Ahead of the 2026 implementation of the EU’s Collective System of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles and footwear (SCRAP) regulation, the Spanish Association for the Management of Textile Waste, FEMP (Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces), and a few of the biggest fashion brands are collaborating to address textile waste.
They have introduced Re-viste, the name of Spain’s first textile trash collection pilot program, in a news release. Major brands including Decathlon, H&M, Inditex, and Mango promote Re-viste, which attempts to test the efficacy of collecting systems.
April 2025 will mark the start of the programme. Six Spanish towns with a combined population of over 300,000 people—distributed throughout urban, semi-urban, and rural areas—will evaluate various gathering techniques. These will include street containers, public cleaning stations, and private areas like stores and educational institutions. Following collecting, the textiles will be sent to sorting facilities for evaluation and, if feasible, sale to thrift stores.
The purpose of sorting non-reusable clothing by material for recycling is to turn it into new textiles. The FEMP Textile Waste Working Group and Re-viste will form the monitoring committee, which will keep an eye on the system’s proper implementation. Fashion businesses claim that Spain will require one textile waste container for every 1,200 residents after the law takes effect.
In order to facilitate more effective waste management, cooperation between municipal councils, producers, and consumers is crucial, according to Re-viste director Juan Ramón Meléndez, “This pilot program helps us move towards a sustainable model for textile collection and recycling. Our objective is to enhance recycling and maximise reuse.”
Alejandro Dorado, the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s commissioner for circular economy, continued, “With 3 per cent of GDP coming from the textile industry, Spain’s economy depends heavily on it. We are making significant progress towards a more sustainable future for the industry with the establishment of Re-viste and this pilot initiative.”
