Textile management crisis. An appeal to the authorities for urgent action

A meeting dedicated to the current situation of textile and textile waste management in Poland was held at the headquarters of the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw. It was a response to serious environmental, economic, and social problems that have affected this sector in recent months.

The inflow of cheap, low-quality clothing from outside the European Union, often not meeting standards and difficult to reuse, is largely responsible for this. The problem reached its peak at the beginning of 2025, after the introduction of new waste segregation rules with the obligation of selective collection of textiles. Added to this was insufficient public education and the lack of a funding mechanism based on the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

The consequences of the current situation are severe. In container collections of used clothing, as much as 60% consists of waste, which deprives charitable organizations of funding sources and forces many of them to limit their activities.

At the same time, waste processing companies face several times the increase in disposal costs, while municipalities and waste management enterprises warn that financial burdens will ultimately fall on consumers.

There is also concern about the growing scale of clothing being abandoned on the streets and in forests, as well as the uncontrolled influx of reusable textiles to Selective Municipal Waste Collection Points.

In response to these problems, the participants of the meeting emphasized the need for urgent action and the development of solutions for the "here and now" as well as systemic changes, both at the national and EU levels, calling for amendments to legal regulations and the implementation of EU regulations on waste, including EPR principles for textiles. Speaking from the positions of practitioners and experts, they proposed recommendations that could improve the situation in the textile market and declared a willingness to cooperate with the government administration.

The new system – as emphasized – should draw on best practices from other European countries, support the reuse of textiles, particularly by non-governmental organizations previously involved in their collections, and also include elements of social education and introduce financial incentives for innovative solutions.

The meeting was attended by, among others, the Consumer Federation, Caritas Polska, Jeronimo Martins Polska, Castorama, Amazon, SMYK, Rekopol, VIVE Textile Recycling, the Council of RIPOK Employers' Union, the Chamber of Municipal Industry, the Employers' Union of the Clothing and Textile Industry, as well as representatives of local governments, the academic environment, and industry media.

The appeal from the community reached the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Minister of Climate and Environment, the Minister of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Development and Technology on September 30, as well as several committee chairpersons of the Senate and Sejm of the Republic of Poland.