Dutch fashion industry barely collecting discarded clothing for recycling

The Dutch fashion industry has not yet gotten its recycling systems in order. Since the start of this year, the industry has been responsible for collecting and recycling its own products, but in practice, this rarely happens, Nieuwsuur reported.

The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry on earth. The Netherlands alone produces around 300 million kilograms of discarded clothing per year. According to the Extended Producer Responsibility Act, this year, the Dutch fashion industry must collect and reuse or recycle at least half of the clothing they sold last year. So far, they’ve collected 0.3 percent.

The law took effect in July 2023 and enforcement started this year, giving the fashion industry a year and a half to get their systems in order. The percentage of textiles that must be collected and reused or recycled will increase steadily. By 2030, it will be 75 percent.

According to Sekhar Lahiri of the UPV Textiel Foundation, which arranges the recycling of discarded clothing on behalf of 900 producers and importers, the industry needs more time. “The necessary changes for the entire textile chain simply take time,” he told the current affairs program. “We still have to make a lot of agreements, but we will keep the level of ambition high.”

Charles Graft, director of the textile collector Sympanie, thinks the government should intervene to speed things up. Only about half of all textiles sold end up in the textile bin. The other over 100 million kilograms per year disappear into incinerators. A good first step would be placing more textile bins. “There are now 10,000 bins spread out across the Netherlands. That should be between 20,000 and 30,000”