Extended Producer Responsibility for Textiles

What is Extended Producer Responsibility?

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) holds producers and importers accountable for the entire cycle of a product, up to and including the waste phase. By doing so, the government wants to encourage companies to raise an increasing percentage of waste for reuse and recycling and make it available as a new raw material. Other industries such as car tires, cars, mattresses, packaging and electrical appliances also work with EPR. Similar regulations are already in place in other EU countries and EPR legislation will be mandatory in the EU from 2025.

Individual obligations for producers and importers
The EPR for Textiles Decree is a legal obligation and entered into force on July 1 2023. With the Decree, producers and importers of clothing and household textiles become responsible for the waste phase of products they release on the Dutch market.

The EPR for Textiles Decree holds producers and importers individually accountable for:

  • organizing an appropriate separate collection system and financing it.
  • the obligation to ensure recycling and reuse of collected textiles.

The government has defined targets to this: 50% of the release on the Dutch market must be recycled/reused in 2025, gradually increasing to 75% in 2030. Currently, approximately 35% is reused and recycled.

Objectives

The EPR for Textiles Decree holds producers/importers of textiles they release on the Dutch market accountable for separate collection, reuse and recycling and organizing and financing an appropriate collection system.

by 2025

by 2030

What does this mean for my organization?

The EPR for Textiles Decree applies to producers and importers who professionally release consumer clothing, work & corporate wear, table, bed-, table and household linen on the Dutch market. This also applies to textiles with recycled content. It does not matter to whom the product is offered; this can be to a company, or directly to a consumer.

Are you a producer or importer in accordance with the EPR for Textiles Decree? Then you are responsible for the separate collection and processing of discarded textiles. You must ensure that consumers and other end users can always hand in your products at a collection point, anywhere in the Netherlands and free of charge. You must also be able to demonstrate what happens to the textile waste. And you report annually on the quantity of textiles you have released on the Dutch market and whether and how the collection, recycling and reuse targets have been met.

As a producer and importer of clothing and textiles, you formally have an individual responsibility, but you may have it carried out collectively by a producer organization.

Stichting UPV Textiel is happy to help you comply with the law. Together we make the textile industry more sustainable.

Why participate in the collective?

Organizing an appropriate, effective and affordable collection system and achieving reuse and recycling targets is complex and costly. Especially when you have to take care of this individually. It is therefore important to join forces and share financial burdens. On behalf of you and other participating companies, Stichting UPV Textiel makes agreements with municipalities, collectors, sorters, recycling shops, recyclers and with companies that develop new initiatives for the collection and processing of textiles. With the annual fee, which you pay from 2024 on the weight of clothes and textiles you release on the Dutch market every year, the costs of collection and processing are covered and part of this can be invested in innovations and knowledge sharing in the field of high-quality recycling. In this way, companies can take responsibility together and realize the set objectives.

By participating in Stichting UPV Textiel, you comply with your EPR obligations in a simple and affordable way. Together we make the textile industry more sustainable.

Frequently asked questions

EPR for Textiles Decree

The EPR for Textiles Decree applies to producers and importers who professionally release consumer clothing, work & corporate wear, bed-, table-, and household linen on the Dutch market. This also applies to textiles with recycled content. It does not matter to whom the product is offered; this can be to a company, or directly to a consumer. More information on scope EPR for Textiles, can be found here.

A producer/importer is the one who puts textiles on the market in the Netherlands for the first time. Putting on the market: making textile products available on the market in the Netherlands for the first time. Usually this is the same as the moment when VAT is charged for the first time. More information on who the EPR for Textiles applies to can be found here.

For example:

  • A label/brand owner or private label producer based in the Netherlands who controls the production itself and puts the products on the Dutch market.
  • A company based in the Netherlands that purchases clothing/textiles from a supplier based abroad and markets the products in the Netherlands. A Dutch intermediary that has clothing/textiles manufactured or purchased abroad for or on behalf of other parties (e.g. brand owners) is also considered an importer. When the brand owner himself has the products manufactured abroad, and imports them himself and markets them first in the Netherlands, the brand owner is an importer.
  • An (online) retail party based in the Netherlands that imports clothing/textiles and places it on the market. 
  • An online party based outside the Netherlands that operates from a storage location abroad directly to the Dutch consumer (e.g. Amazon, SHEIN, Aliexpress). This e-commerce party is also obliged to appoint an authorized representative in the Netherlands for the implementation of all obligations in the context of EPR for Textiles.

For the EPR for Textiles Decree is not regarded as a producer/importer:

  • A thrift shop for the sale of Dutch second-hand clothing. After all, these clothes have already been put on the market.
  • A company based in the Netherlands that supplies semi-finished products/basic materials for the manufacturing of consumer clothing, work & corporate wear, bed-, table and household linen.

In a number of specific cases, the law does not yet provide sufficient information. This may require further implementation of the EPR for Textiles Decree.

The EPR for Textiles relates to consumer clothing (HS/GN 61 and 62), work & corporate wear (61 and 62), bed linen (6302), table linen (6302) and household linen, for example towels and tea towels (6302) without distinction of domestic or commercial use. Unsold stocks are not covered by the EPR for Textiles Decree if it can be shown that they have not been put on the market. On the customs papers, you will see which HS/GN code your products have. You can find an overview of the product codes covered by the EPR for Textiles Decree in the conversion tableYou don't know the code? Then you can also look it up in the customs tariff list

Stichting UPV Textiel makes agreements about collection and processing with various stakeholders and will ensure that these are complied with. In addition, participants have the obligation to declare quantities and pay the annual fee. The foundation monitors and reports to the Ministry of of Infrastructure en Water Management and is the point of contact for compliance on behalf of the participants for the Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT).

The EU has promised harmonization through directives. Every EU Member State must design separate textile collection by 2025 at the latest. The legal background to this is the recent update of the EU Waste Framework Directive. This is one of the reasons that the EPR for Textiles Decree was created in the Netherlands. Producers are obliged to set up an adequate collection system. It is expected that several Member States will follow the example of France (already 12 years) and the Netherlands. MODINT is a member of the European trade association Euratex. Together they lobby to ensure harmonization of the EPR for Textiles Decree within the European textiles industry.

More information on announcements around this topic can be found here.

Collection and processing

In the coming year, the foundation will further elaborate the Textile Management Structure. To this end, the foundation will conclude agreements with municipalities and implementing parties with agreements on accreditation scheme, quality and monitoring and possible fees. This is necessary to clarify the implementation costs and incorporate them in the provisional Textile Management Fee 2025. The goal is to have the structure that is being formed align with existing textile intake and processing infrastructure. Currently, about 35% of the textiles are reused and recycled, but this needs to be increased to 50% by 2025, requiring additional measures. The possibilities for improving the collection structure, sorting and recycling are being explored with various chain partners including Vereniging Herwinning Textiel (VHT), Branchevereniging Kringloop Nederland (BKN), Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten (VNG) and NVRD (Dutch municipalities and public companies). The agreements will be laid down in a Framework Agreement in spring 2024, which will form the basis for agreements with service providers.

Participation

The Textile Management Fee Agreement (TMFA) sets out the obligations between the Participants and Stichting UPV Textiel regarding the implementation of the transferred legal obligations. By signing the TMFA, you finalize your participation in Stichting UPV Textiel You also agree that the foundation will carry out the EPR obligations on your behalf and that you will honour agreements associated with them. With the receipt by Stichting UPV Textiel of your signed TMFA, you are an official and legally correct participant of Stichting UPV Textiel and the foundation takes over your individual responsibilities. The TMFA also forms the basis for applying for the General Binding Declaration (GBD) of this TMFA. This will ensure that all suppliers and importers who market products in our country will contribute and a level playing field is maintained. The TMFA therefore incorporates the legal requirements to apply for a GBD.

Companies that became participants before November 2023 previously signed a participant agreement, This agreement mainly focused on making the collective notification to the ministry on August 11. The Textile Management Contribution Agreement (TMFA) replaces the participant agreement. The TMFA defines the textile management structure and how the textile management fee is calculated and charged. The TMFA includes the possibility of dealing differently with small businesses (those marketing few kilos), the option of being able to introduce tariff differentiation later and various points of interest for date security and privacy. Also included is the possibility of export refunds. Furthermore, the attached General Terms and Conditions provide the conditions for applying the reverse charge regulation of the declaration and fee.

Textile Management Fee

The board annually sets the budget and the provisional and final rate of the textile management fee. The foundation board consists of executives from. Angro, Beddinghouse, Company Fits, HEMA, Kyra, Livera, WE fashion, Wibra, Zeeman and INretail/Modint. To finance the setting up and implementation of a collective collection and processing system, the board has set a provisional fee in 2024 of € 0.10 per kilogram. In 2024, agreements will be made with service providers on the costs required to implement a qualitative nationwide collection and processing system. Based on the expected market coverage of the foundation, experience with other EPR systems and cost research, the board is already giving an indication of € 0.20 per kilogram for the 2025 fee.

Producer/importer pays a fee to the producer organization allowing a separate collection, reuse and recycling, support to innovation/transition circular, cooperation in a sustainable supply chain & waste handling/processing.

In 2022 and 2023, the foundation faces preparation costs for starting up the organisation, developing processes and systems and making the collective notification to the Ministry of IenW. You will not pay a direct fee for this. The foundation works on a pre-financing basis. The preparation costs of € 0.01 per kilogram of the weight of textiles you put on the market in 2023 are included in the 2024 fee. 

The declaration you make in 2023 is meant to calculate the market coverage of the producer organization. You do not pay a direct fee on this statement. In 2024, we ask you to pay a provisional fee of € 0.10 per kilogram on the weight of textiles you expect to put on market. This funding is needed to build and implement the system. In 2025, you will declare the realised sales of 2024. The difference in fee will then be settled. You only pay for textiles actually placed on the market in the Netherlands. More information on the textile management contribution can be found here.

No, the initial costs of the system will be shared among all participants, including those joining in future years. As soon as possible, Stichting UPV Textiel will apply for a General Binding Declaration (AVV). Then, all producers will have to participate and contribute, including to the start-up costs. We will compensate the 2024 participants in the 2025-2029 period.

According to the EPR for Textiles Decree, each producer/importer is responsible for the weight put on the market. A small proportion of these companies will market most of the weight. To keep the administrative burden low, Stichting UPV Textiel is investigating the possibility of using a threshold for companies that do not put a lot of weight on the market.

On the basis of the EPR for Textiles Decree, Stichting UPV Textiel must assess whether rate differentiation on the basis of sustainability indicators is feasible and useful. The foundation will conduct further research into this in the near future, for example to stimulate the application of recycled content in clothing/textiles. The foundation will work closely with the sector to develop a fair and applicable form of rate differentiation.

The EPR obligation applies to products marketed in the Netherlands. The producer/importer declares all these products, also when is not clear where the products go to later in the chain. The starting point is that the fee is paid only once. Within the collective we are working on a settlement and export refund is possible for textiles on which a fee has been paid, as with other EPR systems. This needs to be elaborated in consultation with the sector to decide what is a practical manageable system. With individual participation (not through a collective), such a settlement is not easy to achieve.

Statement

In 2023 we ask you to estimate the weight of textiles your company expects to put on the market in the Netherlands in 2023. This is only required for the notification and to calculate the market coverage of the collective. In 2023 you do not pay a direct fee. Before April 1, 2024 you must declare the total weight of textiles that you will put on the market in the Netherlands in 2024. Based on this, you will pay a provisional fee in 2024. In 2025, you declare the realized sales in 2024. The difference in fee will then be settled. The Manual Textile Administration will soon be available in which you can read exactly what the statement will look like.

Trade often works with pieces. The collection and processing work on the basis of kilograms.

The blueprint working group examined which administration is simplest and fairest. In the statement 2023 you gave input on this. The working group's advice was adopted by the board and it was decided to do the statement in kilograms. This has also been included in the Textile Management Fee Agreement (TMFA).

The foundation is working with participants on a supplementary manual for your EPR for Textiles administration, which will be published in early December. The manual will include a practical roadmap with tools on how your company can set up textile administration to declare and pay the fee.

Stichting UPV Textiel

Complying with the legislation on EPR for Textiles is an individual legal obligation, but the EPR states that this may be carried out collectively by means of a producer organization. MODINT and INretail have taken the initiative for a collective implementation by establishing Stichting UPV Textiel (EPR Foundation for Textiles). This foundation will act as a producer organization and works for the entire sector, both members and non-members. In other sectors that preceded (packaging, tyres, cars, electronic devices, …), this appears to be the best way to keep the EPR efficiently, effectively and affordable. The foundation wants to cooperate with systems in other EU countries. Companies who are active on the international market have an interest in this.

The board of Stichting UPV Textiel includes executives from Angro, Beddinghouse, Company Fits, HEMA, Kyra, Livera, WE fashion, Wibra, Zeeman en INretail/Modint.

  • To facilitate the collective of producers/importers by working with EPR-registered participants to set up an efficient, effective and payment system that meets legal obligations; 
  • Have individual legal obligations taken over by the foundation wherever possible;
  • Contribute to professionalism and sustainability of and in the sector in the transition to a circular textile chain by 2050;
  • Participants in the foundation take part in board, working- and expert groups: the foundation is by and for the market.

The focus until 2025 is on the development and implementation of the basic requirements of the EPR for Textiles to meet the legally imposed objectives. This focuses on separate collection, reuse and recycling of discarded textiles: 50% reuse and recycling by 2025 and gradually increasing to 75% by 2030. The current reuse and recycling rate is 35%.

There is great enthusiasm: many companies are substantively interested, take the subject seriously and indicate they would like to join the collective. As with other UPV systems, the collective needs volume to set up an efficient, effective and affordable collection and processing system in the Netherlands for textiles. We count on a majority of the total weight put into the market and of the total number of companies. This majority is needed for a General Binding Declaration, by which all producers/importers that put textiles in the Netherlands on the market must pay a textile contribution.

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