Reusing and recycling textile (UPV)
Are you a producer, importer, or foreign supplier of clothing and household textiles? Then you are responsible for your textiles when the user discards them. You must collect the textile waste, sort it, and prepare it for reuse and recycling. Read what you need to do to follow the rules.
Register with the government
As a manufacturer, importer, or foreign supplier of household textiles or clothing, you are likely to fall under the extended producer responsibility for textiles, EPR. This is called the Uitgebreide Producentenverantwoordelijkheid or UPV in Dutch. You are then responsible for collecting, sorting, recycling, and reusing textiles. From the moment the EPR for textiles applies to you, you must register with Rijkswaterstaat (in Dutch) within 6 weeks. You must give information about your business.
Do you sell textiles in the Netherlands, but is your company not located there? Then you must appoint an authorised representative in the Netherlands.
Join a producers' organisation
You can choose to work together with other producers to comply with the rules. A producers' organisation can collect clothing and household textiles on your behalf. For example, by providing collection points where people can hand in used textiles.
The producers' organisation also takes care of waste management. And they report to the government annually. To take part, you pay a fee to the producers' organisation. There are 3 producers' organisations in the Netherlands:
Submit a report every year
You must report annually on the quantity of textiles you sold in the previous year. From 2026, you must also report each year on whether you have met targets. Such as for preparation for reuse, recycling, and fibre-to-fibre recycling. These targets get higher every year. The obligations for this reporting are set out in the Textile UPV Regulation (in Dutch). Are you a member of a producers’ organisation? If so, it will report annually to the government on your behalf.
Your customers must be able to return textiles for free
You must ensure that your customers can return old textiles free of charge. You can decide how you do this. For example:
- Consumers hand in the old textiles at special containers for clothing.
- Consumers hand in the textiles at your shop.
You have to make sure that your customers know how to hand in old textiles. And that they know what happens to the textiles afterwards.
Preparing textiles for reuse and recycling
Producers are responsible for preparing textile waste for reuse and recycling. There are targets for this in the EPR. You can organise this yourself or join a producers’ organisation to do it together.
- Preparing for reuse means making sure that collected textiles are checked, cleaned, or repaired so that they can be reused.
- Recycling means ensuring that collected textiles are reprocessed into a product, material, or fabric. Separate targets apply to fibre-to-fibre recycling. This is when recycled textiles are processed into fibres from which new textiles are made.
How much do you need to prepare for reuse and recycling?
From 2025, the percentage of textiles that have to be prepared for reuse and recycling will increase each year. In 2025 these amounts are the rule:
- At least 50% of the textile that is sold is prepared for reuse or recycling.
- At least 20% of the textile that is sold is prepared for reuse specifically.
- At least 10% of the textile sold is reused in the Netherlands.
- At least 25% of the recycled textile is fibre-to-fibre recycled.
Infographic: what changes
View this infographic about the EPR by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to see which changes take effect and when.