What are the latest developments?

What are the latest developments? We’ve picked out some highlights for March 2025:

Textiles: reports demonstrate potential of EPR policies
Glass recycling: new report reveals 93% efficiency
Packaging recycling: Defra unveils new UK guidance
Chemical recycling: aid for mixed and contaminated plastic waste

Textiles: reports demonstrate potential of EPR policies

Last summer, a report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation called for mandatory EPR policies, which would hold producers accountable for managing discarded textiles, ensuring sustainable funding for collection and recycling efforts.

Currently, more than 80% of textiles are discarded through incineration or landfilling. Without EPR, the report argues, textile waste will continue to grow, impacting the environment and resources.

The report also highlights the economic and environmental benefits of EPR, emphasising its potential to create jobs, and proposes transboundary EPR measures and stronger alignment between national policies to ensure global impact.

Landbell Group’s CEO, Jan Patrick Schulz, is quoted in the report, explaining:

“Textile waste is a critical global issue, largely stemming from our current linear economic system where products are neither designed for longevity nor for recycling. To address this, we must dramatically scale up separate collection infrastructure, especially in areas where such infrastructure does not exist.

EPR policies are crucial, mandating producers to fund the collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling of textiles. EPR can also stimulate circular design and extend the use phase of textiles, and it can help to align global efforts, across governments and industry, to create a circular economy for textiles.”

Supporting the report’s findings, an OECD analysis published in December 2024, underscores the economic potential of EPR for textiles.

The study estimates that a comprehensive EU-wide system could generate €3.5 to €4.5 billion annually for collection and recycling efforts.

The OECD also emphasised that EPR needs to be complemented by additional policy measures, including:

EU-wide harmonised definitions of what constitutes clothing waste, recycled content and suitability for reuse
tax incentives for used clothing
stricter product design rules, and
targeted funding for recycling innovation

Read the OECD analysis here.

Glass recycling: new report reveals 93% efficiency

Close the Glass Loop has released its latest report on packaging glass recycling performance in Europe, providing an in-depth assessment of recycling efficiency across 20 countries.

Drawing on data from over 80 glass cullet recycling facilities, which processed more than 60% of all collected glass packaging in 2022, the findings highlight the success of Europe’s glass recycling system.

According to the report, 93% of materials entering these facilities were successfully recycled, with 85% re-melted into new bottles and jars.

It also emphasises the impact of municipal waste collections, as 87% of recycled glass came from post-consumer sources.

Additionally, the report highlights the importance of local recycling efforts, noting that imported materials made up just 11% of total inputs.

Packaging recycling: Defra unveils new UK guidance

On February 17, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published guidance on its Recycling Assessment Methodology (RAM), which offers a detailed framework for evaluating the recyclability of packaging materials across five key stages:

Classification
Collection
Sortation
Reprocessing, and
Application

In addition, the RAM includes a set of standards for take-back schemes, ensuring consistency with industry labeling practices and accessibility requirements. These schemes must be open to at least 75% of the UK population, must not conflict with kerbside collection, and must provide traceability for the recycling process.

The guidance also provides detailed definitions for various packaging materials, such as plastics, paper, and alternative natural fibers, and clarifies key terms like “primary packaging,” “secondary packaging,” and “recycling.”

Chemical recycling: aid for mixed and contaminated plastic waste

The European Commission has approved a €500 million French state aid scheme to support chemical recycling.

This initiative aims to fund technologies capable of processing mixed and contaminated plastic waste into high-quality raw materials, supporting the EU’s circular economy and climate neutrality goals.

The aid will cover up to 40% of eligible costs for companies of all sizes. The Commission views the scheme as necessary to stimulate investment in chemical recycling while maintaining fair competition within the EU market.