The State of Recycling and Waste Minimisation

Leading Edge Topics from the ISWA Working Group on Recycling and Waste Minimisation

The Shifting Landscape of Material Circularity for Clothing and Textiles 

In Spring 2024, the ISWA WGRWM held a mini conference in Finland and kicked off an initiative, with its members, to explore the changing situation with material circularity in the second-hand clothing and textile value chains. In Europe, several policy initiatives at EU level are restricting the political and economic possibilities for “upper R” (Rethink, Reuse, Repair, Remanufacture) recovery options for clothing and household textiles. 

• EU policy developments: The European Union is advancing new legal initiatives addressing the consequences of ultra-fast fashion and aiming to establish clearer frameworks for textiles prepared for reuse. In the short term, these initiatives may threaten long-running systems for the collection and trading of second-hand clothing. In Bulgaria, for example, municipalities are no longer able to collect and sell second-hand clothing because fear of EU regulation has caused many charities to stop collecting and remove their clothing donation boxes. 

• Shrinking options for legal diversion from disposal: An increasing number of EU directives and regulations targeting textiles and textile waste. However, only a small share of textiles consumed in the EU is actually produced within the EU, creating additional challenges for regulation and traceability. 

• International policy disconnects: The restrictions within Europe come at a time when the legal and commercial situation outside Europe for new and second-hand clothing is rapidly changing. For example, Chile has introduced legal initiatives for textiles within its Circular Economy Strategy for Textiles 2040, including plans to implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textile products. 

• Confusion about the definitions of “recycling” and circularity, and climate benefits associated with “recycling”. In large high-income countries in Western Europe, producers often depend on incineration to meet their EPR commitments and their legal recovery goals. The second-hand clothing industry is very concerned that this reliance on incineration destroys use value (even though it creates energy recovery). There are questions about the future of the European (charity) second-hand clothing trade, and fears that a great deal of value in quality garments and furnishings will “go up in smoke”, and the charities will lose their primary source of income. 

• Uncertainty as to whether EPR for clothing and textiles is “a threat or a promise.” Early indications are that industry-managed EPR for clothing may severely restrict the short-term options for clothing and household textile circularity. EPR is designed to support improved collection, which is in turn tied to financing of safe and correct management of used clothing and textiles. In practice, this means creating a monopoly on “back-end” processes that often reduce the operations of important charity second-hand trading systems for quality clothing, such as those of the British Heart Fund and Humana. Requests from these charities to listen to their concerns and monitor their operations are not always welcome. 

The WGRWM has taken up the challenge to work with stakeholders to better understand this rapidly changing landscape. The goal is to document this particular moment in history, to gather data and information from a range of countries and stakeholders in the industry, to clarify and publish on the issues for exporting and importing countries, and to elaborate policy interventions and benchmarking systems that can contribute to keeping options available for second-hand clothing circularity in Europe, as well as to improve the end-of-life management when the recovery options from “9R” processes have been exhausted. 

The WGRWM invites ISWA members and their colleagues (even if they are not (yet) iSWA members, to join this initiative and to actively contribute to this and other activities. Short-term opportunities: 

• Document your own clothing-related customs and habits, write a paper on circular textiles and clothing, and submit it to the special issue on Circular Economy of the MDPI journal Sustainability with two WGRWM guest editors, Dr Henning Friege and Dr Anne Scheinberg. Also, papers and articles about other materials, circular value chains, and related issues are welcome. 

• Visit second-hand clothing businesses and charities in your city and let them know that this initiative is open to their participation.

• Above all, please join the Working Group. You can find us at the IFAT Munich on May 4 – 7, at the ISWA booth. 

Contact:

WGRWM Support Staff Ms Shiza Aslam

WGRWM Chair Anne Scheinberg

To submit a paper to the MDPI Special Issue, please write to Dr Henning Friege