French shoppers are being incentivised to ‘stitch’ rather than ‘ditch’ their beaten-up clothing through a new government scheme to pay a ‘repair bonus’ to fashionistas who choose to have their old garments mended instead of throwing them away.

The new scheme aims to cut down on the 700,000 tonnes of waste clothing that gets thrown away in France every year. Of that volume it’s estimated that as much as two-thirds currently ends up in landfill.

From October, however, the fashion conscious will be able to claim back between €6 and €25 of the cost of mending clothes and shoes in workshops or at cobblers that have joined the scheme. The repair bonus will be paid from a €154 million fund the French government has set aside for the next five years.

France’s secretary of state for ecology, Bérangére Couillard, announced the financial incentives during a visit to a responsible fashion hub in Paris. It was here that she invited all French sewing workshops and shoemakers to join the scheme which will be run by the eco-organisation Refashion.

As of 2021, the French textile clothing, household linen, and footwear sector amounted to some 2.8 billion pieces, the equivalent to nearly 10.5kg of textiles and footwear per year per inhabitant. Refashion’s mission is to prevent and manage the end of life of the textiles and shoes placed on the French market by supporting collection, repair, and reuse.

“The goal is to support those who do the repairs,” said Bérangére Coulliard, referring to the sewing workshops as well as the brands which offer repair services.

The aid has been modelled on the country’s household appliance repair bonus and part of a vast reform of the textile sector that was initiated by the French government since the end of 2022. Its objectives include demanding more traceability from brands and securing the financial support for organisations specialising in the reuse and recycling of clothing.