Textiles EPR

As the company reaches the end of its first full year of operations, Tjaco Twigt, general manager of ERP Netherlands, answers questions on the textiles market there.

How is your work at ERP Netherlands having a positive impact on the textile chain?

A key driver for impact on the end-of-use textile sector is the transformation of existing sorting practices.  Today, sorters mainly focus on preparing textiles for reuse, but with the rapid scaling of textile-to-textile recycling solutions, it is essential to implement processes that also sort for recycling.

By enabling sorters to provide high-quality feedstock for these new systems, we can unlock circular value chains at scale and accelerate the industry’s shift towards true circularity.

“We are now working with the textile-to-textile recycler as you suggested” is what a director of a thrift shop organisation told us in a meeting. This is one of the examples that illustrates how ERP Netherlands is working.

We spend time on visiting, discussing and working with our reverse supply chain partners to improve their performance.

ERP helps financially, and enables better performance, which is necessary to reach the ambitious targets set by the national government.

How is ERP Netherlands achieving its customers’ targets for 2025?

ERP has contracted thrift shops, collectors, sorters and recyclers to achieve the reuse and recycling targets that we have in 2025.

We have secured sufficient contracts to achieve the primary target of 50% recycling and reuse of what was put on the market by our clients in 2024.

We are achieving 101% of the total target.

This provides us with a small buffer in case the actual recycling and reuse rates achieved by our contract partners fall short of the forecasts.

How important is consumer participation?

To reach future targets, we need to significantly increase collection rates. This ultimately makes consumer participation the key factor in achieving this target.

Since it makes most sense to have a harmonised message to consumers, we have sought – and continue to seek – collaboration with other PROs, with municipalities and with brands, producers and importers.

We will launch a consumer-facing website together with CCT, one of the two other PROs, and then make sure that brands, thrift shops, collectors and municipalities can use the website for their own media.

We are following the ‘yes/no’ list that was developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Rijkswaterstaat.

This list, and the website, will first launch in Dutch only. More news on this to follow!

Furthermore, ERP and the Royal Dutch Association for Waste Management (NVRD) have signed an intention agreement that lays out common principles and areas to cooperate on. The NVRD represents municipalities in the Netherlands.

Priority areas are communication with citizens, reporting standards and methods, collections in the public space and related costs.

Is ERP participating in the national Textile Roundtable?

Yes. With a broad group of stakeholders, ERP is forming a textile roundtable to talk about the future of textile circularity in the Netherlands.

The Textile Roundtable will discuss any issues in the reverse supply chain and ways to support and stimulate circular textile businesses in the Netherlands.

The group sent a letter to the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, who responded positively, and will support and participate in the Textile Roundtable.

With EPR for textiles now approved in EU legislation, how is ERP rolling out its operations?

With the publication of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) revision in the Official Journal of the European Union on 16 October 2025, all Member States now have 30 months to enforce the legislation.

While there is harmonisation in terms of the obligation to implement, we already see diverging national priorities: some countries emphasise collection targets, while others focus more on reuse and recycling.

Given that the reverse supply chain for discarded textiles operates on a global rather than purely national level, we believe synergies to accelerate the transition towards more circular practices can be realised far more effectively at a pan-European scale.

For this reason, ERP is extending its services to Spain and Italy, with additional markets to follow.

This ensures that our compliance solutions not only help producers meet their legal obligations; it also creates real impact in line with the actual flow of goods – delivering greater efficiency and meaningful progress toward circularity.

What is the effect of the EU Directive on EPR legislation in the Netherlands?

The Dutch government has communicated that it will implement all requirements set in the new EU WFD by publishing new national legislation in June 2027, which will come into force by April 2028.

The main changes for EPR for textiles in the Netherlands will be:

• The scope will change to include footwear, curtains and blankets
• There will be separate targets for footwear
• The obligation to join a PRO will be part of the EPR law, and
• There will be a national register of producers/importers that are registered with a PRO

What can you tell us about the fee for 2026?

We are working with our reverse supply chain operators to deliver compliance at competitive price levels again next year.

For 2026, we anticipate some upward adjustments, as several factors are driving an increase in costs:

• Developments in the second-hand market, where reduced resale prices are lowering revenues from used textiles
• The total reuse and recycling target increases by 10%
• Cost increases due to inflation, and
• A specific increase in transport and collection costs due to higher taxes

We have already communicated the fee for 2026 to our customers.

If you would like more information on ERP Netherlands, please feel free to contact me.

You can also find out more about ERP Netherlands here.