Is the EU Textile Waste Directive a policy failure? - Learning from Swedish and German insights

Description

In this paper, we explore the extent to which the European Union's amended Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which demands separate textile waste collection, should be considered a policy failure. Based on empirical research in Germany and Sweden, we examine how the policy is implemented by municipal actors, its resulting effects, how different stakeholders evaluate it, and the lessons learned from its implementation. Our findings suggest that the textile collection and sorting industry is experiencing a general crisis due to factors such as rising energy and labour costs, reduced market access and the rise of ultra-fast fashion, but that the effects differ between the two countries. The WFD has increased the challenges faced by different industry actors and created different outcomes across space. While municipalities with municipal waste companies are generally able to comply with the requirements, those dependent on external service providers may be in challenging situations. We discuss the policy's mixed results as an opportunity for learning, particularly related to how planned extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy can mitigate current crisis tendencies, the role of municipalities and spatial planning in enacting the circular economy, and the tensions that arise between top-down directionality and subsidiarity.

Period	2026 Jun 16
Event title	2026 Regional Studies Association Annual Conference: Regions as Arenas in a Changing World
Event type	Conference
Location	Gothenburg, SwedenShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International