Textiles: reports demonstrate potential of EPR policies

Last summer, a report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation called for mandatory EPR policies, which would hold producers accountable for managing discarded textiles, ensuring sustainable funding for collection and recycling efforts.

Currently, more than 80% of textiles are discarded through incineration or landfilling. Without EPR, the report argues, textile waste will continue to grow, impacting the environment and resources.

The report also highlights the economic and environmental benefits of EPR, emphasising its potential to create jobs, and proposes transboundary EPR measures and stronger alignment between national policies to ensure global impact.

Landbell Group’s CEO, Jan Patrick Schulz, is quoted in the report, explaining:

“Textile waste is a critical global issue, largely stemming from our current linear economic system where products are neither designed for longevity nor for recycling. To address this, we must dramatically scale up separate collection infrastructure, especially in areas where such infrastructure does not exist.

EPR policies are crucial, mandating producers to fund the collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling of textiles. EPR can also stimulate circular design and extend the use phase of textiles, and it can help to align global efforts, across governments and industry, to create a circular economy for textiles.”

Supporting the report’s findings, an OECD analysis published in December 2024, underscores the economic potential of EPR for textiles.

The study estimates that a comprehensive EU-wide system could generate €3.5 to €4.5 billion annually for collection and recycling efforts.

The OECD also emphasised that EPR needs to be complemented by additional policy measures, including:

• EU-wide harmonised definitions of what constitutes clothing waste, recycled content and suitability for reuse
• tax incentives for used clothing
• stricter product design rules, and
• targeted funding for recycling innovation

Read the OECD analysis here.

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