Fast fashion is increasingly causing disposal problems in Germany. Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) is therefore planning to make manufacturers more responsible and to make them share in the costs of disposing of used clothing in the future. The background is the overfilled old clothing containers, in which so-called cheap fashion ends up.
Since January 2025, textiles in Germany have had to be disposed of separately, but the mass of clothing is enormous. According to the European Commission and the European Parliament, around 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste is generated in the EU every year, of which 5.2 million tonnes come from clothing and shoes alone. This corresponds to around 12 kg per person per year. The operators of the containers, mostly non-profit organizations such as Caritas or the German Red Cross, are now faced with the problem of no longer being able to get rid of unusable clothing and being stuck with the costs.
“Fast fashion also leads to an extreme waste problem in this country,” Schneider told the Rheinische Post. “The consequences of this order-and-go mentality are truly dramatic.” He added that many consumers don’t realize the extent of the problem and that the most important part of the solution is to buy less of these cheap packages from China. For this to succeed, both prices and awareness of the problem would have to increase.
Schneider is now aiming for a textile law that would require manufacturers to contribute to the disposal costs. He emphasized that this will primarily provide new funding for recycling and disposal of clothing.
However, not everyone in the industry is welcoming the plans. While the HDE calls for a practical, low-bureaucracy model and refers to experiences from other industries, the textile+mode association warned against holding German manufacturers generally liable for waste flows and demands a say in the implementation of the regulations.
At the same time, efforts are being made at the EU level to stem the tide of cheap imports. Among other things, a customs surcharge of three euros per package was introduced to reduce the influx of cheap goods from platforms such as Temu and Shein. Last September, more than 20 European textile and clothing organizations also called for immediate regulations against ultra-fast fashion, including taxes on small packages and the abolition of customs exemptions for goods under 150 euros.