Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles through EPR

The report argues that EPR should be a core component of the EU's strategy for sustainable textiles to operationalise the 'polluter pays' principle and reduce over-consumption. It recommends a harmonised EU-wide approach to EPR, including a consistent definition of 'producer', a broad scope of in-scope products, and the use of eco-modulation to incentivise better design. Because EPR alone cannot address all environmental, social, and animal welfare impacts, the report proposes a suite of complementary measures, such as banning hazardous chemicals, implementing minimum eco-design requirements for durability and repairability, and introducing recycled content targets. The authors advocate for a single, industry-owned, not-for-profit EPR scheme per Member State to better coordinate strategic infrastructure investment and data reporting.

• Textile consumption in Europe had the fourth highest environmental and climate impact in 2020, following food, housing, and mobility, with total consumption of clothing, footwear, and household textiles reaching 6.6 million tonnes.
• The current French EPR scheme, Re_Fashion, is the only operating textiles EPR in the EU, but its fees only cover a small portion of full end-of-life costs, which limits the effectiveness of fee modulation on design choices.
• To maximize effectiveness, the report recommends that the European Commission establish harmonised EU-level definitions for obligated producers, classifications for when textiles become waste, and criteria for eco-modulation.
• The report proposes a phased approach to product scope, starting with clothing, footwear, and household/professional linen, while excluding mattresses, carpets, duvets, and curtains due to different end-of-life requirements.
• Recycling targets should be set as a proportion of material not reused to avoid contradicting the waste hierarchy, with a gradual shift toward increasing the proportion of closed-loop (clothing-to-clothing) recycling.
• A single, industry-owned, not-for-profit EPR scheme is preferred over competing schemes because it provides better transparency, consolidated data, and a stronger ability to guarantee feedstock for strategic infrastructure investment.
• Eco-modulation of fees is limited by a low fee-to-sales-price ratio; for example, a fee of €0.011 for an adult t-shirt retailing at €10 represents only 0.1% of the price, providing a weak incentive for design changes.
• The report identifies several priority complementary measures to support EPR, including banning substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and implementing minimum eco-design requirements for stress resistance, lifetime, and disassembly.
• Other recommended complementary policies include a VAT reduction on repair, a ban on the destruction of unsold stock and returned items, and the mandatory use of product passports for all agreed products.
• The rise of e-commerce and online marketplaces is linked to the growth of fast fashion and over-consumption, with some research suggesting nearly two-thirds of online clothes consumers are 'serial returners'.

APA

Long, L., Lee-Simion, K., & Connock, T. (2022). Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles through EPR. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Driving-a-CE-for-Textiles-through-EPR-Final-Report-v2.0.pdf

Chicago

Long, Lucie, Kayleigh Lee-Simion, and Toby Connock. Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles through EPR. Changing Markets Foundation, 2022. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Driving-a-CE-for-Textiles-through-EPR-Final-Report-v2.0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Long |first1=Lucie |last2=Lee-Simion |first2=Kayleigh |last3=Connock |first3=Toby |title=Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles through EPR |publisher=Changing Markets Foundation |date=28 February 2022 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Driving-a-CE-for-Textiles-through-EPR-Final-Report-v2.0.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{long2022driving, author = {Long, Lucie and Lee-Simion, Kayleigh and Connock, Toby}, title = {{Driving a Circular Economy for Textiles through EPR}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Driving-a-CE-for-Textiles-through-EPR-Final-Report-v2.0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }