Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs are gaining traction across the globe, according to British climate action non-profit Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP).
Although there aren’t many frameworks for reducing fashion waste at the moment, head of EPR Jordan Girling stated in a study this month that “it is expected that the number of EPR systems for textiles will rapidly change during the next decade.”
An adoption of a mandatory EPR system for textiles was proposed in response to the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, which was published in March 2022. Producers in the EU will be tasked for gathering textile waste before it is dumped in landfills by 2025. The programme will impose an estimated EPR cost of 0.12 euros per item on clothing, shoes, blankets, rugs, bed linens, and curtains, as determined by the European Commission. Producers will be encouraged to reduce overproduction and increase investments in circular products by the regulation, which requires them to pay for the expenses of managing the waste.
France is currently one of the few nations with a reasonably developed and active EPR programme for textiles. The programme, which was originally implemented in 2008, is presently applicable to apparel, shoes, and linens for the home.
According to WRAP data, France’s textiles EPR has increased textile collection and recycling rates by three times since its beginning, and post-consumer textile material recovery rates can reach up to 90 per cent.
As of last year, Hungary and the Netherlands had additional textile EPR programmes in place, with producer requirements scheduled to begin in 2025. While Australia presently has a voluntary system in place for producers, Sweden and Spain are scheduled to install their own EPRs for textiles. Potential textile EPR laws are also being planned, drafted, or considered by California, the UK, Norway, Chile, Italy, Bulgaria, and the United States.
