FEAD, EURIC TEXTILES & DECATHLON URGE EFFECTIVE EPR SCHEMES AND A LEVELPLAYING FIELD IN WASTE FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE REVISION

We, the signatories, welcome the ongoing negotiations and greatly appreciate the work done so far under the targeted review of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), particularly on the establishment of EPR schemes for waste textiles. While we fully support this initiative, ensuring consistency is essential to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens for companies and Member States and to maximise the effectiveness of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes in delivering the intended environmental benefits.

The new EPR schemes will incentivise investments in infrastructure, with the aim of creating a circular economy and industry for textiles. In this circular economy, the waste status of discarded textiles is needed to ensure their traceability and the professionalisation of the operators involved. To achieve the objectives of the targeted WFD revision, a waste management chain aligned with the waste hierarchy, and that ensures an environmentally sound and efficient treatment of discarded textiles is essential. In this system, the participation of all relevant operators will be needed, but all active operators must commit to the social and legal responsibility of managing waste. This is why we support a uniform application of the new rules to all operators, without any potential loopholes that could lead to a continuation of the status quo.

The ongoing revision of the WFD provides a unique opportunity to ensure more harmonisation within the EU and to improve competitiveness within the sector. This is especially important as Europe’s textile sorting and recycling industry faces a crisis caused by global factors like the war in Ukraine, logistical challenges in Africa, and the rise of ultra-fast fashion. These disruptions have led to an oversupply of used textiles, a decline in demand from export markets, and a drop in prices for second-hand clothes. At the same time, the costs of collection, sorting, and recycling have surged, putting financial pressure on waste management operations and causing warehouses to overflow. To address this, we urge a swift agreement on the proposed targeted revision of the WFD and an efficient implementation of EPR.

In this context, we believe certain aspects require further attention and clarification during the trilogue negotiations, as detailed below.

1. To create a level playing field and full accountability across all the relevant actors involved in the EPR scheme: In particular, we call for the inclusion of micro-enterprises within the scope of the EPR scheme. Micro-enterprises account for 88% of all companies in the textiles sector and while in terms of total turnover they only represent 12%, we believe that every actor placing products on the market that will eventually become waste, should be responsible for their disposal. The exclusion of micro-enterprises has not been implemented in other EU-level EPR schemes, such as packaging, WEEE, or end-of-life vehicles. In addition, the French EPR scheme (ReFashion) shows that their inclusion can be effective, with the PRO offering the option of a lump-sum financial contribution for producers who place small quantities of products on the market¹. Additionally, being part of the EPR scheme could provide several benefits, such as access to a larger network and receiving financial bonuses for products with minimised environmental impact². At the same time, it is important to ensure that micro-enterprises are not overburdened by financial contributions, and appropriate support and tools should be provided to facilitate their engagement.

• Social economy entities: Social economy entities play an important role within the management of used and waste textile products. However, additional measures are needed to ensure their transparent and fair participation in EPR schemes. We support the Council’s position advocating for annual reporting by social economy entities and their inclusion in the EPR scheme through a transparent selection process, which will enhance waste reduction efforts. On this, we believe that reporting requirements should be applied to all types of social economy entities, including the ones that do not export used or waste textiles, which are currently exempted by the Council position (article 22c, paragraph 11b). We believe that the data collected from all social economy entities could be instrumental to ensure a good functioning and the effectiveness of the EPR scheme. Lastly, we also advocate for a clearer definition of social economy entities to better identify who qualifies as part of this group. This definition should recognise social economy entities when they reinvest their profits and surpluses to further pursue social or environmental purposes.
• Revision of the EPR scheme and setting out targets in future revision: The EPR scheme should be designed to manage waste in a circular manner. To achieve this, the actions and strategies of producer responsibility operators (PROs) should be guided by clear targets for waste prevention, collection, preparing for re-use and recycling. Therefore, we welcome the Council’s provision to review the directive by 2028 and to consider setting the above-mentioned targets, accompanied by a legislative proposal if needed.

• End-of-waste criteria and export of textile waste: We would like to call on the co-legislators to further push for the development of end-of-waste criteria for textile waste. The clarification of definitions would facilitate effective implementation of the directive and efficient functioning of the EPR schemes. Specifically, the end-of-waste criteria are crucial to ensure further development of the new sorting-for-recycling industry, recycling solutions as well as sound waste management more generally. Importantly, this could lead to the introduction of new marking categories, such as used textiles assessed as fit for reuse, and recycled textile-related products, that would alleviate the administrative burden linked to waste transportation. Along these lines, we welcome the differentiation between used textiles and waste textiles. This distinction is in line with the Waste Shipment Regulation and is crucial for promoting sustainable waste management practices and for the effective export of textile waste.

• To accelerate negotiations: The trilogue negotiations should be accelerated as much as possible to reach a swift agreement. We would like to remind that the obligation to separately collect textile waste will enter into force in January 2025, exponentially increasing the tonnages that must be managed safely and in line with the waste hierarchy. However, the incentives and the new EPR system proposed will not be in place yet, thus leaving large volumes of textile waste unmanaged.

• EPR schemes for textiles must be governed by clear rules while staying agile and being continuously improved: For this reason, we recommend appointing an independent monitoring body to evaluate the textiles EPR every three years, setting KPIs and targets (including targets on minimum recycled textile content in textile products – aligned with the upcoming ecodesign requirements). We believe that the data reported by Member States to the independent monitoring body should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the EPR scheme and to ensure that the contributions and efforts are directed towards building an efficient circular economy for textiles.

In conclusion, the signatories urge the trilogue negotiators to consider the aforementioned points and to continue their efforts towards establishing well-functioning EPR schemes under the Waste Framework Directive. These schemes should be based on clear, harmonised principles and definitions to ensure effectiveness across Member States, with the ultimate goal of promoting a circular industry and economy. Therefore, the signatories remain committed to collaborating with policymakers to achieve our shared environmental goals and efficient textiles waste management.

¹ https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000044894107

² BAREME_ECO_MODULATIONS_2024_REFASHION_MAI2024_EN_Vdef.pdf

FEAD is the European Waste Management Association, representing the private waste and resource management industry across Europe, including 19 national waste management federations and 3,000 waste management companies. Private waste management companies operate in 60% of municipal waste markets in Europe and in 75% of industrial and commercial waste. This means more than 320,000 local jobs, fuelling €5 billion of investments into the economy every year. For more information, contact us at info@fead.be

EuRIC Textiles, as a branch of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC), represents Europe’s textile recycling and re-use industries. EuRIC Ttextiles evaluates and provides input on the implementation of the EU’s textiles strategy, focusing on ecodesign criteria, mandatory recycled content targets, and end-of-waste criteria for textiles. Established in 2019, EuRIC Textiles advocates for the indurstries priorities as the re-use and recycling of textiles fain increasing importance at the European level. For more information, please contact Zoi DIDILI, EuRIC’s Senior Communications Advisor at zdidili@euric.org or at +32 489 094 602.

Decathlon is the world’s largest EU-based sports retailer, with integrated end-to-end worldwide operations. DECATHLON presently operates in 72 countries with more than 1800 stores and total net sales of 15.6 billion euros in 2023. We are a family-owned company founded in 1976 in France. To sustainably make the pleasure and benefit of sport accessible to the many has been the company mission since 1976. As a global designer, manufacturer and retailer, DECATHLON is fully aware of its social and environmental responsibility. Every day, we observe and listen to our users, we design products, we test, we make and we sell – BUT, every day at DECATHLON, we create waste, we use the planet’s resources, we are responsible for products travelling long distances, and we use energy. We do have an impact.. so WE ACT. Acting within a more circular economy is part of our company vision. For more information, please contact Jana Hrčková, Decathlon EU Affairs, at jana.hrckova@decathlon.com.