Extended producer responsibility (EPR), which aims at ensuring producers contribute financially to the costs of waste management, should be designed to support circularity, should value different textiles and EPR scheme should not bear detrimental unintended consequences, according to EURATEX, which represents the European textile and clothing industry. Brussels-based EURATEX recently recommended in a concept paper that there should be no contradictions in EPR schemes for textiles across the European Union (EU), there should be an agreement for a single eco-modulation concept. EPR obliges producers to take operational or financial responsibility for the end-of-life phase of their products. EPRs then become an economic instrument to stimulate better design and reduce such costs. The EU regulated EPRs in the 2018 Waste Directive, which introduces minimum requirements for the member states to establish EPRs, in the sectors and cases they see it fit. EURATEX feels the problem is most of the current EPRs were designed for linear economy models. Those were applied in sectors like packaging, vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment. In these sectors, EPRs gained some support, based on positive experiences in value chains. Nevertheless, it is not proved that EPRs are the appropriate policy tool to boost circular economy and broader sustainability across the textile value chains, EURATEX said. This requires thorough consideration of the possible benefits, limits and unintended consequences, it added.
