Clothes that cost the earth: Ireland’s textile waste problem

The urgent need to address Ireland's textile waste crisis and find sustainable solutions for a greener future.

In brief

• Ireland produces a high amount of textile waste, with many clothes ending up in landfills due to poor recycling and buying habits.
• New EU rules will make companies responsible for their waste, encouraging better practices and sustainability in the fashion industry.
• Everyone—government, businesses, and consumers—needs to work together to reduce waste and create a more sustainable clothing system.

What is the issue?

The textile sector accounts for 10% of global emissions, more than the emissions of global shipping and aviation combined. Traditionally operating within a linear ‘take-make-waste’ model, the sector globally consumes virgin materials at a pace that far exceeds nature’s capacity for regeneration.

According to ChangeClothes.org, Ireland is the second largest producer of textile waste in Europe after Belgium, consuming 53kg of textiles per capita per annum, more than double the average. To put this into perspective, local councils who were once paid for the textiles they collected, are now forced to pay third parties to have them removed. This is due to a second-hand market that is increasingly overwhelmed by volumes of low-quality textiles.

Why does Ireland have this problem and why now?

Textile waste is caused by several interwoven factors, predominantly unsustainable consumption habits, cost saving production models and inadequate waste management. Together, these factors expose systemic inefficiencies across the value chain.

Consumer trends

We currently have enough clothing to provide for the next 6 generations. Just one generation ago, our parents mended their clothes, but now 3 out of 5 textiles end up in landfill within the first year of purchase.

The convenience of online shopping, amplified by targeted advertising, has reshaped consumer behaviour.  Retail ecommerce encourages impulsive purchases based on desire rather than need. Targeted advertising uses tactics such as time-limited offers and deceptive discounts, tactics that are currently under scrutiny by Ireland’s consumer protection watchdog. One ultra-fast fashion giant has recently been ordered to rectify breaches of EU Consumer law following investigations into their marketing strategies.

A widespread lack of awareness and education about production and waste leaves people disconnected from the true cost of their clothes. Few consider that textiles are derived from finite and living natural resources that should not be squandered.

Product design

Product design has been optimised to boost profit margins and reduce production costs. Cheap fabrics such as polyester, nylon and acrylic are widely used due to their availability, low cost and ability to mimic the appearance and feel of natural fibres. The production of these synthetics is energy and water intensive while the resulting garments are low quality, non-biodegradable and release microfibres. Additionally, most textiles are made from different blends of fibres and chemicals, making them near impossible to sort and recycle.

Infrastructure

There is a lack of adequate textile recycling infrastructure in Ireland. Unlike well-established systems for plastic and packaging waste (PPW) or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), textile recycling is in its infancy. The systems, technologies, and policies required to support large-scale collection, sorting, and material recovery do not exist.

This gap in infrastructure means that the responsibility for handling post-consumer textile waste falls to charity shops and clothing banks. These channels serve as de facto textile recovery systems, collecting and sorting used garments with limited resources and without a formal role or budget in a national waste management strategy. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), charity shops and clothing banks currently collect and sort approximately 35% of the consumer textile waste generated in Ireland. The remainder, an estimated 65%, is disposed of through household waste bins, ultimately destined for incineration or landfill.

Current regulatory landscape:

The regulation of textiles is evolving and has become a priority focus for the EU. Several key legislative instruments are driving this transition.

The Waste Development Framework (WDF) is the EU’s overarching Framework on waste management. A recent revision to the WDF proposes the introduction of a mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles. The key objective of the scheme is to apply the “polluter pays” principle, meaning producers rather than consumers, will need to take accountability for post-consumer waste. As of 1^st January 2025, the WDF requires all member states to have a separate collection system for textiles. The idea is to boost reuse and recycling, but Ireland lacks the infrastructure to properly sort and process these textiles at scale.

The upcoming Circular Economy Act in 2026 will build on the previous 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan and seeks to create a market demand for secondary materials and establish a single market for waste. The intention is for the Circular Economy Act to complement and facilitate the rolling out of the Eco-design for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR). The ESPR working plan is due to be enforced in 2028 and includes textiles as one of the four priority sectors.

ESPR criteria requires textiles to meet specific sustainability and circularity requirements in order to be placed on the European market. The expected criteria include minimum requirements for durability, repairability and recyclability, limits on microplastic shedding from synthetic fibres and the introduction of Digital Product Passports (DPP). These digital passports will store essential information about product sustainability, promote circularity, and ensure stronger legal compliance. A key measure of the regulation outlines a ban on the destruction of unsold textiles. It will also require large and eventually medium-sized companies to publicly disclose annual data on discarded products, including the quantity and reasons for disposal.

EU’s updated Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), which will apply from May 2026, will restrict the export of textile waste to prevent member states from exporting unsorted textiles. This will work in tandem with ESPR and EPR, no longer allowing brands to dump textile waste in developing countries.

These regulations are set to reshape the retail sector, and in turn consumer behaviour. Consumers will be empowered through increased transparency and retailers will be held responsible for environmental impacts across their supply chain.

Solutions

No single entity can revolutionise the textile sector. Addressing these issues requires coordinated action across government, consumers, and businesses. Each group has an interconnected role to play in circularity, sustainability, and long-term value creation.

What can the government do?

Both consumer behaviour and business strategy need more sustainable consumption habits. Government can incentivise sustainable production with textile specific grants or penalties for unsustainable practices. For example, France recently supported a pioneering bill proposing a blanket ban on advertising for fast fashion, as well as the introduction of environmental levies per item of clothing.

What can individuals do?

Consumer decision making drives product development. The first step is awareness of the environmental impacts of specific textiles. When enough people modify their behaviour and make purchases aligned to their values, industry is forced to follow.

Consumers should try to repair and repurpose existing textiles. The environmental impact of clothing repair has been captured in a recent report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), detailing that repairing a hole in a wool jumper saves over 16 kgCO2e, which is the equivalent of leaving a lightbulb on for 50 days. Purchasing durable, high-quality products and supporting circular business models, such as repair, rental, resale, and responsible take-back initiatives, is key.

The third step is that we need to buy less and buy better. Shopping second hand in charity shops or on platforms such as Vinted is an excellent way to keep clothing in circulation. Second hand fashion has already overtaken traditional retail in France, where Vinted is the number one retailer by sales volume. Rental platforms such as Drobey in Ireland are also increasing in popularity.  The global market for used clothes and accessories is now worth over $100bn, up from $30bn-40bn in 2020.

What can businesses do?

Global fashion brands must invest in next-generation materials and technologies and integrate them in their production processes. Garments must be manufactured to be reused, remade, and recycled.

However, reimagining growth looks different for every material. Industry experts such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Textile Exchange advocate for the phasing out of fossil-fuel based synthetics. Instead, sustainably sourced and renewable natural fibres should be favoured.

The retail sector will need to align more with a “regenerative economy” and “post-growth” principles. However, moving from linear to circular requires new attitudes, knowledge and skill sets.

This is particularly true for product development and in the case of textiles, designers. The European Commissions research on Eco-design found that 80% of a product’s environmental impact is detailed at the design stage, before production even begins.

Business models need to adapt to include services linked to reuse and repair, which will optimise their ability to generate new revenues.

Conclusion

Creating a circular economy is about collective progress. When everyone takes small, conscious steps, the impact becomes transformational. It isn’t too late to turn things around, through collaboration between government, business and consumers, we can eliminate waste while still growing economies.