Alt dress chaos: Market in Fürstenfeldbruck brings new EU directive to collapse!

Alt dress chaos: Market in Fürstenfeldbruck brings new EU directive to collapse!

Fürstenfeldbruck, Deutschland - On January 1, 2025, a new EU directive for old clothing disposal came into force, which should fundamentally change the way consumer deals with their old textiles. This regulation requires a separate collection of textiles, which includes clothing, bed linen and curtains. The goal of this measure is clear: the promotion of reuse and recycling of textiles as well as the drastic reduction of the amount of burned or deposited textiles. Theoretically, the new regulation could make a positive contribution to the circular economy, but there are considerable difficulties in practice.

The market for old clothes, however, seems to face serious challenges. Stefan Mayer, the head of the waste management company (AWB), describes the situation as a "desolate market environment". More and more sorting companies are forced to register bankruptcy, since increasingly unusable textiles end up in the old clothes containers. This significantly reduces the quality of the collection material. The recipients of these substances, be it for second-hand shops or non-profit organizations, are no longer able to manage the amount of suitable textiles that are actually suitable for reuse. Merkur already reported that a collector in Fürstenfeldbruck has already asked what was could further increase the problems.

misunderstandings in implementation

Another central problem is the misunderstanding that prevails on the regulations of the new EU directive. Many citizens incorrectly assume that they are no longer allowed to dispose of their old clothes in the residual waste. The guideline only says that these textiles have to be collected separately from other waste. The district of Fürstenfeldbruck is legally obliged to offer old clothing containers regardless of the financial consequences. ZDF shows that in Germany over one million tons of old textiles end up in containers, but only about 50% of them are still useful. Only 10% of these textiles collected in the containers benefit in need.

District Administrator Thomas Karmasin has therefore spoken out for an enlightening appeal in order to encourage citizens to only throw high quality old clothes into the containers. After all, this is crucial to meet the existing challenges and not to tighten the situation in the old clothing market. As Tagesschau reports , the collection of old textiles is handled differently in various municipalities. It is important that consumers are informed that old textiles are not simply allowed to land in residual waste, but have to be recycled.

The new regulation offers the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the environment, but the active help and commitment of the citizens are needed in order to close the cycle between old dresses and their new uses.