Global environmental action NGO WRAP has launched the Textiles Collections Transition Programme, which is funded by NEXT, Primark and Tesco.
The Textiles Collections Transition Programme aims to change how the UK collects, sorts, reuses, and recycles post-consumer textiles.
Phase One of the programme, which is funded by investment from Next, Primark and Tesco, identifies existing good practice, opportunities and potential solutions to improve how post-consumer textiles are collected.
The findings have been published in the Transformative Practice in Textiles Collection report.
Now, the programme moves into the practical co-design phase and a series of stakeholder workshops to develop a Co-designed Programme for Impact, the Blueprint to be published in Spring 2027.
Catherine David, CEO, WRAP said: “Transforming textile collections is an industry-wide challenge that no organisation can solve alone.”
“By investing in this programme, NEXT, Primark and Tesco are showing the leadership needed to move from ambition to action and help build a system that works for the whole sector.”
Research carried out by WRAP found that nearly half (49%) of all post-consumer textiles are disposed of in the residual waste, or 546,000 tonnes of textiles binned by UK homes.
The programme aims to keep more textiles out of residual waste and dry mixed recycling and maximise the value of post-consumer textiles through reuse, better enabling fibre-to-fibre recycling processes, and supporting a ‘fair, transparent and financially sustainable’ sector.
WRAP and others have warned that the post-consumer textile sector faces an ‘existential crisis’, with WRAP estimating the cost of collecting and sorting worn-out textiles to now stand at £88 million per year.
The sector continues to lose money because revenues from reusable clothing are no longer sufficient to offset the cost of handling non-reusable textiles, WRAP believes.
Maintaining a viable infrastructure is ‘critical to avoid system collapse’ and protect the economic and social value generated by the reuse and recycling sector, WRAP says, as well as ensure that textiles remain available for their highest value use.
While investment in sorting technology, fibre-to-fibre recycling, and recycled-content continues, WRAP says demand requires the ‘critical link’ of an effective collection system for textiles.
Katherine Organ, Sustainability Manager for Non-Food, Tesco, commented: “At Tesco, we are committed to reducing waste and helping build a more circular future for textiles.”
“By supporting WRAP’s Textiles Collections System Transition Programme, we are bringing organisations across the value chain together to develop practical, scalable solutions that improve collections, keep materials in use for longer, and unlock greater reuse and recycling across the UK.”
