The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Recycling of Waste Textiles, setting clear targets: by 2025, the recycling rate of waste textiles shall reach 25% and the output of regenerated fiber shall reach 2 million tons; by 2030, the recycling rate shall reach 30% and the output of regenerated fiber shall reach 3 million tons. China accounts for more than 50% of the world's total textile fiber processing volume and generates large amounts of waste textiles every year. The Opinions aim to clear bottlenecks in recycling, trading and circulation, fine sorting, and comprehensive utilization.

Key Points

  • By 2025, the recycling rate of waste textiles shall reach 25% and regenerated fiber output shall reach 2 million tons; by 2030, the figures shall reach 30% and 3 million tons respectively.
  • Using uniforms such as old military uniforms, police uniforms, and school uniforms as a breakthrough, enterprises will be organized to carry out recycling pilots.
  • Guide the standardization of old clothing exports. Exporting enterprises must truthfully declare to customs in accordance with the law, and cleaning and disinfection must meet the requirements of importing countries.

Green Production Side: Improving Recyclability from the Design Source
The Opinions encourage textile enterprises to implement green design, improve the ease of disassembly, classification, and recycling of textiles, and formulate guidelines for textile material classification. Enterprises are encouraged to add visual labels containing fabric material information or machine-readable RFID tags to products, so as to improve the efficiency and accuracy of waste textile sorting. At the same time, priority use of green fiber raw materials is encouraged, brand enterprises are guided to increase the proportion of regenerated fiber substitution, and the R&D, production, and application of bio-based fibers will be advanced in an orderly manner. Enterprises are also encouraged to implement the China Social Compliance 9000 for Textile & Apparel Industry (CSC9000T).

Recycling System: Entering Communities and Campuses, Developing Internet Plus Recycling
In terms of the recycling network, the Opinions propose reasonably setting up special recycling bins or related facilities for waste textiles, breaking down barriers to entering communities, government agencies, shopping malls, and campuses, encouraging recycling enterprises to expand into third- and fourth-tier cities and below, and exploring rural recycling based on actual rural conditions. In terms of recycling channels, actively develop Internet Plus recycling, explore new models such as one-bag door-to-door recycling and campus collection during graduation season, cultivate leading recycling enterprises, and establish a key contact enterprise system. In terms of recycling management, illegal and non-compliant recycling and non-standard production and operation will be cracked down on, illegal landfill and incineration of waste textiles will be handled according to law, and suspected criminal cases will be transferred to public security organs.

Utilization Side: Regulating Old Clothing Trading, with Uniforms as Pilot First
In the comprehensive utilization stage, the Opinions propose orderly promoting old clothing trading, formulating and revising standards and technical specifications for the cleaning and disinfection of old clothing, improving health and epidemic prevention requirements and market trading management rules, regulating trading markets and platforms, and cracking down on counterfeiting and passing off inferior goods as good ones. Old clothing exports must be standardized. Exporting enterprises must truthfully declare to customs in accordance with the law and ensure that cleaning and disinfection meet the requirements of importing countries (regions). In terms of regeneration and utilization, promote the entry of recycled products into fields such as building materials, automotive interiors and exteriors, agriculture, and environmental governance. Waste textiles that cannot be regenerated and utilized may be used for fuel conversion in a regulated manner, and utilization enterprises are encouraged to carry out mergers and reorganizations and cultivate leading enterprises in the industrial chain. Uniforms are listed as a breakthrough, and capable enterprises will be organized to carry out recycling pilots for old military uniforms, police uniforms, school uniforms, and other such garments.

Support and Safeguards: Standards, Technology, and Fiscal and Tax Policies Advancing Together
The Opinions require improving a series of standards for the recycling, disinfection, sorting, and comprehensive utilization of waste textiles, revising the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Fiber Product Quality, the Code of Conduct for the Quality of Reprocessed Fibers, and the General Technical Requirements for Fiberfill Products, and promoting the implementation of the Normative Conditions for the Recycled Chemical Fiber (Polyester) Industry. In terms of scientific and technological innovation, key technologies and equipment such as fiber identification, efficient sorting, separation of blended materials, and regeneration and utilization will be included in the National Key R&D Program. In terms of policy support, implement preferential tax policies for comprehensive resource utilization, provide credit products and services, support eligible enterprises in issuing green bonds, and encourage qualified localities to provide financial support.

For the old clothing trade and recycling industry, this document, for the first time in the form of a joint issuance by three departments, brings old clothing trading and exports onto a standardized track while providing clear quantitative targets and a pilot path for uniforms. This means that future sorting center layout, trading platform compliance, and export declaration will become key regulatory priorities, and standardized operating enterprises are expected to receive policy preference in fiscal, tax, and credit terms.

Source: Implementation Opinions of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Accelerating the Recycling of Waste Textiles · Originally published on 2024-11-01