Fashion brands launch textile recycling pilot in Spain

Fashion brands including Inditex, Mango, H&M and Primark are participating in a pilot to collect, sort and recycle used garments in Spain, in preparation for upcoming regulatory requirements.

The pilot will see Spain’s Association for Textile and Shoe Waste Management (Asociación para la Gestión del Residuo Textil y el Calzado) install garment and shoe collection points in two cities, two smaller towns and two villages across the country, covering a total population of around 300,000 people.

The initiative will last at least a year, starting in 2025, with the goal of analysing different options to collect used clothes in different urban and rural contexts – from street collection boxes to drop-off points in malls, shops, schools and churches.

The textile waste collected will then be sent to sorting plants, where garments in good shape will be sent to second-hand shops and others will be classified according to their material composition and sent to recycling, turning them into new garments.

At the end of the pilot, named RE-VISTE, the organisation will publish recommendations and best practices for others to set up efficient textile recycling systems.

Preparing for mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR)

The association is made up of textile brands Decathlon, El Corte Inglés, H&M, IKEA, Inditex, KIABI, Mango, Primark, Sprinter/JD and Tendam – all of which must prepare for upcoming changes in EU waste management legislation.

The EU introduced a proposed amendment to its Waste Framework Directive in 2023, which is set to be finalised in the Autumn 2024 legislative session. The revision would mandate extended producer responsibility (EPR) for textile companies – effectively making brands financially and legally responsible for the collecting, sorting and recycling of their post-consumer waste.

“This pilot is an important step in gathering all key players and working together on the creation of an efficient and sustainable system for the proper collection of textiles and shoes, in line with regulatory challenges and societal demands,” said RE-VISTE Director Juan Ramón Meléndez, who previously led similar initiatives in the drink packaging industry.

California makes textile EPR mandatory

Faced with the growing pollution problem of textile waste ending up in landfills, several jurisdictions are taking action. In California, lawmakers recently passed a bill mandating textile companies to set up systems to collect and recycle post-consumer waste, including used clothes, by the end of the decade.

From July 1, 2030 at the latest, apparel manufacturers that have not joined a producer responsibility organisation to manage “all apparel and textiles” will be subject to civil penalties including fines of up to US$10,000 per day – US$50,000 per day for intentional violations.