The European Parliament’s Plenary vote on the revised Waste Framework Directive needs to be advanced

The signatories express strong concerns regarding the recent postponement of the European Parliament’s plenary vote on the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD), now scheduled for October 2025.

This four-month delay represents a significant setback for the establishment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles – schemes that are urgently needed to tackle Europe’s growing textile waste crisis. Every month of delay prolongs the funding gap for collection, preparing for reuse, and recycling activities, directly affecting commercial and social economy operators working on the ground to make circular textile systems a reality. This is all the more so regrettable as the EPR implementation period for Member States is of 30 months (instead of the 18 months as suggested by the European Parliament in its initial position).

For many collectors, preparing for reuse operators, recyclers, and local authorities, the continued uncertainty translates into postponed investments, stalled partnerships, and a lack of operational clarity – at a time when the volumes of textile waste separately collected is increasing, managing capacity has not expanded, nor have the outlets for the processed used textiles. Furthermore, the handling of non-reusable textiles (i.e. for recycling) remains costly for preparing for reuse operators, on top of the lack of market uptake for the recycled textile fibres. Without rapid implementation of EPR schemes across Europe, valuable reusable and recyclable materials will be lost, and a whole industrial ecosystem that is key to the circular transition will collapse.

While the postponement may appear to be a technical scheduling issue, its impact on people, the planet, and the EU’s circular economy ambitions is very real. A timely adoption of the revised WFD is critical to provide the legal certainty and financial support needed to scale up textile waste management, keep materials in the loop across Europe, and enhance efforts on waste prevention.

We therefore urge you to support bringing the plenary vote on the revised WFD forward before the summer break. The textile sector – and the thousands of workers, enterprises and social economy actors striving to create a more sustainable future – cannot afford to wait any longer.

Signatories:

Julia Ettinger, EuRIC, Secretary General

Neva Nahtigal, RREUSE, Director

Paolo Campanella, FEAD, Secretary General

Vanya Veras, MWE, Secretary General

Patrick ten Brink, EEB, Secretary General

Esra Tat, Zero Waste Europe, Executive Director

Valeria Botta, ECOS, Programme Director

T2T Alliance