California is tackling the problem of textile and fashion waste with the country’s first law that requires clothing companies to implement a recycling system for the garments they sell.
By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed SB 707, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act. The new law requires a clothing, apparel and textile extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, as defined by lawmakers, reported Waste Today.
“I’m very proud to see SB 707 signed into law. It will have a major positive impact on California’s environment and communities,” said state Democratic Senator Josh Newman, who authored the bill, as Sourcing Journal reported. “SB 707 isn’t just about recycling; it’s about transforming the way we think about textile waste.”
The landmark bill passed with wide support from state legislators, reported The Guardian.
Fashion consumers in California will now have the option of bringing damaged and unwanted clothing and other textiles to collection sites — including thrift stores and charities — to be sorted and recycled.
The new law mandates that producers of clothing, bedding, towels and upholstery administer and fund the repair, reuse and recycling of their products statewide.
In the U.S., almost 10 times the textile waste is generated now than in 1960 — more than 18.7 million tons in 2018, 85 percent of which ends up in landfills. The rotting fibers leach dyes and chemicals into groundwater and soil, while emitting methane into the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, though about 95% of the materials used to make clothing and textiles are recyclable, only approximately 15 percent of them get reused.
Chelsea Murtha, senior director of sustainability at the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), said the trade group wants to work with CalRecycle — California’s branch of the Environmental Protection Agency that is responsible for the implementation of SB 707, Sourcing Journal reported.
“The first step on that journey will be founding an effective Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO),” Murtha said. “Over the past month, AAFA has intensified conversations with PROs from other industries, as well as key stakeholders in our industry, to ensure we are in the best possible position to assist with PRO formation.”
Environmental organizations, retailers like Ikea and Goodwill and municipal waste managers endorsed the bill.
“As a global fashion retailer, we have an important role to play and that is why we are transforming our business towards circularity and reducing emissions,” said Randi Marshall, H&M’s regional head of sustainability and public affairs for the Americas, as reported by The Guardian.
Marshall said similar laws in France and the Netherlands have given H&M an idea of how the system can operate. In France, clothing and shoes are taken to one of thousands of collection points to be recycled, and repairs are subsidized to encourage consumers to keep the textiles longer.
California textile and apparel companies will be given until 2026 to start a nonprofit to design strategies like mail-return programs and collection sites. The program won’t be up and running until at least 2028.
“By 2030, convenient drop-off locations for used textiles across the state will provide everyone with a free and simple way to be part of the solution,” Newman added, as Sourcing Journal reported. “California is again at the forefront of innovation, proving we can lead the way in creating a circular and sustainable textile economy that benefits everyone.”
Roughly 10 percent of carbon emissions worldwide are produced by the fashion industry — more than maritime shipping and international flights.
Over a million tons of textiles were thrown away in California in 2021, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $70 million.
Chief sponsor of the bill — the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) — worked with Senator Newman’s office in composing the legislation, and also collaborated with fashion brands, clothing manufacturers and advocacy organizations, reported Sourcing Journal.
“The industry really showed up for the stakeholder process to make the final version as impactful as possible,” said Dr. Joanne Brasch, CPSC’s director of advocacy and outreach, on Monday. “We’ve seen brands and associations endorse the bill for a more equitable solution to a systematic problem. The program will incentivize producers to adopt less wasteful production and greener designs.”
When clothing that is donated to thrift stores, nonprofits or other textile recyclers is damaged or for some other reason unable to be reused, it is often discarded or ends up in Global South markets. Enormous mounds of clothing resembling multicolored dunes have been photographed in places like the Chilean desert.
The practice of rich countries shipping their waste to poorer ones is known as “waste colonialism.”
“Waste colonialism is when a group of people uses waste and pollution to dominate another group of people in their homeland. The term was first recorded in 1989 at the United Nations Environmental Programme Basel Convention when African nations expressed concern about the dumping of hazardous waste by high GDP countries into low GDP countries. Waste Colonialism is typically used to describe the domination of land for the use of disposal, also referred to as a ‘sink’ and this is quite visible in the context of Accra’s Kantamanto Market, the largest secondhand market in the world,” the Or Foundation, an advocate for improved waste management in the fashion market, said on its website.
Brasch, who co-sponsored the legislation, said much had been gleaned from observing France’s clothing repair scheme, which started last year.
“We learned from a lot of the advocates involved in France’s program and they’ve been very active to make sure that what California does can be replicated positively,” Brasch said, as The Guardian reported. “Being the first [in the US] doesn’t always mean being the best. We hope other states reach out to us and I can explain how to raise the bar.”
As the first state to have an EPR program, California will set an example for — and hopefully have a cascading effect on — the rest of the country.
Rachel Kibbe, CEO of ACT and Circular Services Group, said SB 707’s passage highlighted “the urgent need for a federal waste policy,” as reported by Sourcing Journal.
“Without one, we risk a patchwork of state-level bills that can create fragmented and inconsistent regulations across the country,” Kibbe explained. “We face the [potential] of sustainability teams turning focus and resources to compliance, over innovation and true progress. A unified federal approach would streamline the system, prevent disjointed efforts, and better enable businesses to comply across state lines.”
“The industry can no longer rely on voluntary commitments—accountability is now law,” Kibbe said.
Kibbe added that, by working with ACT and similar organizations, fashion companies would be able to more successfully “navigate this transition, share best practices, and collaborate on the innovations that will define a circular economy.”
Kibbe encouraged the clothing industry to increase its engagement with groups like ACT to participate in the enactment of environmental policy in the future.
“SB 707 is a signal that the future is here, and it’s time for real partnership between industry and industry groups to make it a reality,” Kibbe said.
Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.
