Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French Minister of Ecological Change, will subsidize industrial initiatives to promote recycling from textile waste via Refashion. The ministers announced on Sunday to revise the requirements for the textile, household laundry and shoe industry as part of the extended manufacturer’s responsibility (Rep).
The goal: to provide investment subsidies to promote the establishment of a local industry to treat textile waste in France – and thus avoid exporting these waste abroad. According to the responsible ministry, the measure should help create jobs and to strengthen the added value in Germany. A new specification should come into force in early 2026. Until then, the state continues to support the existing structures.
The project is based on the knowledge that France does not collect sufficient textile waste in relation to the quantities. Entrepreneurs: There are therefore hesitation in recycling systems that may not be fully utilized. The aim is to increase the collection rate and at the same time significantly increase the recycling and reusing rate of textiles.
Collect more and create an economic model for recycling
In this context, the French Ministry for the Ecological Change emphasizes its support for the Law Subject of Fashion, which will be negotiated in the Senate on June 2, 2025. The aim is to curb the steadily growing increase in textile waste. In addition, the Ministry refers to the benefits of the environmental identification for clothing confirmed by the European Commission.
At the center of the new model is the promotion of investments in the structural strengthening of the entire collective and exploitation chain in France- from reuse to sorting and recycling to material or energetic recovery.
The actors in the industry should be able to develop economically viable models independently. They are supported by the eco-organization Refashion, which is responsible for the textile, household laundry and shoe industry (TLC) as part of the extended manufacturer’s responsibility (Rep). This can take over waste or materials that do not find a sales market and add them to other exploitation channels.
Refashion will promote industrial initiatives for recycling textile waste with tens of million euros
The ministry also announced an early concerting with the actors of the social and solidarity economy- a reform of the Rep-textile industry was inconceivable without their participation. The focus of the discussions is to improve the traceability of the material flows: Which quantities are exported, what remains in France and what is actually collected?
In the future, Refashion should be able to invest specifically in industrial infrastructures for sorting and recycling. Specifically, the establishment of a textile recycling system in France is planned – an industrial policy concern that respects existing structures. Organizations such as Emmaüs or the Red Cross, which play a major role in the social and solidarity economy, should not be replaced in their function.
The aim is to create real cycles and to recycle textiles as possible – as a sustainable alternative to energy recycling, in which old clothing is burned to gain energy.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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