From 2028, all European Union (EU) Member States will be required to establish Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles under the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD), making producers financially responsible for collection, sorting, reuse, recycling, and end-of-life treatment. However, when textiles are exported outside the EU and the jurisdiction of said schemes, these fees no longer cover end-of-life treatment.
Our report for the European Environment Bureau (EEB) seeks to explore these opportunities by examining the full flow of funds, from fee collection in exporting countries to allocation in receiving countries, as well as the legal, governance, and financial mechanisms needed to make different EPR approaches operational.
The EU is a major generator and exporter of used textiles. Between 2005 and 2023, the export of used textiles from EU countries to third countries has nearly doubled, from 760,000 tonnes to 1.37 million tonnes [1]. Importing countries, where textiles reach end-of-life often have under-resourced waste infrastructure. The costs of disposal, clean-up, and management fall on municipalities, informal workers, and communities.
Our report sets out practical options for extending textile EPR fee coverage to account for EU-origin textiles exported for reuse.It examines who could contribute, how fees could be calculated and transferred, how funds could reach relevant actors in importing countries, and what governance and data systems would be required.
Informed by secondary research and targeted primary research with stakeholders across the used textiles value chain, we lay out structured key considerations and highlight feasible approaches.
The findings offer policymakers, industry, and civil society a structured knowledge base to assess the feasibility and design of a potential Global EPR mechanism. Further research and pilots into different fee-setting methodologies, governance models, and legal arrangements is required to test the feasibility of these approaches as well as their applicability to different importing regions, and impacts on affected stakeholders.
[1] EEA (2025) EU Export of used textiles. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/circularity/sectoral-modules/textiles/eu-export-of-used-textiles?activeTab=658e2886-cfbf-4c2f-a603-061e1627a515
