UN decision could reshape how the world treats used clothes

When environment ministers from around the world gathered in Nairobi in December, the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) concluded with decisions that could have far-reaching implications for how textiles are managed globally.

The meeting resulted in a new medium-term strategy for the UN Environment Programme for 2026–2029, alongside an updated resolution on chemicals and waste. Together, they reinforce the push to accelerate the transition towards circular material flows — including for textiles. The UN decision on used clothing taken at UNEA-7 places textiles more firmly within global waste and chemicals policy.

For the EU, this is more than international diplomacy. The bloc’s ongoing overhaul of textile policy, covering extended producer responsibility, ecodesign requirements and stricter market oversight, rests on the same fundamental question debated in Nairobi: when is a garment a resource, and when does it become waste?

UN decision on used clothing and global waste policy

New global agreements on waste and chemicals are setting the framework that future EU textile policy will have to operate within.

UNEA-7 highlighted the need for global definitions and coordination. For countries in Africa and other parts of the Global South, the issue is particularly sensitive, as a strict classification of second-hand clothing as waste risks undermining established reuse markets and limiting access to affordable garments.

At the same time, the direction of travel seems clear. Textiles are increasingly treated as a core part of the global waste challenge, closely linked to chemicals, microplastics and rapidly rising consumption levels. For the EU, this adds pressure to demonstrate that its textile strategy not only reduces waste at home, but also works in a global context.

When the next UN Environment Assembly takes place in 2027, textiles are expected to feature even more prominently. By then, EU rules will no longer be proposals — they will be reality.

The decisions from UNEA-7 mark a continued shift toward viewing textiles as part of global waste and chemicals policy, rather than solely as a trade or consumption issue.

Read more: UNEA-7 Resolutions and Decisions