New Nordic study leaves key question about textile waste exports unanswered

A new Nordic study set out to investigate what happens to used clothes after export, tracking 200 garments through international markets. Researchers mapped parts of their journey but could not establish what ultimately happened to many of them. The findings leave a central question in the debate over textile waste exports unanswered.

Where do used clothes go after leaving the Nordic countries, and what happens to them when they arrive?

These questions drove a study presented in Brussels on 4 November by UK environmental consultancy Eunomia Research & Consulting and Norwegian waste specialists Mepex. The researchers combined trade statistics, industry interviews and digital trackers placed in 200 used garments from five Nordic countries. The tracking covered routes through 23 countries over six months.

What the tracking revealed

European sorting centres emerged as key points in the journey. Poland accounted for 30% of the garments' last recorded locations and Slovakia for 18%. Overall, 71% of the trackers last reported from within Europe. But those positions did not necessarily mark where the clothes ended up.

Quality also appeared to matter. Among the lowest-quality garments, 56% had their last recorded position outside Europe, compared with 24% of the highest-quality items. The figures describe the study's limited sample, not the proportions of all Nordic textile exports.

The results add detail to a familiar trading system in which garments are sorted by quality and sold onwards to different markets.

The unanswered question

The main gap remained. Tracking became much harder beyond the first sorting stage, and a device's last signal could not establish whether its garment was eventually worn again, recycled or discarded.

The researchers could therefore not calculate how much of the tracked clothing ultimately became waste. That is a limit of what these observations establish, not proof that the exports were either waste or reusable products.

Eunomia has stressed that traceability alone cannot create a circular textile economy. Better garment quality, longer product lifetimes and investment in sorting and recycling also matter.

The findings arrive as the EU changes rules for textile collection, producer responsibility and waste shipments, while potential controls on international used-textile trade are debated under the Basel Convention. For policymakers, knowing the routes clothes take is not the same as knowing their environmental fate. This study offers more detail on the former but leaves the latter unresolved.

The study was conducted by Eunomia with Mepex and funded by the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund (Handelens Miljøfond), the Nordic Council of Ministers and Shape Foundation. The publicly available project information does not identify a single formal commissioning organisation.

Sources:

Eunomia — study findings New research explores how used and waste textiles are managed in global export markets (4 November 2026). Public summary of tracking results, quality comparisons and limitations.

Eunomia — original report and project information Understanding Used and Waste Textiles Exports from the Nordics (2026). Study report and stated funders.

Mepex — project background Norwegian project presentation describing textile tracking and interviews.

Press Club Brussels Europe — report presentation Mapping Nordic textile exports: insights for a circular textile transition (4 November 2026).