The revised directive introduces mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles across all EU Member States, ensuring a level playing field for all textile manufacturers, by holding producers accountable for their products throughout their lifecycle, regardless of location and including e-commerce. While strongly supporting this move, EuRIC regrets the 30-month implementation timeline, given the current crisis in the post-consumer textile sector and the immediate need for support to prevent further disruption.
“The EU’s commitment to mandatory EPR for textiles is a pivotal step towards producer accountability for the garments and textiles they place on the market. But it’s not enough to resolve the current crisis in textile reuse and recycling,” said Mariska Boer, President of EuRIC’s Textiles Branch. “EPR is a transitional tool to shift from a linear to a circular value chain. However, without ambitious eco-design criteria and mandatory uptake of post-consumer recycled textile content, textile recycling will always lack the necessary business model, threatening the current infrastructure, circular textile economy and thousands of green jobs.”
While further improvements and urgent measures are needed, the WFD provisional agreement includes several positive aspects. EuRIC welcomes the inclusion of reporting requirements for Social Economy Entities (SEEs), ensuring their transparent and fair participation in EPR schemes. The provision allowing Member States to eco-modulate EPR fees based on extrinsic product durability is another key step in tackling textile waste and ensuring that the price of ultra-fast fashion reflects the environmental damage it causes. Additionally, the Commission’s commitment to reviewing the scheme’s effectiveness and setting clear targets by 2029 will drive progress in textile waste management.
Finally, EuRIC welcomes the exclusion of commercial reuse operators from paying EPR fees for now. Nevertheless, by 2029, the Commission will have to assess the possibility of Member States introducing such EPR fees for placing second-hand clothes on the market. EuRIC stresses that EPR should remain an application of the polluter pays principle, and reusing clothing has a positive environmental impact. Pending formal adoption, the directive will soon be published in the EU’s Official Journal, with Member States given 20 months to align their national laws.
