T e x t i l e I n d u s t r y N e w s o n r e u s e , r e c y c l i n g a n d c i r c u l a r i t y
THE POLITICS OF TEXTILE WASTE
EU rules could change how second-hand clothes are traded and reused worldwide.
Part of the justification is that unusable waste is being exported as reusable clothing. A year-long Reuse News investigation challenged the evidence behind that claim. Asked to substantiate the scale, the European Commission provided no robust estimate.
The rules are moving forward but the central question remains unanswered.
EU rules could change how second-hand clothes are traded and reused worldwide.
Part of the justification is that unusable waste is being exported as reusable clothing.
A year-long Reuse News investigation challenged the evidence behind that claim. Asked to substantiate the scale, the European Commission provided no robust estimate.
The rules are moving forward. The central question remains unanswered.
Claims that poorer countries receive large quantities of unusable clothing have become a central argument in the secondhand export debate. But how well has the problem been measured?
The European Commission was not the only institution Reuse News approached after its investigation challenged claims about textile waste exports. Eight MEP offices received questions about the evidence. Most of them did not respond.
LATEST KEY DEVELOPMENTS
US watchdog maps textile circularity options
October 21
MEPs back targeted relief from EPR bureaucracy
October 20
UK export controls create new barriers for textile recyclers
October 9
Waste or reuse moves to the next stage
September 30
A new Government Accountability Office report examines policies including producer responsibility, tax incentives and removing sales tax on second-hand clothing. It identifies potential trade-offs, including disruption to second-hand supplies from export bans.
The European Commission has proposed simplifying cross-border shipments of certain textile waste streams for recycling within the EU, while tighter controls on exports to countries outside the bloc are being introduced.
British Environment Agency new documentation requirements are preventing overseas recycling facilities from being approved. The Textile Recycling Association warns that some required documents do not exist in the destination countries.
Governments and observers are being asked to comment on options for how the Basel Convention should address used textiles and textile waste. The deadline is 30 November.
Source: GAO
Source: European Parliament
Source: Recycling International
Source: Basel Convention
THE TEXTILE WASTE INVESTIGATION
The global second-hand trade is not a charity system. It is a business built on buying, sorting, shipping and reselling products across continents. Every bale imported into Ghana has already passed through collectors, sorters, exporters, shipping companies, customs, wholesalers and traders. At every stage, somebody pays.
Mountains textile waste. That image has travelled the world — repeated, amplified and turned into a defining narrative about textile waste in Africa. But when we went there, the picture changed completely. What had been described as textile waste was mostly something else.
Former Swedish Minister for the Environment:
If the wrong conclusions are drawn, we will be in trouble
Related to the Basel Convention former Swedish Minister for the Environment Karolina Skog warns against drawing the wrong conclusion from an incomplete picture of the second-hand trade. If policy treats second-hand trade as waste export without solid evidence, it may damage one of the few circular textile systems already working at scale.
EXPLORE
The bigger picture behind textile circularity
From production and consumption to reuse and disposal, Reuse News examines how textiles affect people, the climate and the environment — and scrutinises the claims, policies and practices shaping their future. Explore our selected reporting on the textile waste debate, changing regulations and what happens to the clothes we no longer wear. Each collection brings together investigations and analysis examining what these issues mean for people, the climate and the environment.
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EXPLORE
What does the evidence tell us about second-hand clothing exports and textile waste?
How changing policies affect reuse, trade and the transition to a circular economy.
Following the journey from collection and sorting to resale, recycling and disposal.
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