The obligation to sort textile waste in municipalities in the Czech Republic will come into force in 2025 and will be the responsibility of the municipalities. Andrea Veselá, an analyst at the Institute for Circular Economy (INCIEN), said that currently about 15 % of discarded textiles are reused or recycled.
Textiles are an essential component of everyday life, used in clothing, furniture, medical equipment and more. However, textile production has a significant impact on climate, water and energy consumption, and the environment. Global textile production almost doubled between 2000 and 2015, with consumption of clothing and footwear expected to increase by 63% by 2030.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, approximately 180,000 tonnes of textiles are thrown away each year in the Czech Republic, representing 3-4% of waste in unsorted bins. These textiles are usually incinerated or landfilled.
According to EU data, 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste are produced annually, of which five million tonnes are clothing textiles. This equates to an average of 12 kilograms of clothing per person per year ending up in textile bins or municipal waste. The average EU citizen buys almost 26 kilograms of textiles per year, most of which are new clothes.
Companies collecting and sorting old clothes expect an increase in the amount of textiles that they will not be able to sell. Currently, there are about 10,000 textile collection bins in the Czech Republic run by private companies or non-profit organisations. The clothes from the bins are sorted by various organisations and then resold in the Czech Republic, exported for sale abroad, recycled or reused in new products, while the smaller, unusable part is thrown away.
Lenka Harcubová, from the Prague-based company Potex, pointed out that the best way to sort textile waste is to throw clothes in plastic bags in textile bins. However, many people throw their clothes randomly, making it more difficult to load and sort textiles. Andrea Strnadová of Dimatex, a company based in Stráž nad Nisou, said that other items besides clothes end up in textile waste bins, and only a small part of the clothes is actually sorted for wearing. About 5-20% of the sorted clothes are still fashionable and can be sold for their original purpose.
However, according to Dimatex, this will result in a huge amount of very low quality fabrics being placed on the market for which there will be no market. Harcubová believes that the new legislation will have a significant impact, but its effects cannot yet be defined with certainty. However, she foresees an increase in the amount of waste collected. Veselá sees the compulsory collection as a step in the right direction, as consumers will be more motivated to dispose of textiles in a special container rather than in municipal waste.
The Ministry of the Environment plans to introduce a small tax on clothing purchases in the coming years to cover the costs. This tax could also act as an incentive for consumers to reduce their clothing consumption by choosing more sustainable and durable clothes. Furthermore, the revenue from the tax could be used to finance environmental education programmes and circular economy projects, thus contributing to a more sustainable and efficient textile waste management system. However, the success of these measures will depend on the cooperation and awareness of all actors involved.
Source: https://ekolist.cz/cz/zpravodajstvi/zpravy/expertka-z-vyhozeneho-textilu-se-znovu-pouzije-nebo-zrecykluje-asi-15-procent https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022DC0141
AI generated image
Graphic source: https://storyset.com/
