California is joining the likes of France, the Netherlands, and the European Union in implementing laws to place the responsibility of garments and textiles’ end of life back onto the brands they came from.
The Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 was signed by California Governor, Gavin Newsom, on 30th September. As the first US state to pass such a law, California is leading the way to address the fast fashion and textile waste crisis, with the hope that other states will follow in its footsteps. The Act will require apparel and textile brands to set out a strategy “for the collection, transportation, repair, sorting, and recycling, and the safe and proper management, of apparel and textile articles in the state,” (SB-707 Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024) by 1st January 2026, with the view to implement the plan by 1st July 2030.
Companies must also review their plans every five years, and submit an annual report annually for transparency and the tracking of compliance. If found in violation, organisations can face fines of up to USD $50,000.
This policy comes about amidst a landscape of rising urgency to tackle the global textile waste problems. A culture of fast fashion and over-consumption has made the fashion industry a leading polluter, producing 20% of global waste water and 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the UN; “due to its long supply chains and energy intensive production, […] the industry consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industry combined.”
A number of Californian and national organisations have backed the bill, allowing it to pass with wide support from state legislators before being signed off by Governor Gavin Newsom. Supporters of the legislation include the likes of Ikea, Goodwill, H&M, ThredUp, Evrnu, Reformation, and Everlane, saying it will support the industry’s advancements towards a circular economy.
France was the first to pass such a bill, back in 2008, for both textiles and footwear, with Refashion created to manage the task with the support of the French authorities. There are now 44,000 collection points for consumers to deposit their end-of-life fashion, with 156,000 tons of waste sorted in 2020. The Netherlands followed with the EPR law in July 2023, while the EU is extending its Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), introduced in 2020, to encompass its EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, introduced in 2022.
Meanwhile in the UK, no such law exists, and Products of Change’s Ambassador for Fashion, Julia Redman, surmises that it will likely be slow to follow. However any UK brands or retailers over a certain size or turnover will have to comply regardless if they are wanting to sell their goods in the EU.
As California becomes the latest to implement an EPR strategy for textile waste, Julia Redman comments that she questions how it will be policed: “Most unwanted clothing that cannot be sold in charity shops or online (Vinted, eBay etc) usually ends up being baled, traded and shipped overseas to lesser developed countries,” how will the new law deal with this?
As more and more countries implement similar legislation, and are impacted by its enforcement, learnings will hopefully be shared and the realities and practicalities will emerge and be refined, as with much of the incoming climate-related legislation.
