Categories: OPINION

OECD Urges Adoption of EPR to Tackle Textile Waste Crisis

Keywords: textile waste, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), fast fashion, circular economy, OECD, sustainable design


The fast-fashion industry has emerged as a major contributor to the global environmental crisis, generating massive amounts of textile waste, emissions, and resource depletion. A new working paper released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) calls for governments to adopt Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies to promote sustainable practices and embed circular economy principles in the garments sector.

Environmental Impact of the Garments Sector

The OECD report highlights staggering figures underscoring the scale of the textile waste problem:

  • In 2015, 92 million tonnes of garments ended up as waste globally.
  • The sector consumed 79 billion cubic metres of water annually, exacerbating water stress in vulnerable regions.
  • It was responsible for 4 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing significantly to climate change.

The environmental footprint of textiles continues to rise, driven by fast fashion’s rapid production cycles and short product lifespans.

EPR: A Game-Changer for Textiles

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy framework that shifts waste management responsibilities to producers, compelling them to design sustainable products and improve resource efficiency. The OECD working paper emphasizes the benefits of EPR for the textile sector:

  • Incentivizing Sustainable Design: Producers are encouraged to develop durable, repairable, and recyclable garments.
  • Improving Waste Management: EPR ensures better collection, recycling, and recovery of textile waste.
  • Reducing Resource Use and Emissions: By adopting circular economy principles, the sector can minimize environmental harm.

EPR policies have already proven effective in managing packaging and electronic waste, with successful implementation in countries like France and the Netherlands for textiles. However, the OECD report notes that EPR schemes remain underutilized globally for the garments industry.

Complementary Policies Are Key

While EPR holds great promise, the OECD paper stresses that it cannot succeed in isolation. Effective implementation requires:

  1. Policy Integration: Aligning EPR with broader circular economy goals, such as eco-design mandates and waste reduction targets.
  2. Consumer Awareness: Educating consumers to demand sustainable fashion and participate in recycling initiatives.
  3. Infrastructure Development: Investing in systems for textile collection, sorting, and recycling to close the waste loop.

Global Lessons and the Road Ahead

Countries like France have set examples by mandating producer-backed recycling programs for textiles, showcasing the viability of EPR. The OECD report urges governments to scale up such initiatives globally to combat the fast-fashion crisis.

With the garments sector poised for further growth, EPR adoption can serve as a critical tool to mitigate its environmental impact, reduce textile waste, and align the industry with the principles of a sustainable circular economy.

The report ultimately calls for urgent international cooperation to address textile waste at scale, underscoring that the path to sustainable fashion requires a mix of regulation, innovation, and consumer engagement.

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Ashutosh Dubey

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