UK Textiles Extended Producer Responsibility Blueprint

The emergence of EPR schemes

Around the world, environmental policy is evolving to address the significant environmental impacts of fashion and textiles. A growing suite of policy tools are being developed to support this transition, with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) playing an increasingly important role.

For textiles, EPR schemes help strengthen end-of-use management, incentivise improved product design and drive circular innovations by placing financial responsibility on ‘producers’ for what happens to their products once they are discarded.

In the EU, Textiles EPR schemes are rapidly being introduced through the Waste Framework Directive, and stakeholders across the UK textiles value chain are showing strong support for a similar, mandatory approach in the UK.
 

A sector in need of support

The UK’s used textiles sector is under severe strain. Rising volumes of low-quality textiles are flooding the market, while domestic infrastructure and economic viability lag far behind what is needed to manage these materials. Without intervention, large parts of the sector could collapse, with serious consequences for local authorities, charities and the public.

WRAP’s research indicates that, if this situation continues, the cost to local authorities alone could rise from £73 million to £137 million per year, reaching £200 million annually by 2035. These figures are conservative and do not account for additional costs from the extension of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to the waste sector in 2028, or from wider increases in waste management fees. 

Together, these combined costs would likely be passed on to the public through higher council taxes, while charities could face income losses as unsellable donations increase and disposal costs rise.

The environmental impact of inaction would also be substantial, with an estimated 2.5 million tonne increase in CO₂ equivalent emissions per year, driven by increased landfilling and incineration.
 

Industry's 10 recommendations

As the UK prepares for the Government’s forthcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan, stakeholders from across the textiles value chain have shown overwhelming demand for a mandatory UK Textiles EPR scheme, that is co-designed with them.  

As a first step in this process, industry has collaborated on the EPR Blueprint Report – the result of extensive engagement, capturing cross-sectoral perspectives on how a UK Textiles EPR scheme should be designed and implemented, setting out 10 essential recommendations for the UK Government:

1. Publish legislation this parliament to establish a mandatory UK Textiles EPR scheme.
2. Set up an industry-led scheme, run by a single, non-profit Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), with a steering committee representing the whole value chain.
3. Include all UK nations in the scheme.
4. Consider a phased approach to products included within the scope of EPR, with clear timelines for when different textile items are included (options of how this could be approached are detailed within the Blueprint).
5. Align the definition of ‘producers’ with the EU and existing UK producer responsibility schemes for other problematic waste streams, such as Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
6. Ensure EPR funding is ring-fenced for direct reinvestment into the scheme’s success, and charge EPR fees per item.
7. Make fees eco-modulated to reward sustainable design and materials.
8. Prioritise reuse over recycling to maximise environmental benefits.
9. After the successful implementation of a UK Textiles EPR scheme that generates funding for domestic infrastructure, the industry-led PRO could conduct further exploratory work to consider a ‘plug-in’ to the EPR scheme that ‘producers’ can engage in voluntarily to further support the Global South with managing used textiles from the UK sustainably.
10. The PRO should play an active role in EPR scheme enforcement to ensure a fair playing field for producers and to maximise the impact of the scheme.