The National Development and Reform Commission and two other departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Recycling of Waste Textiles," specifying that by 2025, the recycling rate of waste textiles shall reach 25% and the output of recycled fibers shall reach 2 million tons; by 2030, the recycling rate shall rise to 30% and the output of recycled fibers shall reach 3 million tons.

Key Points

  • Targets: 25% recycling rate and 2 million tons of recycled fiber output by 2025; 30% and 3 million tons respectively by 2030
  • Measures: Promote visual labels/RFID tags on textiles, Internet Plus recycling, one-bag door-to-door collection, and cultivate leading recycling enterprises
  • Exports: Guide the standardization of second-hand clothing exports; enterprises must truthfully declare to customs in accordance with the law, and cleaning and disinfection must meet the requirements of importing countries

Policy Background

China is the world's largest textile country, with total textile fiber processing accounting for more than half of the global total. As per capita fiber consumption rises, the scale of waste textiles generated each year is enormous. The Opinions point out that advancing the recycling of waste textiles is not only a means to supplement raw material supply for the textile industry and ease resource and environmental constraints, but also a component of a green, low-carbon, circular development economic system, with direct significance for saving resources and reducing pollution and carbon emissions.

Production Side: Improving Recyclability from the Design Source

The Opinions encourage textile enterprises to carry out green design and improve the ease of disassembly, sorting, and recycling of textiles. Supporting measures include formulating guidelines for textile material classification and encouraging enterprises to place visual labels or machine-readable RFID tags containing fabric material information on products to improve sorting efficiency and accuracy. At the same time, the policy requires textile enterprises to prioritize the use of green fiber raw materials, improve green product standards, certification, and labeling systems, guide brand enterprises to increase the proportion of recycled fiber substitution, and promote high-value utilization of waste textiles; the R&D, production, and application of bio-based fibers and products are also being advanced in an orderly manner.

Recycling Side: Sinking Layout and Model Innovation

In terms of building the recycling system, the Opinions require the reasonable placement of dedicated waste textile recycling bins or facilities, breaking down barriers to entering communities, government offices, shopping malls, and campuses, increasing bin coverage, and encouraging recycling enterprises to expand into third- and fourth-tier cities and below. Rural areas will explore recycling paths based on local conditions. At the same time, sorting centers and resource utilization classification and processing centers need to be reasonably laid out to achieve timely and refined sorting.

In terms of recycling models, the policy clearly calls for developing Internet Plus recycling, promoting online-offline integration, utilizing domestic waste classification systems to collect waste textiles, and exploring new models such as one-bag door-to-door collection and campus collection during graduation season. The Opinions also propose cultivating leading recycling enterprises, establishing a key contact enterprise system, and strengthening industry surveys; encouraging industry associations and enterprises to build information platforms for recycling and resource utilization, integrating information on sources, quantities, and destinations to improve transparency.

Second-hand Clothing Trading and Exports: Setting Standards, Strict Supervision

The Opinions adopt a tone of "orderly promotion" for second-hand clothing trading, requiring the formulation and revision of cleaning and disinfection standards and technical specifications for second-hand clothing, improving health and epidemic prevention requirements and market trading management norms, strengthening health and epidemic prevention supervision, regulating trading markets and platforms, and cracking down on fraudulent practices such as counterfeiting and passing off inferior goods as superior.

Regarding exports, the policy guides the standardization of second-hand clothing exports, requiring exporting enterprises to truthfully declare to customs in accordance with the law and ensure that cleaning, disinfection, and other processes for second-hand clothing meet the relevant requirements of importing countries (regions). The Opinions also encourage enterprises and residents to donate suitable second-hand clothing through charitable organizations in accordance with the law to disadvantaged people in need.

Source: NDRC and Two Other Departments: Accelerate the Recycling of Waste Textiles_CNR · Originally published on 2022-04-11