Five ways new textile waste rules could backfire

Thomas Lundkvist

1 hour ago

5 min read

New international controls intended to prevent textile waste exports could make reusable clothing harder to trade, threaten jobs and potentially increase disposal. Both these risks and the uncertainty surrounding the scale of the waste problem emerge from the documentation prepared for the UN-administered Basel Convention's ongoing negotiations. Now governments are divided over how to proceed.

International trade in used clothing extends the life of millions of garments, provides affordable clothes and supports livelihoods across the world. It is an important part of the circular economy.

But some governments and environmental organisations argue that the trade also conceals large-scale waste exports, leaving importing countries with the environmental burden.

Yet the scale of this alleged dumping has never been reliably established.

A year-long Reuse News investigation found no robust evidence supporting the high waste percentages frequently cited. The Basel Convention's own background report acknowledges that the true scale and nature of unusable textiles in international shipments remain inconclusive.

New controls could make reuse unprofitable

The Basel Convention is considering new classification guidelines, certification, stricter tracking and possible changes to waste classifications.

While intended to prevent waste exports disguised as reusable clothing, such measures could also raise costs, delay shipments and make lower-value garments uneconomic to trade.

"PIC controls can make cross-border shipments slow and administratively burdensome"

Jessica Franken, SMART

The potential consequences extend far beyond the second-hand industry:

1. Global reuse could be disrupted. Extra approvals, delays and compliance costs could make some shipments commercially unviable.

2. Reusable clothing could become waste. Garments that lose access to overseas markets may be discarded instead of being worn again.

3. Jobs and livelihoods could be threatened. Traders, sorters and workers across exporting and importing countries depend on these flows.

4. Fast fashion could gain ground. Reduced access to affordable second-hand clothes may shift some demand towards cheap newly manufactured garments.

5. Environmental impacts could increase. More disposal and replacement production could raise resource use, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

These are potential consequences, not established outcomes. But the Basel Convention's own documentation records warnings that poorly designed controls could disrupt international reuse and undermine circular economy objectives.

"If those markets disappear, the materials don’t magically become recyclable in Europe"

Alan Wheeler, UK Textile Recycling Association

EU rules could tighten the squeeze

The EU is already introducing stricter waste export requirements while developing new criteria for distinguishing products from waste. At the same time, it is easing certain textile waste shipments within Europe.

Combined with future Basel measures, these rules could reshape international textile flows. Whether their cumulative consequences have been adequately assessed remains unclear.

Basel negotiators split over tougher controls

At the Convention's June meeting, some governments and environmental organisations called for stronger controls. Others questioned the evidence and warned of damage to reuse markets and livelihoods.

No new textile controls were agreed. Instead, governments and other stakeholders have until 30 November to submit further views ahead of negotiations in 2027.

The question now is whether new rules can prevent genuine waste exports without undermining the international reuse system that keeps clothing out of the waste stream.

In depth: The evidence, the risks and the rules

Five key questions behind the debate over international textile controls.

The waste problem nobody has been able to measure

The Basel Convention secretariat's May 2026 background paper (UNEP/CHW/OEWG.15/INF/22, paragraph 13) says investigations have identified some unusable material in shipments declared as used textiles, but the true scale and nature of the problem remain inconclusive. Reuse News' own investigation likewise found no robust basis for the high percentages of waste at import often cited in the debate.

Crucially, waste found after sorting, resale or use in an importing country is not necessarily waste that arrived in the shipment. The distinction matters when designing rules to address dumping.

How new controls could turn reusable clothes into waste

The secretariat's paper presents options submitted by parties and observers, including guidance to distinguish products from waste, certification of sorting facilities, tighter inspections and possible changes to waste classifications. None is an agreed new control.

If low-value reusable clothes face higher compliance costs or lengthy approvals, some shipments could cease to be commercially viable. The same document also records warnings about disruption to collection, sorting and livelihoods. Better checks, however, could help prevent genuinely unusable textiles being exported as products.

In a June 2026 report commissioned by Humana Lt, IVL researchers Mathias Gustavsson and Amanda Martvall compare two illustrative scenarios: stronger waste controls requiring advance approval of shipments, and a circular-economy approach that treats verified reusable textiles as products while strengthening traceability. These are the researchers' scenarios, not agreed Basel proposals.

Less second-hand clothing could mean more fast fashion

A June 2026 study by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, commissioned by Humana Lt, examined Kenya's established second-hand clothing market. The report says the country imported about USD 230 million in used clothing in 2024 — more by value than imports of new ready-made garments — and cites estimates of up to two million people directly or indirectly involved in the sector.

The IVL researchers warn that tighter waste controls could cut supply of affordable second-hand clothes and shift demand towards cheap newly manufactured textiles with higher environmental footprints. That is a plausible indirect risk, not a quantified forecast. Any assessment must also consider what happens to usable clothing left in exporting countries.

Europe is already changing the rules

The EU's Waste Shipment Regulation (2024/1157) has applied in large part since May 2026, with most new export rules taking effect from 21 May 2027. Exports of non-hazardous waste to non-OECD countries will face stricter conditions, according to the European Commission.

In parallel, the EU is developing criteria for when sorted textiles cease to be waste. Those proposals are not yet binding law. How they interact with any eventual Basel measures will matter for legal, cross-border reuse.

A growing divide over how far Basel should go

At the Basel Convention's June 2026 working-group meeting, delegates considered proposals ranging from clearer technical guidance to broader controls. The meeting took note of the secretariat's options paper, but did not adopt new textile waste controls.

Parties and observers have been invited to comment on the options by 30 November 2026 ahead of further work in 2027. The central question is how to prevent actual waste dumping without obstructing viable reuse.