In line with the guidelines and roadmap set by the European Commission through the Waste Management Directive, textile collection at the municipal level must be implemented by 2025. This initiative requires compliance with various collection rates and recovery targets. Additionally, it must align with the New Green Deal objectives and the Circular Action Plan, which promotes a circular textile system, emphasizing the end-of-life phase of products and their transformation into valuable resources.
In recent years, many municipalities and organizations across Europe have started to improve their textile management models. Historically, this responsibility has been handled by social organizations, often linked to social and solidarity projects. Several initiatives, such as Interreg, Cosme, and Life, have studied and implemented best practices aimed at optimizing textile management models from environmental, social, and economic perspectives.
The current project focuses on identifying best practices derived from projects, studies, and case studies that have implemented innovative technologies and actions in the final management stage of textile products. These practices are based on benchmarking and are aimed at improving textile waste management.
The objective of this document is to compile these best practices in textile waste management from European municipalities. The ultimate goal is to create a White Paper that consolidates initiatives, actions, and innovations implemented across different municipalities in Europe. This White Paper will highlight a range of solutions currently being applied by municipalities and other stakeholders within the textile circular economy to optimize textile waste management.
The practices presented in this document aim to inspire municipalities and other stakeholders in the sector. The goal is to enhance textile waste management within a circular and holistic framework, identifying opportunities at each stage of the end-of-life cycle (collection, transport, sorting, recovery, etc.), in line with the waste hierarchy, and turning waste into valuable resources.
