Navigating The Complexities Of Textile EPR In The US
The textile EPR in the United States is lacking in many aspects. It does not have a widespread recycling infrastructure and faces a lot of technical barriers due to blended fabrics, making it one of the most wasteful and under-regulated sectors in the country. Christine Yeager explores what the United States can learn from France, a global leader in circular textile EPR. She explains the positive points of their policy that must be emulated, especially financial collection and job generation, as well as its facets that should be handled with cautious optimism, particularly their grueling manual sorting process.
----
Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Navigating The Complexities Of Textile EPR In The US
Welcome back to Change Cycle. This is the show where we examine how systemic change happens, sometimes smoothly, sometimes chaotically. In this episode, we're dissecting the role of policy in advancing the circular economy, but with a special focus on one of the most wasteful and underregulated textiles. We've talked a lot in this show about packaging and packaging EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility, but we've also mentioned that EPR exists in other spaces.
We're expanding into a space that's new to the US textiles, which is your clothing, fabrics, leather, shoes, and things like that. Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, as we've stated before, and also in this textile instance, is a policy tool that shifts the burden of managing waste from local governments to the producers themselves. It's gaining traction worldwide. It's finally beginning to reach the fashion and apparel industries.
For context, the US generates about 15 million tons of textile waste annually. Only around 15% of that is recycled. Could EPR be the key to building a sustainable textile economy, or will it fall short without stronger infrastructure and deeper systemic reform? Let's unpack a little bit about this. One note is that this landscape is definitely evolving and still developing.
Unpacking The Power And Pitfalls Of EPR
First, let's talk about the power and pitfalls of EPR and return schemes in general. Let's start with the basics. Extended Producer Responsibility is designed to hold producers financially accountable for the full lifecycle of their products, including what happens after consumers are done with them. In theory, this encourages better design, reduces waste, and shifts the cost of disposal away from the public.
The US simply lacks infrastructure to support EPR at scale without major investment.
In the US, this is challenging for the textile industry for various reasons. Unlike a more established recycling system for aluminum, paper, or other packaging, textiles in the US don't have a widespread recycling infrastructure. There are a lot of solutions out there, but there's no waste management, public services, or waste connections for textiles. Historically, efforts have centered on reuse through thrift stores or exporting secondhand clothing and not on true material recovery. Most textiles end up landfilled or incinerated, which causes environmental harm and wastes what is ultimately a very valuable material.
There are also technical barriers. The recycling process is made more difficult because fabric is blended. This is wool and nylon, for example. Materials are not easily uniform. Most recyclers don't have the equipment or the economic incentive to process these commingled materials. Generally, traditional recyclers aren't equipped to sort the fibers efficiently. This can make large-scale textile recycling financially unattractive.
There are some organizations, like Better Cotton, that are experimenting with local production and transparency, but these efforts remain limited. The US simply lacks infrastructure to support EPR at scale without major investment. There are signs of progress. In 2024, California enacted the Responsible Textile Recovery Act, the first EPR law in the US targeted specifically at textiles and apparel. It's an important signal, but without significant infrastructure development, enforcement mechanisms, and industry support, its impact could be limited.
Exploring The Ups And Downs Of France’s Textile EPR
There are trade-offs. You have a company that is impacted by paper and packaging EPR. They might now also be impacted by this textile EPR. That can cripple business. What are the main policy levers? What are some of those positives, negatives, and trade-offs? What does a functional textile EPR system look like? We can look at France for an example. France established its textile EPR in 2007 and expanded it under the 2020 Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law. This system makes producers responsible for the entire life cycle of textiles, including collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling.
A key feature for them is ecomodulation, a system where producer fees are adjusted based on the recyclability and environmental impact of their products. The fees that are collected from the more than 4,000 registered producers support an infrastructure of over 40,000 collection points, including supermarkets and charitable locations. These efforts are coordinated by Refashion, the system's sole Producer Responsibility Organization, or PRO.
How's it going? In 2021, France collected 244,000 tons of textile waste. That's about 3.6 kilograms per person. The materials were processed through a mix of reuse, resale, export, and mechanical recycling. Beyond waste management, the system has created 1,400 full-time jobs, often supporting disadvantaged communities. France is committed to €150 million in repair and refurbishment programs, promoting product longevity.
In 2024, it launched a digital platform connecting over 350 European recycling businesses, streamlining material flows. This feels like something we could learn from, even in the paper and packaging space. This digital platform brings these disparate groups together. Still, the system is far from perfect. Even with improved infrastructure, blended fibers remain a challenge. Only about 30% to 40% of collected textiles recoup enough value to justify the cost of recycling.
Navigating The Waste And Disruption Of Exports
Additionally, the manual sorting process is labor-intensive. Market volatility makes pricing unpredictable. France's system shows what's possible, but also how difficult it can be to balance environmental ambition with economic feasibility, shifting to the global landscape and emerging trends. Looking at the global picture, it's clear that France is ahead of the curve in integrating infrastructure, incentives, and regulations, but it also reveals the complexity of managing textile waste sustainably.
France's EPR program relies heavily on reuse and export. With around 57% of textile waste treated through reuse, which is great, most secondhand clothing is shipped to low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa. That has created a lot of controversy, with critics arguing it disrupts local markets and undermines domestic industries. It also feels like shipping it out to somebody else's landfill. These concerns created a lot of debate in France about limiting or banning such exports. It's bringing some scrutiny to the US textile EPR implementation as well.
Domestically, producers must also navigate the heavy administrative load of reuse and recycling, and EPR compliance. Some companies face over 1,000 reporting fields to comply with these eco-modulation policies. With fluctuating demand and pricing, sorting and recycling companies struggle to stay financially viable, even in a well-regulated system. Despite these challenges, France's experience offers a framework that we in the US can build from and learn from. It shows the importance of pairing EPR with infrastructure, transparency, and economic support.
How To Solve The Textile Waste Crisis
Where does this leave us? Even in France, a global leader in circular textile policy, EPR hasn't solved overproduction or made textile recycling profitable at scale. That's because many garments, particularly from fast fashion, are made of low-quality, non-recyclable materials. The US is playing catch-up. Aside from California's 2024 law, the rest of the country has no discussion right now around textile EPR, no fiber composition tracking, and limited recovery infrastructure. I mentioned this in a previous episode. A lot of it is donations going to Goodwill.
The younger generation is hyper-cognizant of the waste of the textile industry. They are embracing ways to make it more circular for the good of the planet and the growing population.
There are some reasons for cautious optimism. If paired with upstream reforms like better product design, reduced production, and greater transparency, textile EPR could pave the way for a financially viable, environmentally secure circular economy. It can also tap into growing consumer interest in sustainable fashion.
We've seen some brands take the lead in this, too. You see brands have take-back programs. I think Smartwool had a sock made from refurbished materials. Cotopaxi sets its whole brand value. With the right marketing, a fashion statement that is also an environmental statement can work, as long as it's not too expensive. Ultimately, solving the textile waste crisis will require collaboration among stakeholders, investment in sorting and recycling technology, and a unified approach that tackles the system as a whole. For sure, building the circular economy, as we've talked about, is so much more than passing a law.
It's about rethinking how we make, sell, and dispose of products and bringing that into the value proposition of the product. Textile EPR can be a powerful lever, but it won't be able to work if it's in isolation. France's system shows both the potential and the limitations of EPR. In the US, we're just beginning this journey. There hasn't been a PRO selected yet. The PRO application is due at the beginning of 2026. We'll know who the PRO is by March 2026. With some strategic investments, smart design of the system, and cross-sector collaboration, we can move toward a system where waste, no matter where it comes from, paper, packaging, mattresses, textiles, becomes valuable. Consumption becomes more sustainable.
Why Embrace The Circular Textile Economy
As always, thank you for tuning into Change Cycle. I'll leave with this. Why should we embrace the circular economy in the textile space? It is because textiles account for 15 million tons of waste in the United States. It’s behind organics as one of the top contributors to our landfills. Plastic in textile fabric contributes to microplastics in our water. Thinking about how to divert the waste of our textiles away from the landfill would be a huge change in our need as a society for a landfill.
I believe there's value in this proposition. Consumers are looking for ways to make sustainable choices in their day-to-day lives and in their clothing. In fact, my nephew exclusively shops at thrift stores. My intern almost exclusively shops at thrift stores. This next generation is hypercognizant of the waste that the textile industry has on the environment. Embracing a way to make it more circular will not just be good for the planet, but also appeal to the long-term interests of the growing generation.