What’s new in the textile sector?
On 5 July 2023, a proposal to update the waste directive presented by the European Commission was published which will lead, in Italy, to a postponement of the release of the decree relating to the management of the obligations of Producers in the textile sector.
As is already the case in other areas, such as that of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Batteries and Accumulators, also for the textile sector, the new European legislation imposes, according to the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), to interested subjects in the textile product chain that produce and place on the market the categories of finished products of clothing, footwear, accessories, leather goods and home textiles, to take charge of the financing and organization of collection, initiation and preparation for reuse, recycling and recovery of waste derived from textile products.
Already within the “Circular Economy Package”, adopted by the European Union in July 2018, there was mention of the desire to strengthen the extended producer responsibility system and define the methods for recovering some particular categories of waste, including textile waste. In particular, compared to other European countries, Italy is far ahead in terms of concrete application of the provisions of the Package: the obligation to separate collection of textile waste has in fact already been in force since the beginning of the year, anticipating the times established by the EU, which provides for its introduction from 2025, and there are already Decrees and Regulations regarding Extended Producer Responsibility.
Who is the Producer?
According to the draft decree, producer of textile products means:
- the natural or legal person established in Italy who, on a professional basis, on his own behalf or through third parties, alternatively manufactures or places a product on the national market by affixing his own name or company name or registered trademark; the person responsible for placing it on the market is not considered a producer if the product also bears the name or company name or registered trademark of the manufacturer;
- the natural or legal person established in Italy who, on a professional basis, imports or first places on the national market products manufactured by natural or legal persons not established in Italy;
- the natural or legal person not established in Italy who, in a professional capacity, places products on the national market using remote communication techniques directly to the consumer or end user.
For more information, contact us at: tessile@erp-recycling.org
