This week, on Tuesday night, the European Parliament and Council agreed that producers shall pay the costs for collecting, sorting and recycling waste textiles (press release).
About 12 kg of clothing and footwear waste is disposed per person every year. This is almost half of the 13 million tonnes of textile waste that is generated in the EU. To make things worse, less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new products. That is why the EU made a deal on the prevention and reduction of waste from textiles.
The deal requires extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes to ensure that all producers cover the costs for collecting, sorting and recycling waste textiles. Special attention will be paid to the financial contributions from the (ultra-)fast fashion industry. The new rules apply to textiles such as clothing and accessories, footwear, blankets, bed and kitchen linen, curtains, hats and possibly mattresses.
The deal is a so-called "early second reading agreement" based on the proposed revision of the rules that was published in July 2023. It is expected that the proposal will now soon be adopted and endorsed.
The proposed transition period would be 30 months after the entry into force, with an additional 12 months for micro-enterprises.
Under the existing rules, EU countries were already required to set up separate collection of textiles by 1 January 2025.