitments
1 / Independence
Our independence is the foundation of our credibility. We are a commercial business, but what we conclude is determined by the evidence, not by who is paying or by our own interests.
In practice. We do not take positions that advantage any single stakeholder group, and we say so plainly when a client's preference and the evidence point in different directions.
2 / Evidence before interest
Our outputs are defensible, clear, and based on real product data or on robustly tested and transparent assumptions.
In practice. Where the evidence is uncertain, we say so. We do not present a convenient conclusion as a settled one.
3 / A clear line on advocacy
We advocate for the policy goal of fair, effective textiles EPR. We never advocate for a client’s or stakeholder’s commercial gain.
In practice. If a policy option is better on the evidence but worse for a client, or for WEFT, we still present it accurately.
4 / Integrity in how we communicate
We do not waffle, over-claim or speculate. We are direct and precise, and we correct errors quickly.
In practice. We distinguish clearly between what we know, what we estimate, and what we believe.
5 / Conduct when advising governments
When our people advise governments, in any nation or state, they do so on the policy merits alone.
In practice. They step back from any decision bearing on WEFT's specific commercial position. They offer general, non-confidential expertise into government and do not carry official information back to WEFT. Any such interest is declared and managed under the receiving body's rules.
Holding us to this
Independence is easy to assert and harder to evidence. If you believe we have fallen short of any commitment in this Charter, as a client, a policymaker or an observer, we want to hear it. We would rather have the boundary tested than watch it quietly erode.
Contact. hello@weft.org.uk