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.
Rules for the UPV will expand in the future
From 2028, new, stricter rules will apply (in Dutch) to the collection, reuse, and recycling of textiles and footwear. The scope of the UPV for textiles will also expand to include footwear and other textile products, such as blankets, curtains, and clothing made of leather and imitation leather. The UPV is part of the circular textiles policy (in Dutch).
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. 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.
Check if the EPR applies to you (in Dutch)
Note: Do you sell textiles in the Netherlands, but is your company not located there? Then you must appoint an authorised representative in the Netherlands.
With the EPR textiles, the government wants to reduce textile waste by ensuring that more textiles are reused and recycled, and that there is less waste and pollution.
Join a producers' organisation
You can choose to work together with other producers to comply with the rules. From 2028, it will be be mandatory for producers to join a producers' organisation. 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
- take care of waste management
- report to the government annually
To take part, you pay a fee to the producers' organisation. There are 3 producers' organisations in the Netherlands:
- Collectief Circulair Textiel (in Dutch)
Your customers must be able to return textiles for free
You must ensure that your customers can return textiles free of charge. You are free to decide how to organise this. Often, your producer organisation will arrange this, if you are a member. This can be done in various ways, for example:
- via a collection point in the shop
- at a charity shop or second-hand shop
- via the local council’s textile collection bin
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.
Read more about collecting textiles (in Dutch).
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.
The difference between preparing for reuse and recycling
- 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.
Preparing for reuse is not the same as reusing
Preparing for reuse is different from normal reuse. Normal reuse is, for example, selling clothing in a second-hand store. Preparing for reuse is about textiles that have been thrown away and textiles that have become waste. A waste processing company ensures that textile waste can be used for new textile products.
How much do you need to prepare for reuse and recycling?
Since 2025, the percentage of textiles that have to be prepared for reuse and recycling will increase each year. These amounts are the rule:
- At least 50% of the textile that is sold is prepared for reuse or recycling. By 2030, this will be at least 75%.
- At least 20% of the textile that is sold is prepared for reuse specifically. By 2030, this will be at least 25%.
- At least 10% of the textile sold is reused in the Netherlands. By 2030, this will be at least 15%.
- At least 25% of the recycled textile is fibre-to-fibre recycled. By 2030, this will be at least 33%.
Submit a report every year
You must send a report to Rijkswaterstaat by 1 August each year about your compliance with the UPV in the previous calendar year. In doing so, you must, for example, state whether you have met the waste management targets. These targets rise each year.
Are you a member of a producers’ organisation? If so, the organisation will send an annual report to the government on your behalf. Read more about the reporting duties in the Textile UPV Regulations (in Dutch).
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.