Textiles EPR: How Fashion Brands Can Prepare Now

Textiles EPR is set to become one of the biggest compliance challenges facing fashion brands and apparel producers in the years ahead. As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation continues to expand across Europe and develops in the UK, businesses are increasingly looking for practical ways to understand and prepare for their future obligations.

How ERP UK Simplifies Textiles EPR Compliance

Through our interactions with businesses in the region, we know that smaller businesses are struggling as there is very little support out there for them and tEPR legislation in the EU lacks harmonisation. .

SMEs and micro businesses form 99.5% UK textile business. 51% of the Textiles turnover in the UK comes from these businesses.

Textile Sector Structure: UK

Measure	UK Textile & Fashion Sector
SMEs as % of businesses	Estimated 99%+ of textile businesses (consistent with UK manufacturing and business population data) [themanufacturer.com], [merchantsavvy.co.uk]
Micro & small businesses (under 50 employees)	Estimated 98-99% of businesses [merchantsavvy.co.uk], [money.co.uk]
Industry turnover	UK fashion & textile sector contributes about £62bn to the economy [ukft.org], [silkroutes.co.uk]
Number of enterprises	ONS records several thousand textile enterprises across manufacturing, wholesale and retail [ons.gov.uk], [ons.gov.uk]

It is critical that these businesses are supported as it’s not possible for them, or even for larger businesses, to coordinate across 29 different versions of the tEPR across nations in the EU and imminently, in the UK.

We are already doing this with our Click & Comply-Compliance Services solution that offers PPWR for SMEs across the EU nations. This is also the blueprint for our efforts to support producers with an affordable, simplified solution in the UK and the EU for tEPR. We are working further on this solution and already have the initial offering for EPR for Textiles for France, Italy, Netherlands, with more coming. UK brands that sell into the EU now can already access and sign up for the available Click & Comply Services solution.

Why Small Fashion Brands Will Still Need to Comply with UK Textiles EPR

In the UK, as in the EU, plans suggest that SMEs and Micro Enterprises will receive some extra time to comply. They are not generally exempt. Any tEPR legislation introduced in the UK will also very likely cover manufacturers, importers, distributors and distance sellers on a ‘first to place’ on UK Market basis, with limited exclusions. The scope is usually on the region where the waste is likely generated and will need to be managed.

It is true that the UK does not yet have a mandatory tEPR scheme. However, proposals from UKTP run by WRAP, UKFT and the Circular Fashion Innovation Network anticipate a producer-funded scheme, broadly reflecting the EU legislation model.

It is possible that in the UK the legislation may provide for de minimis thresholds (as seen in UK Packaging EPR) to reduce the burden on smaller textile producers. However, we expect at least 85% of SMEs to still require registration. We at ERP UK strongly support a harmonised legislation across the four nations in the UK. That is critical.

At ERP UK, we want to understand the needs of both large and smaller businesses as we develop these solutions to support with EPR for Textiles. We are part of industry initiatives like the Pact run by WRAP. We collaborate with the industry to support the development and preparedness for an incoming tEPR system. This is valuable because we bring the global real-time learnings from the reverse supply chain and compliance delivery for tEPR to the table.

That is why it makes sense for producers, large and small, to interact with us at this stage so we can understand the specific needs of each business we help them prepare to navigate these difficult waters.

We are also keeping producers informed through our ERP UK newsletters and blogs and will be launching feedback in our You Tube channel to subscribe to for relevant updates on legislation and any developments as they happen.

Prepare for Textiles EPR Before Compliance Becomes Mandatory

The road to Textiles EPR compliance may seem complex, but taking action now can help your business stay ahead of future requirements and avoid unnecessary disruption.