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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

Europe wanted a circular textile economy. Instead it is drowning in clothes.

Europe is collecting more clothes than ever before. New rules are tightening how textiles are exported, destroyed and handled after use. The goal is to reduce waste and build a circular textile economy. But together these changes may also be creating a new problem: the policies meant to manage Europe’s clothing surplus are now putting the system that handles it under strain.

FULL STORY HERE

Europe is collecting more clothes than ever before. New rules are tightening how textiles are exported, destroyed and handled after use. The goal is to reduce waste and build a circular textile economy. But together these changes may also be creating a new problem: the policies meant to manage Europe’s clothing surplus are now putting the system that handles it under strain.

FULL STORY HERE

EU starts adjusting textile rules as system pressure becomes visible

Last week, the European Commission opened a consultation on its proposed “Environmental Omnibus”, a package aimed at simplifying parts of EU environmental legislation, including rules affecting textiles and circular systems. On paper, the initiative is about reducing administrative burden. In practice, it signals a growing need to make existing rules operational. The system is becoming harder to operate.

What happens to fashion’s unsold clothes? No one really knows...

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of unsold clothes are destroyed in Europe every year – and no one really knows what happens to them before that.

Around 20% of garments don’t sell in their first cycle, but most are eventually resold. What remains is a smaller, largely invisible share that fails to find a market at all. Now, the EU is banning destruction. The question is: where will these clothes go – and can the system absorb them?

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EU moves to measure textile flows as system pressure grows

How strong is the evidence behind the textile waste narrative?

Across Europe, pressure in the textile system is no longer only visible in volumes and operations. It is increasingly becoming visible in the data. As the system grows more complex to manage, the European Commission is preparing new rules to track how textiles move through it. The initiative focuses on reporting obligations for used textiles and textile waste, aligning existing frameworks with updated requirements under the Waste Framework Directive.

Much of the current momentum in textile policy is built on growing concern about the environmental consequences of global second-hand clothing flows. Underlying many of these discussions is a basic assumption: that large-scale trade in second-hand clothing contributes significantly to environmental harm in importing countries. But how well documented is that assumption?

WATCH NOW

The elusive truth behind the second-hand export debate | Part 1

The amazing story about the mountains of textile waste in Ghana. Mountains that doesn´t exist, but nevertheless have been broadcasted all around the world as a major problem. Unfortunately these claims has also influenced policymakers and politicians within the EU, which has led to new regulations that actually threatens the circular system of clothes.