The new European Circular Textile Coalition calls for a circular textile economy: “a world without waste is possible”
Us, and 11 other companies representing the textile value chain, we launched the European Circular Textile Coalition’s manifesto for a fully circular textile economy, urging the EU to transform post-consumer textile waste into a driver of green jobs, innovation and competitiveness.
Europe generates 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste annually, with most of it landfilled, incinerated or exported and just 1% recycled back into new garments. The coalition stresses that this is no longer acceptable.
“We refuse to accept textile waste as an inevitability, instead, we see it as a solvable challenge for our generation”
The coalition calls for urgent EU action to match regulatory ambition with investment in recycling and manufacturing systems.
“Without system readiness, even the most forward-looking regulations risk falling short. We are here to help bridge that gap,”
To drive change, the manifesto sets out three policy pillars:
- Ensure a competitive European textile chain, bringing production back to European shores to uphold environmental and labour standards.
- Prioritise high-quality textile-to-textile recycling, making post-consumer textile waste the main feedstock for new textiles.
- Set mandatory recycled content in textiles, with ambitious but realistic targets phased in over time.
The coalition is launching an advocacy tour to engage policymakers and invites other actors from across the textile value chain to join its mission.
About the European Circular textile Coaltion
The coalition is formed of businesses across the textile value chain; Reju, Resortecs, COLEO, Tissage de Charlieu, Synergies TLC, Nouvelles Fibres Textiles, Sympany, European Spinning Group, Ariadne, Erdotex, Utexbel, Noyfil
