The textile industry is at a turning point. While Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was designed to hold brands accountable for waste, a major gap remains—e-commerce platforms and non-EU fast fashion retailers continue to bypass these obligations.

The good news? The EU has the power to fix this. But it requires leadership, enforcement, and collaboration between policymakers, brands, and consumers.

Why This Matters:

• Every day, over 5,000 tons of textile waste enter the EU, much of it from non-compliant retailers.
• An estimated €264 million in EPR fees is lost annually, funding that should be reinvested into circular solutions.
• European businesses are unfairly competing with sellers who avoid regulations while contributing to environmental damage.

What’s Next?

• Policymakers must act now to enforce EPR at customs and hold e-commerce accountable.
• Brands and marketplaces must take responsibility for recycling and sustainable sourcing.
• Consumers, journalists, and industry leaders must keep this conversation alive.

Tag industry leaders, policymakers, and journalists who care about making fashion more sustainable. Let’s create momentum for meaningful change. This is a shared responsibility!

Key EU Officials Responsible for Textile Waste Management who holds the keys to solving this crisis—and what they can do right now. 

1. Virginijus Sinkevičius

• Position: European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries
• Responsibility: Overseeing EU environmental policies, including textile waste management and circular economy regulations.
• Immediate Actions Needed:
  • Enforce EPR compliance at customs for non-EU textile imports.
  • Close the €150 de minimis loophole that allows fast fashion retailers to avoid EPR fees.
  • Push for mandatory textile recycling targets across all EU member states.

2. Thierry Breton

• Position: European Commissioner for Internal Market
• Responsibility: Regulating the internal EU market, including fair competition and online commerce.
• Immediate Actions Needed:
  • Make e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Shein, Temu, AliExpress) responsible for collecting EPR feesfrom their sellers.
  • Introduce an import tax on unsustainable textiles to fund circular economy initiatives.
  • Strengthen market surveillance to prevent the sale of non-compliant textiles.

3. Pascal Canfin

• Position: Chair of the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety Committee (ENVI)
• Responsibility: Leading the European Parliament’s legislative work on sustainability and environmental protection.
• Immediate Actions Needed:
  • Pressure the European Commission to close textile waste loopholes in the Waste Framework Directive.
  • Demand greater transparency from online marketplaces on textile waste responsibility.
  • Push for heavier penalties on fast fashion brands that avoid EPR regulations.

4. Florika Fink-Hooijer

• Position: Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV)
• Responsibility: Directing EU environmental policies, including the circular economy strategy for textiles.
• Immediate Actions Needed:
  • Ensure strict enforcement of EPR regulations across all EU member states.
  • Mandate quarterly reporting on textile waste compliance from major retailers and e-commerce platforms.
  • Advocate for a pan-European textile recycling fund, financed by non-compliant fast fashion brands.

5. Executive Body: European Environment Agency (EEA)

• Responsibility: Providing independent environmental data and monitoring EU textile waste impact.
• Immediate Actions Needed:
  • Publish a public registry of EPR-compliant and non-compliant brands.
  • Increase data transparency on textile imports, waste, and recycling efforts.
  • Work with customs agencies to track illegally imported fast fashion textiles.

What Is the Damage if the EU Does Not Take Action This Year?

If the EU fails to act in 2024, the damage will accelerate across multiple fronts – environmentally, economically, and socially.

Growing Textile Waste Crisis

• By 2025, textile waste in the EU will exceed 7 million tons annually (up from 5.8M tons in 2020).
• Fast fashion imports will continue rising by 30-40% yearly, flooding the market with low-cost, non-recyclable clothing.
• Municipal waste costs will skyrocket, with European taxpayers paying for discarded fast fashion items rather than brands taking responsibility.

Lost Billions in EPR Fees & Unfair Competition

• If e-commerce platforms continue avoiding EPR obligations, the EU will lose an estimated €1.5 billion in unpaid textile waste fees by 2030.
• EU-based brands following sustainability laws will struggle, while non-compliant brands gain a price advantage, forcing responsible companies out of business.
• The secondhand and recycling sector will remain underfunded, preventing large-scale textile circularity solutions.

Delayed Action = Bigger Regulatory Burden Later

• The longer non-compliant fast fashion brands are left unchecked, the harder it will be to recover lost EPR fees, regulate online marketplaces, and clean up accumulated waste.
• Future policies will require higher taxation on EU businesses to compensate for lost sustainability investments—making action today much cheaper than delayed intervention.

Conclusion: Holding the EU Accountable

The failure to properly enforce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in textiles is costing European taxpayers millions and worsening textile waste pollution. These officials and agencies must take immediate, coordinated action to close regulatory loopholes, enforce compliance, and hold e-commerce platforms accountable.

What Can EU People & Businesses Do If the EU Does Not Act?

If policymakers fail to close the loopholes, European companies and consumers must take action themselves to push for change and mitigate the damage.

🔹 Industry & Business Actions

• Public Pressure on E-Commerce Marketplaces – EU businesses can demand that platforms like Amazon, Shein, Temu, and AliExpress collect EPR fees from all sellers before allowing sales.
• Refuse to Work with Non-Compliant Suppliers – Brands and manufacturers can blacklist suppliers who evade EPR and sustainability regulations.
• Engage in Collective Advocacy – European fashion retailers and textile recyclers must form alliances to demand fair market conditions and prevent underregulated competition.

🔹 Consumer Actions

• Boycott Non-Compliant Fast Fashion Brands – Consumers must be aware that every €5 fast fashion purchase fuels environmental damage
• Support Brands That Follow EPR & Sustainability Standards – Buy from companies that pay their fair share into textile waste management.
• Demand Transparency – Ask brands and platforms where their EPR contributions go and how they handle textile recycling.

🔹 Media & Awareness

• Expose Non-Compliance – Journalists, influencers, and sustainability advocates must highlight the EU’s failure to regulate and expose how much fast fashion is escaping responsibility.
• Petitions & Legal Pressure – Industry associations and sustainability NGOs should push for legal action against e-commerce loopholes and bring the issue to the European Court of Justice if necessary.

The Bottom Line: If policymakers don’t act, businesses, consumers, and activists must take control of the fight against fast fashion’s environmental and economic damage.

Toomas Allikas
www.linkedin.com/in/allikas

#SustainableFashion #EPR #CircularEconomy #EURegulations #BigChange #Greenful