How far is textile recycling in Switzerland?

Will recycling for textiles in Switzerland soon come? After the Fabric Loop industry initiative, the NGO Public Eye recently started a petition for a Swiss mode fund. Where do their demands differ from each other and what does the latest report of the Federal Council say? An overview.

The starting position

In Switzerland, 60,000 tons of old clothes, home textiles and shoes are collected annually, according to a report published in April on behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment. Only two percent of this are sorted in Switzerland due to personnel costs, although 60 percent of the textiles collected would continue to be portable as second-hand clothing, a study by Quantis on old textiles in Switzerland shows. Around 28 percent of the goods collected are used – for the most part, cleaning flaps or insulation materials are made from it, only a small proportion of garnish are produced for clothing.

A total of 40,300 tons of old textiles are burned in Switzerland every year because they are disposed of as garbage. You can get this number when you add the following figures from the report of the Federal Council: 36,700 tons of textiles are disposed of via household waste. There are also around 3,600 tons of collected, but currently unusable old textiles.

These figures illustrate the extent of the textile waste, which results from the increasing production and consumption of fashion items. The textile industry in Europe still lacks systems to better sort and recycle old textiles. A large part is exported to Asia and Africa, with sometimes devastating consequences for the local textile industry and the environment in countries such as Chile, Tunisia or Ghana.

Waiting politics

In view of legal initiatives in Europe, the voices are now increasing in Switzerland that require a better, local recycling of textiles in the sense of the circular economy.

So far, countries such as France and the Netherlands have introduced a system of expanded manufacturer’s responsibility for textiles. In the European Union, a legislative project is currently also being prepared as part of the textile strategy, which is intended to make the fashion industry more obliged by being involved in the costs of recycling and disposal of textile waste.

In Switzerland there have been new legal bases in the Environmental Protection Act since last year, which could pave the way for systems with extended producer responsibility. In April, the Federal Council also approved the report of the Postulate Nordmann for the “Used Textiles in Switzerland”. The Social Democrat Roger Nordmann had submitted the postulate three years ago to report on the state of affairs to report on used textiles.

In addition to a management report on Switzerland, the resulting report also mentions potential legal regulations. The Federal Council can manufacturers: Interior, importer: Interior and foreign online retailers: Inside “obliging to pay an early recycling contribution to an industry organization,” it says. Both a voluntary delivery and an obligatory disposal fee for textile articles that are sold in Switzerland are possible.

The Federal Council can set requirements for products – for textile products, for example, “a certain quality and thus a longer lifespan could be prescribed.” Specifications for recyclability, a share of recycled fibers in new products or for a digital product pass are also conceivable.

“The report is typically diplomatic Swiss. You explain what would actually be possible, but do not dare to cover the cover,” said David Hachfeld, activist with a focus on fashion from the non -governmental organization Public Eye. “As long as it is possible, you wait. This is a typical pattern in Swiss politics.”

Sustainable textile industry

The NGO, on the other hand, hopes that regulations will quickly be issued so that Switzerland not only follows planned developments in neighboring European countries, but can also help shape it itself. It is not only about the design of a tax, but also a vision for a circular textile industry in Switzerland, says Hachfeld. “For Switzerland as a high technology country, it is interesting to develop a perspective for a sustainable textile industry, and you do something like that by actively and creatively shaping this discussion.”

The textile industry has already become active in Switzerland. The Aargau textile collector Tell-Tex AG plans a recycling center in St. Margarethen in Eastern Switzerland, where, no longer portable old textiles can be fully automatically sorted and recycled mechanically. According to Managing Director Ercüment Yildirim, the facility is the first of its kind in Switzerland.

Seven local companies – Calida, Mammut, Odlo, PKZ, Radys, Switcher and Workfashion – founded the Fabric Loop association together with the Swiss Textiles industry association in November. The organization is working on a draft for a uniform recycling system in Switzerland to better close cycles by recycling more waste in Germany. The income from an early recycling contribution should help to improve the infrastructure for the collection, sorting and utilization of textiles.

“We hope that in the course of 2026 or at the latest from 2027 we can start implementation,” said Nina Bachmann, President of Fabric Loop, in a contribution on the Swiss Textiles website. The association still had to calculate the amount of the textile levies, but they are likely to be less than ten centimes with a T-shirt.

Swiss mode funds

In a petition in May, the NGO Public Eye called for the establishment of a mode fund. Contributions from companies that sell or import new textile products in Switzerland are intended to flow into these. The money is intended to finance measures for a more sustainable fashion industry. This includes cheaper repairs, more offers from second-hand clothing, better recycling of textiles in Switzerland as well as promoting better working conditions and more sustainability in the supply chain.

The NGO also does not yet name any specific amounts for its required textile tax. On her website, however, she lists values ​​that are slightly higher than that of Fabric Loop: For socks and underwear it could be about 0.5 to 1 Swiss francs and 1 to 2 Swiss francs each for simple outer clothing.

However, the biggest difference between the two organization’s suggestions is that Fabric Loop supports the implementation of a circulatory system through the textile industry. The textile tax to be paid should also flow into this system, but not to a state fund, as required by Public Eye.

“Our view is that it is too short because the companies that are there are only a small share in the Swiss market,” said Hachfeld. The biggest market shares in Switzerland already have companies such as Inditex, H&M and Bestseller or dealers like Zalando. “A state system would make it clear from the outset that everyone has to participate.”

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