Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Post

We are happy to share insights from the latest report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on EPR for textiles. This comprehensive report highlights the urgent need for eco modulated fee-based EPR policies to address the growing textile waste problem. Key take-aways 1.     **Mandatory EPR Schemes:** EPR policies place responsibility on producers for the end-of-life management of their products, ensuring that discarded textiles are collected, sorted, and recycled. Currently, only a few countries like France, Hungary, and the Netherlands have implemented such policies, but many others are considering it. 2.     **Global Collaboration:** The report emphasizes the need for international alignment in EPR policy design. Countries involved in the textile trade must collaborate to create a seamless global system that effectively manages textile waste. 3.     **Circular Economy Focus:** EPR can drive circular design, extending the lifespan of textile products and addressing environmental impacts throughout their lifecycle. This is crucial for transitioning to a sustainable textile industry. 4.     **Addressing Challenges:** The report also acknowledges the need for further research on the socio-economic impacts of EPR policies and the technological innovations required to scale up reuse and recycling efforts.   **Our opinion:** This report is an important step but as always, the details matter. Mandatory EPR is crucial for creating a sustainable and circular textile industry. However, in doing so it is is essential to ensure that these policies are implemented and enforced effectively. They also should include all stakeholders from local communities to global markets. Start-up organizations like Umucu (www.umucu.org) initiated by Boer Group play a vital role in setting up textile waste management systems in ecologically vulnerable countries. This initiative ensures that even the most at-risk communities can participate in and benefit from a circular economy. Let’s keep the momentum going and work together to build a sustainable future for textiles!   #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #TextileWaste #EPR #TextileRecycling #EnvironmentalImpact #EllenMacArthurFoundation #EuRIC #Umucu #fashiontofiber

In a circular economy, textile products are used more, made to be made again, and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs. In this system, businesses contribute to supporting infrastructure in proportion to what they place on the market. In order for this to be realised, separate collection infrastructure for textiles needs to be scaled up dramatically and, importantly, implemented in locations where it currently does not exist. But how? Funding is essential. EPR policy places responsibility on producers with regard to the collection, sorting, and recirculation of the products they place on the market. But the opportunities do not stop there. Find out more and read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ekxiP3di #CircularEconomy #EPRfortextiles #PushingtheBoundaries

The new Ellen MacArthur Foundation report on the need for mandatory EPR policy for textiles fully supports what we see at Decathlon in terms of circular business models demonstrating strong growth. Worth a read! We need coherent, harmonised EPR schemes to ensure we can scale textile recycling, create more closed loops and ultimately keep materials in usage for longer (like our first fully textile-to-textile t-shirt 😎). #circularity #EPR #sustainability #textiles https://lnkd.in/e8qu3CtT

In our journey towards a more sustainable future, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies play a pivotal role, especially in the textile industry. These policies ensure that producers are accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, from design to disposal, encouraging sustainable practices and reducing waste. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's recent article on EPR policy for textiles highlights the urgent need for such frameworks and provides valuable insights into their implementation and benefits. At LimeLoop, we are committed to promoting and adopting sustainable practices that align with these principles. Together, we can create a positive impact and pave the way for a greener future. https://lnkd.in/eFKEhSfN #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #TextileIndustry #ExtendedProducerResponsibility #EPR #EcoFriendly #LimeLoop #ThoughtLeadership

Interesting insights from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation on how EPR system need to sync globally to achieve truly impactful circular solutions for the apparel value chain. "To achieve a global circular economy for textiles, national EPR systems need to align around the same key objectives, while setting targets that are tailored to the national or regional context. In addition, the idea of extending EPR policy beyond national borders should be explored further, to manage textile waste where it ultimately ends up."

#Transformingtextiles: a miniseries on Making EPR Work 4   In our previous post, we discussed how to create a more efficient and transparent EPR system. Now, let's talk about the third measure: cost coverage for producers.   What costs should producers bear to reduce #textilewaste while adhering to the #wastehierarchy principles? Prevention comes first, with the production of better quality, longer lasting textile products that do not generate microplastics. Once textiles become waste, producers should cover the following costs:   🗑 Collection: setting up of locally adapted collection points to separate textile waste 🚛Transport: logistics and movement of waste 🔎 Sorting: assessing the quality of the textile and sorting for reuse or recycling 🛠Preparing for re-use: this can be repairing, washing, upcycling before the textile is put back on the market ♻Recycling: processing textiles that cannot be salvaged for re-use 🚮Treatment of residual waste textiles: processing textiles from mixed waste and residues from sorting and recycling 💬Communication: campaigns to consumers promoting waste prevention, separate collection, and re-use habits 💡Research and Development for Ecodesign   The 2025 EU deadline to set up separate collection of textiles will put municipalities in the position of having to bear the cost of purchasing the necessary infrastructure and communication before #EPR financial support systems are in place. This deadline was set in 2018 whereas the legal framework of EPR for textiles is currently under discussion and will likely not be in place in most Member States before 2030 . Stay tuned for our next post, where we'll reveal the last two measures on control and bulky waste responsibility. In the meantime, you can read our joint statement on our website for more details.: https://lnkd.in/dYNAPRF2

Today is the day! We're finally publishing our report, "Pushing the boundaries of EPR policy for textiles". Building this report took us about a year. A year of research, expert and stakeholder interviews, pondering, debating, writing ... and some more pondering. A notable challenge was the lack of reliable and consistent data. Material flows in the textile waste stream are complex, opaque, and transboundary. Textiles flow across borders after use, at times crossing dedicated economic zones for sorting and processing, and may be exported several times within one product’s lifetime. The available reporting across locations is scattered, inconsistent, and incomplete. But we did what we could to identify the key trends (more about those in a second post). I can only be grateful for the hard work by my fellow travellers Matteo Magnani and Sophie Moggs, and the support from the "ultimate textile waste geek", Traci Kinden, as well as the many expert contributors, whose names are all listed in the report. My thanks to our colleagues Dacie Meng (US Team), Pedro Prata (Latin America Team) and Zijing Cao (formerly in our China Team), who helped to break our Eurocentric bubble and whose contributions transformed this report into a global one, with a message that aspires to be relevant for all governments around the world. Finally, we wouldn't have been able to produce this report without our comms, editorial and creative teams, who turned our findings and thoughts into a clear and coherent story about the road to a circular economy for textiles. Special shoutout to Lucy Dayman - you helped to keep us going when the going got tough. A comprehensive circular economy approach is the only solution that can match the scale of the global textile waste problem. And EPR policy is a necessary part of that solution. Please consider reading our report, and let us know what you think! https://lnkd.in/exeBXz8V

Collective action is needed…EPR policy significantly improves the cost-revenue dynamics for separate collection, sorting, reuse, repair and recycling of discarded textiles. #circulardesign #extendedproducerresponsibility #stoptextilewaste #textileretailers

"Policy alone cannot solve the problem of textile waste. Voluntary business action, including the establishment of voluntary EPR schemes, are key to accelerate progress. Coordinated and compounding industry action is needed to challenge the linear economic model at its core, and to capture the opportunity to reuse and recycle textile products and materials at scale. To accelerate progress, businesses can… -Design products in line with circular economy principles -Accelerate the adoption of circular business models through collaborative, multi-brand systems -Invest in shared infrastructure that allows for the recirculation of materials after maximum use"

The Transforming Textiles mini-series is a wrap! 🔚 Over the past few weeks, Municipal Waste Europe and RREUSE - Reuse and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises have shared our joint position paper tackling the challenges and opportunities of implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (#EPR)  schemes in the textile industry, as part of the ongoing Waste Framework Directive (#WFD) revision. ✍ Municipalities and social enterprises are advocating to close loopholes in the waste hierarchy system on textiles and be granted decision-making powers in the design, functioning, and governance of the future textile EPR scheme. 💥 2025 will be a challenging year, for municipalities and social enterprises, as the separate collection of textiles will become mandatory across the EU. Municipalities and social enterprises will have to bear the costs of purchasing the necessary infrastructure and communication before EPR financial support systems are in place. 🔄The collection mandate alone only encourages citizens to sort their unwanted textiles away from the mixed fraction, but it won't solve the linear, #fastfashion production model. That's why Municipal Waste Europe and rreuse are urging policymakers to implement an effective EPR scheme, holding producers accountable for their waste and pushing them towards a circular, sustainable model. 🌱Explore our slideshow and joint paper with rreuse to learn more about shaping a sustainable future for textiles!