Regulation guidance: The Waste Framework Directive

The Waste Framework Directive is gearing up for key changes that will impact textile printers – here is what you need to know.

The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) is an all-encompassing piece of legislation that aims to move the European economy towards more sustainable production and consumption. At its core, it lays out basic concepts and definitions related to waste management – including the waste hierarchy (prevention > reuse > recycling > recovery > disposal) – as well as EU-wide rules and targets around recycling, hazardous waste and end-of-waste criteria. It also incorporates a range of other measures, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) <link to other article>.

The first WFD dates back to 1975 and was substantially amended in 1991 and 2006. The present directive was adopted in November 2008, with notable changes introduced in 2018 to bring in EPR and separate collection requirements, and in 2023 to establish the Batteries Regulation. Individual member states are responsible for implementing the WFD and ensuring compliance.

With fast fashion presenting an increasing waste and resource management challenge, the EU Commission (EC) has put forward a proposal for a targeted revision of the WFD, focusing on textiles. (The revision will also address food waste, although how that will affect packaging producers is yet to be established).

“Those affected may face some really onerous due diligence requirements, so producers will need to have good relationships with their suppliers and customers to get the right evidence and data about their products,” says George Atkinson, director of policy at environmental compliance company Valpak. “They’ll need data around the recycled content of plastics, knits and yarns, inks and other materials used in the textiles they produce, and information about origins and product destinations, to determine their obligations.”

The key goal of the proposal is to accelerate the development of the separate collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of textile waste, in alignment with the terms of the EU Textile Strategy. New rules will apply to:

Chiefly, the WFD revision proposes mandatory and harmonised EPR schemes for producers within these sectors. Key features of this include:
Eco-modulated fees

Textile producers and fashion brands will be required to pay fees to support the collection and management of waste. These fees will be ‘eco-modulated’ based on the environmental performance of the textiles, with lower fees…