A central element of the transformation of Europe into a circular economy is the education of the consumers. Their awareness about the recycling subject and the knowledge upon necessary disposal behaviours determine in how far the EU reaches the targets as stipulated in the Green Deal. (see: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/delivering-european-green-deal_en)

As a consequence, the European empowers the consumer by better information obligations through the producers (see https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/new-eu-rules-empower-consumers-green-transition-enter-force-2024-03-27_en) and also by engaging the collective schemes of the various waste streams to do information campaigns.

France is among the first countries having introduced an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles (source: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/id/LEGISCTA000042962652/2021-01-01)  The collective scheme for textiles in France is Re-fashion. https://refashion.fr/citoyen/fr

The scheme currently engages in the so-called “Re-fashion Académie” and tours several cities on the Mediterranean cost in order to train the user. From the 4^th to the 7^th October 2024, the academy is at Nice on the Place Masséna. During four days, the public is informed about the importance of the separation of textiles from the regular household waste stream just as well as on the materials that come out of the recycling process. Furthermore, a workshop is offered in order to (re-) learn to sew and thus repair rather than throwing away clothes with defects.

The team from envenance SAS visited the booths (produced out of fully recycled wood) on the 4^th October 2024. We were told that people nowadays have the habit of throwing away clothes and buy new ones. The price of new clothing is often lower than for used ones. Therefore the objective of the education tour is to inform the consumer upon his role to separate the textiles from the regular waste stream and ensure a certain material level of the input material for the recycling process. Clean clothes in closed bags can help to ensure a better outcome of a recycled material.

At the same time, Re-fashion engages in R&D for new materials out of textiles such as isolation fibers for buildings. As we were told, the sustainability of this new product is higher than the material that is currently used when building new houses. Thus, recycling has indeed an added value.

However, the closed loop from “jeans to jeans” is still at the beginning of the journey. Even though there are examples for a successful approach (such as for certain sweaters), the outcome largely depends upon  a sufficient quantity of an appropriate material on the input side of the recycling process – a quantity that cannot be easily reached yet across multiple products.

We appreciate the efforts that Re-fashion takes in the name of the responsible producers. Thank you for the feedback and bonne continuation!