Fashion Redress: Exploring policy options for EPR fee transfer mechanisms between used clothing exporting and importing countries

EU Member States are in the process of developing Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for textiles, which are to date limited to strengthening domestic reuse – despite the fact that the majority of reused textiles will continue to move beyond national borders.

The Eunomia report ‘Fashion Redress: Exploring policy options for EPR fee transfer mechanisms between used clothing exporting and importing countries’ explores key considerations and challenges relating to potential approaches to setting up EPR schemes which go beyond funding collection, sorting, reuse, recycling and end-of-life treatment in the EU. The report examines the full flow of funds, from fee collection in exporting countries to allocation in receiving countries, as well as the legal, governance, and financial mechanisms that would be needed to make the different approaches to EPR operational.

The aim of the report is to expand the knowledge base relating to the concept of fee transfer mechanisms so they can be integrated into EPR systems from the outset. Further research and pilots into different fee-setting methodologies, governance models, and legal arrangements is required to test the feasibility of these approaches as well as their applicability to different importing regions, and impacts on affected stakeholders.