BANYERES DE MARIOLA — Spanish recycler Recover has warned EU lawmakers that mandatory recycled content rules for textiles must prioritise textile-to-textile inputs as work advances on the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) delegated act.
In a new position paper responding to the European Commission’s third milestone consultation on ecodesign requirements for textiles, Recover backs minimum recycled content obligations as a key lever to drive circularity.
But it argues that targets must be set to reward high-quality fibre-to-fibre recycling over downcycling from bottles or industrial scraps.
Mandatory, ambitious recycled content targets that prioritise textile‑to‑textile inputs are critical to unlock investment and scale circularity
“Mandatory, ambitious recycled content targets that prioritise textile‑to‑textile inputs are critical to unlock investment and scale circularity across Europe’s textile value chain,” says the report.
Recover, which produces low-impact mechanically recycled cotton fibres, says clear demand signals are essential for investors across sorting, recycling and spinning.
The company cites EU Green Deal and textile strategy goals to cut the sector’s climate and water impacts as the policy backdrop for binding recycled content rules.
According to Recover, portfolio- or company-level recycled content targets would give brands flexibility to integrate recycled fibres where technically feasible, while still ensuring an overall shift away from virgin inputs.
It also backs robust verification through digital product passports to prove recycled content claims and trace post-consumer textile waste, in line with wider ESPR data requirements.
The position paper aligns with calls from Recycling Europe Textiles and other industry bodies for progressive recycled content benchmarks in the 2028–2035 period that favour EU-sourced post-consumer textile waste and disincentivise “bottle‑to‑textile” routes.
Recover argues this approach will help scale dedicated textile recycling infrastructure across Europe.
Earlier this month, the European Commission launched a €10 million call for projects that can demonstrate and deploy innovative textile collection, sorting-for-reuse and repair systems at city and regional level across Europe.
