It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

European Recycling Industries’ Confederation

PRESS RELEASE / Event

1 April 2025

3 minutes

EuRIC’s Textiles event, held in Brussels on 27 March, brought together sorters, recyclers, manufacturers, retailers, policymakers, academics, and circularity experts to address the need for bridging the gap between policy and industry in the textile sector.

Systemic Change Essential to Achieve Textiles Circularity, Says EuRIC’s Event

Brussels, Belgium: EuRIC’s Textiles event, held in Brussels on 27 March, brought together sorters, recyclers, manufacturers, retailers, policymakers, academics, and circularity experts to address the need for bridging the gap between policy and industry in the textile sector. The event emphasised the need for a systemic shift towards a circular...

Recycling Crisis / EuRIC Manifesto

21 March 2025

6 minutes

To achieve a circular textiles economy by 2030, EuRIC Textiles has urged the EU to implement key measures, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, ecodesign requirements, and better education through the Digital Product Passport (DPP).

EuRIC Drafts 5-Point Manifesto, Highlights Unprecedented Crisis Facing Collection and Recycling Sector

The five-point ‘EU Recyclers’ Manifesto: Increasing textiles circularity by 2030: Threading up circularity’ by EuRIC’s Textiles Branch, highlights the unprecedented crisis facing the region’s textile collection and recycling sector, worsened by rising costs, low demand, and the impact of ultra-fast fashion.

Staff Writer

Tackling Waste / Recommendations

14 March 2025

6 minutes

The introduction of the EU-wide mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles is a critical step agreed upon by EU co-legislators on 19 February, as part of the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).

EuRIC and FEAD Suggest 10-Fold Pathway till EPR Schemes Are in Place

FEAD and EuRIC have come up with a set of recommendations to address the crises facing the post-consumer textile collection, sorting and recycling industries following the introduction of the EU-wide mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles.

Special Correspondent

Report

PRESS RELEASE / Statement

21 February 2025

2 minutes

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.

EuRIC Welcomes WFD Deal but Calls for Urgent Support until EPR is in Place

Brussels, Belgium: EuRIC welcomes the provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), reached by the European Parliament and Council on 19 February, as it marks a significant step forward for the circular economy and textile waste management. However, urgent support is still required to address the...

State of Recycling / Europe Report

17 January 2025

4 minutes

The economics of the sector dictates that international shipment of second-hand clothing, textile recycling and waste will remain an important part of scaling up the circular textile economy.

Report Stresses on Modern Approaches to Managing International Shipments of Recycled Textiles and Second-Hand Clothing

To unlock the potential of recycled textiles and second-hand clothing, a new research proposes practical reforms to modernise outdated customs codes, introducing new codes, and create clear standards, and trader incentives that will enhance trust, trade efficiency, and transparency to better support the expanding textile circular economy.

Special Correspondent

State of Recycling / Europe Crisis

2 December 2024

6 minutes

Sorting for recycling is one option, though it’s not a profitable one right now. Textile sorters aren’t making money on non-reusable textiles, and the demand in Europe isn’t high enough to absorb all that surplus.

Second-Hand Clothes Should Be Considered Waste Only after They Have Served Their Second Life

In October, a statement from the European Recycling Industries' Confederation (EuRIC) warning that the textile reuse and recycling sector in Europe was on the verge of collapse, had sent alarm bells ringing. EuRIC Secretary-General Julia Ettinger tells texfash why the situation is so grim.

Subir Ghosh

Interview

Exclusive

State of Recycling / EU Crisis

23 October 2024

3 minutes

Since spring 2024, the prices for sorted second-hand garments no longer cover processing costs, leading to major cash flow problems for sorting operators.

Europe's Recycling Sector Headed for Crisis with Oversupply of Used Textiles and Drop in Demand from Export Markets

Europe’s textile sorting and recycling industry is under immense pressure with prices for second-hand textiles plummeting, while the costs of collection, sorting, and recycling have skyrocketed, EuRIC has warned.

Staff Writer

Going Circular / Clothing Reuse

19 January 2023

2 minutes

While the study confirms waste hierarchy assumptions on the environmental benefits of reuse over recycling, in the case of low-quality clothing, typically entirely composed of polyester, recycling also has comparative environmental benefits when consumers are less likely to purchase second-hand clothing.

Clothing Reuse Has 1/70 Times Lower Environmental Impact, Reveals New Study

Innovation in fibre-to-fibre recycling will be key in keeping textile fibres in the loop as volumes of non-reusable clothing are set to dramatically increase, exhorts a study commissioned by the umbrella organisation for recycling industries in Europe.