France Infuses $49 Million to Stabilize Textile Recycling Infrastructure

France, a pioneer in environmental legislation applied to fashion and in measures against ultra fast fashion, has raised aid for the collection and sorting of textile waste following protests from companies such as Le Relais, a major player in recycling in France.

The French government has announced an extraordinary support plan to support its national textile recycling network. The Ministry of Ecological Transition will allocate €49 million in 2025 to consolidate the system of collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of clothing and footwear, according to an official statement. For 2026, an additional reinforcement of €57 million is planned.

The announcement comes in response to growing tensions in the sector, which warns of a risk of collapse of the textile waste collection and management system. The organization Le Relais, one of the largest entities dedicated to recycling in France, has staged protest actions in recent days, such as the dumping of twelve tons of clothes in front of a Kiabi store in Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France), calling for an urgent improvement in the economic conditions for recycling.

The trigger was the inadequacy of the contributions per ton of managed waste received by the sector’s organizations through Refashion, the body in charge of channeling the fees charged to manufacturers and distributors under the “polluter pays” principle. Until now, this contribution stood at 156 euros per ton, a figure that Le Relais demanded be doubled to 304 euros to ensure the viability of the system.

The French government will support textile recycling with a contribution of €223 per ton

The new aid announced by the government brings this amount to €223 per tonne in 2025, and to €228 in 2026. “We need to structure and massify the collection of textile material, and ensure investments in industrial tools,“ acknowledged Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher in a letter sent to the sector.

The measure seeks to alleviate the fragility of an industry considered until recently exemplary at the European level in circular economy. France collects each year about 270,000 tons of textile waste, of which about 60% is resold as second-hand clothing, and 90% of that volume is exported to foreign markets, mainly in Africa.

However, the sharp drop in international prices for used textiles has destabilized the model. Refashion warned last week that demand in Africa, hitherto one of the main destinations, is shifting to garments from Asia, which are cheaper and available in larger quantities, causing resale values to plummet and forcing the closure of many of the traditional clothing collection boxes in France.

The situation is threatening one of the continent’s most advanced environmental policies, just when the country is promoting other initiatives such as the law against ultra-fast fashion, which puts Chinese players such as Shein or Temu in the spotlight.