“The garbage container is missing!” This neighbor from Vitry-sur-Seine (Val de Marne) can’t believe it when she arrives at the place where she usually leaves the clothes she no longer wears. All you have to do is go home and put the bags away where you can. This is not an isolated case, these disappearances occur throughout France.
Saturated with clothes, more and more associations and organizations are throwing in the towel. They can no longer collect the funds from the closets. This situation is directly caused by the excessive consumption of low-cost products from the fast fashion through brands such as Shein, Primark, Temu or Boohoo. There are too many of them, they are made with materials that are too fragile and, above all, they are not recyclable due to the synthetic fibers they contain. We can’t even cremate them anymore.
Fast fashion has swept through like a tsunami
For years, this circular economy has worked well. The clothes were dropped off at one of the 47,000 clothing collection points. After careful selection, they were given to the poor or sold in second-hand stores throughout Europe. End-of-life textiles were recycled for construction or incinerated. Today, the collection system is in danger and fast fashion suffers.
This system has been overseen since 2009 by Eco-TCL (Clothing Textiles, Household Linen and Shoes), a private, non-profit company created to require manufacturers to plan for the end of life of their products. In 2017, this eco-organisation funded by the collection of eco-taxes paid by its members became ReFashion with the ambition, not only to encourage recycling, but to encourage the public to repair and reuse textiles.
At the helm since 2022, Maud Hardy, “an expert in marketing, business development and circular economy, with more than 25 years of experience in international fashion and leisure companies.” We tried to contact Refashion, without success.
Emmaus and the Red Cross drown in clothes
Meanwhile, the organizations that manage the collections (Emaüs France, Red Cross, etc.) are saturated with unused clothing items, impossible to redistribute or recycle. They must be organized to store them with no hope of doing anything with them. The Red Cross recognizes that it is “flooded with new Chinese textiles that are cheaper than recycled ones” and asks that they not leave clothes behind again.
In Puy-de-Dôme and Allier, Emmaus made the same decision. The association is drowning in tons of collected clothing that no one wants anymore, neither in France nor abroad. Thousands of bags full of textiles are piled up in a hangar. Another consequence is that the finances of the community, which lives without subsidies, are also collapsing. Previously, the textile sector represented a third of its income, as the director of Emmaus, René Araya, explained to France Bleu.
New cheaper than second hand
This situation affects all of France. For months, the regional press has been reporting that containers have been removed or confiscated in several departments, causing illegal dumping. This scenario is observed everywhere in France: in Corrèze, Sarthe, Finistère, Hérault, Manche, Seine-Maritime and Île-de-France. Collection associations can only recommend storing unwanted clothes at home. Even on second-hand clothing sales sites, no one wants them. And for good reason, new ones are becoming less expensive than second-hand ones.
In Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), Actif Insertion was forced to close its 36 textile terminals. This year it has already collected 200 tons of clothing, “a figure that is clearly increasing,” explains Sarah Lavollée, director of the association.
In Sarthe 43 collection points will be eliminated, reports Western France. Until then, the Red Cross resold a small portion of the rehabilitated clothing. Most of it was sold by weight to Gebetex Tri Normandie. This company sorted 20 tons of clothing a day for resale in France, Europe and the world. Saturated, Gebetex can no longer hold anything due to lack of space and outlets.
The same thing happens in Brittany, where the Abi29 association, specialized in textile collection and professional integration, is no longer able to absorb this mountain of textile waste that costs more than it contributes. Since last spring, collections have increased by 15 to 20%. It currently processes 60 tons each week.
According to the director of ABI 29, fast fashion is a global phenomenon.
Around 4 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away in Europe every year, but only a third is collected for recycling. France, in 2023, will collect around 38% of its used textiles, a figure that remains insufficient given the magnitude of waste.
An anti “fast fashion” law
Last March, the National Assembly approved an “anti-fast fashion” bill to, among other things, ban advertising for the sale of clothing at reduced prices. But, above all, it was a reinforced environmental “penalty.” From an amount of 5 euros in 2025, it went to 6 euros in 2026, 7 euros in 2027, until reaching 10 euros per product in 2030.
Retained by textile professionals, this text presented by the Haute-Savoie deputy Anne-Cécile Violland was to be examined this autumn by the Senate and would come into force on January 1, 2025. This text was to make France “the first country of the world.” legislate to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion.
The day after the vote in the National Assembly, Yohann Petiot, general director of the Trade Alliance, denounced on BFM Business. According to him, the text does not distinguish between fast fashion and “ultra fast fashion”, a name that includes Chinese actors. According to him, the rules should only affect sites that offer 1,000 new references a day, which would exclude brands like Zara or H&M that are far from having such production.
Associations and integrative companies in danger
On Wednesday, on La Voix du Nord, Philippe Brouteele, president of the SMICTOM (Mixed Inter-Community Union for the Collection and Treatment of Household Waste) of Flanders, ranted to denounce this situation that is getting worse day by day.
“All the associations and integrative companies that work around second-hand clothing stores, all those that recover and recycle textiles are in danger and are forced to suspend their collections. It is no longer possible to recycle these products,” warns Philippe Broutee.
Will this call be heard as Black Friday approaches, which skyrockets sales of fast fashion products?
Exactly one year ago, on the occasion of Black Friday, a dozen associations asked Bruno Le Maire, then Minister of Economy, to “put an end to fast fashion” and denounce its main lever, forced labor and child labor.
In 2023, France was one of the largest clothing importers in Europe, with annual imports estimated at around €30 billion for textiles, clothing and footwear. A significant portion of these imports comes from Asian countries such as China, Bangladesh and Vietnam, where production costs remain low thanks to very questionable working conditions.
Around 4 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away in Europe every year, but only a third is collected for recycling. France, in 2023, will collect around 38% of its used textiles, a figure that remains insufficient given the magnitude of waste.
Source: BFM TV
