Under EU rules on waste,  Member States are required to set up separate collection of textiles by 1 January 2025. For this to happen, separate collection, sorting, re-use and recycling capacities within the EU have to be strengthened. This requires significant investments to build infrastructure, and to develop new technological solutions.

In particular, the 2025 amendment of the WFD introduced mandatory and harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles in all EU Member States. EPR schemes require producers to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, in particular at the end of the product’s life. Under these new rules on textile waste, the level of the financial contributions of the producers will be based on the circularity and environmental performance of textile products (referred to as "eco-modulation").

These new rules on textile waste will foster research and development in innovative technologies that promote circularity in the textile sector. It also supports social enterprises involved in textile collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling, and will ultimately incentivise producers to design more circular products.

For more detailed information, please visit the website of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) here.