The pressure on UNEP and Basel Convention is building up when it comes to classification of used textiles. Last week SMART (Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association in USA) has submitted detailed formal comments to the Basel Convention Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), strongly urging them to reject proposals that would reclassify used textiles as “waste,” “hazardous waste,” or “plastic waste.”

"It is fast fashion - driven by overproduction and throwaway culture - that fuels the textile waste crisis. Yet blame has shifted onto a sector that actively reduces waste - the second-hand sector. The claim that this sector exports waste is not supported by data, and it defies logic."

A coalition of representatives from the global textiles collection, reuse, and recycling sectors — joined by policymakers and academic experts — has issued an open letter to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), raising serious concerns about the integrity, methodology, and practical implications of UNEP’s Circularity and Used Textile Trade Project.