Swiss textile recyclers recently issued a warning: cheap fast fashion, represented by the likes of Temu, is pushing the used-clothing recycling system to the brink of collapse, and the industry is drafting a new plan to require overseas online retailers to bear corresponding responsibilities.

Recycling company employee Sascha Sardella, opening a torn bag of used clothes at the sorting site, was met with all kinds of frown-inducing items: T-shirts and towels with a basement musty smell, and a pair of dirty underwear. From the pile he picked out a dark blue pair of swim trunks printed with a flamingo pattern, saying they had been worn "at most twice."

The report notes that the flood of cheap clothing has caused a marked decline in the quality of collected garments, a drop in the reusable proportion, and rising processing costs, putting enormous pressure on a textile collection system that relies on sorting and resale to keep operating. Recyclers are therefore calling for a new industry mechanism to make up the shortfall.

The solution currently proposed by the industry is a comprehensive sector-wide plan whose core is to make overseas online retailers such as Temu bear obligations for used-clothing recycling. This is seen as an institutional supplement to the current system, since foreign e-commerce had not previously been included in the relevant responsibility framework.

Source: Wegen Temu & Co.: Altkleider-Geschäft steht vor dem Kollaps · Originally published 2026-09-21