Spains Fashion Giants to Start Collecting Used Clothing Waste in 2025 as Part of Trial Program [Video]

Ten of Spain’s top fashion companies — like the owner of Zara, Inditex; H&M; IKEA; Decathlon; and Primark — will begin collecting discarded clothing beginning in April of 2025 as part of a year-long trial to manage textile waste, reported Reuters.

Re-viste, the project’s organizer, said shoes, clothing and other textiles will be separated from regular waste so that they can be recycled or reused.

The voluntary program is in anticipation of European Union regulations that are expected to begin in 2026.

“[Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)] schemes require producers to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, in particular at the end of the product’s life,” the European Union says in its Waste Framework Directive.

Marta Gomez, quality and environmental evaluation director at Spain’s ministry of energy transition, told fashion heads at a Madrid event that Spain is waiting for the new EU regulations to be approved before the country issues rules for fashion …