The UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) has asked the government to revisit and clarify new Environment Agency guidance on how textiles are classified, warning that an overly rigid interpretation could disrupt legitimate reuse trade and weaken circular supply chains. In a letter to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), UKFT said the guidance on waste vs non-waste textiles risks creating unintended barriers for responsible operators if it is applied without acknowledging how the sector functions in practice.
Writing on behalf of the reuse and recycling industry, UKFT urged DEFRA to spell out how the guidance should be implemented, with specific concern around mixed footwear exports an area where classification can be particularly complex. The association also called for recognition that overseas sorting and grading are standard, legitimate parts of global reuse systems, rather than evidence of waste trafficking.
UKFT’s letter further presses ministers and officials to work directly with industry to develop evidence requirements that are proportionate and workable for exporters, collectors and sorters. It also calls for faster progress on textile extended producer responsibility (EPR), alongside investment to expand UK sorting and grading infrastructure steps UKFT argues would improve standards and enforcement without choking off lawful trade.
“Responsible operators have been calling for higher standards and better enforcement for many years. However, we have significant concerns about the aspects of the guidance which fail to reflect the practical realities of the UK’s textile reuse and recycling sector,” UKFT chief executive officer Adam Mansell said.
“The reuse and recycling sector is not the cause of the textile waste challenge. It is the sector managing the consequences of overproduction, declining product quality and unsustainable consumption patterns. We therefore believe that policy should strengthen this infrastructure rather than inadvertently undermine it,” he noted.
“We would welcome the opportunity discuss these concerns further and work collaboratively with officials to ensure guidance achieves its intended objectives without damaging the UK’s textile reuse and recycling sector,” he added.
UKFT’s intervention lands amid rising scrutiny of cross-border textile flows and tightening policy around exports. The association’s central argument is that the industry can support stronger compliance but only if rules around waste vs non-waste textiles are aligned with operational reality, recognise legitimate reuse pathways, and are backed by investment in domestic sorting capacity and clear, enforceable standards.
