Textile industry shifts toward circularity through new global programs and regulations

The environmental NGO WRAP has launched the Textiles Collections Transition Programme, a global initiative designed to redesign how post-consumer textiles are collected, sorted, reused, and recycled. The program aims to address high waste rates, noting that in the UK, 49% of used textiles are discarded in residual waste, while in the EU, 85% of household textile waste is not separately collected. By connecting brands with downstream stakeholders, the program seeks to maximize textile value through better reuse and fiber-to-fiber recycling.

In Chile, the government has designated textiles as a priority product under its Extended Producer Responsibility framework (Ley REP). This regulatory shift focuses on developing collection and recovery targets for the sector. In response to such regulatory trends and international studies regarding the quality of second-hand clothing trade, suppliers like Indetexx are utilizing manual sorting and multi-stage quality checks to ensure used goods meet specific market demands and reduce low-value waste in international shipping.