California Finally Has a Textile Waste Law. Europe Has Had One Long Enough to Know It’s Not Enough
California made history in September 2024 when Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 707 — the Responsible Textile Recovery Act — into law. The state became the first jurisdiction in the United States to impose mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles, requiring the brands that make and sell clothes to fund and manage what happens to those clothes at the end of their lives. It was a landmark moment for American fashion regulation. And by European standards, it was also about 17 years late.
France launched its national textile EPR program in 2007. The Netherlands followed in 2023, Latvia in 2024. The EU’s revised Waste Framework Directive — which mandates that every member state establish its own national textile EPR scheme — entered into force in October 2025. As California races to build its compliance infrastructure before a July 2026 deadline, the continent has already accumulated nearly two decades of data on what works, what doesn’t, and what the fashion industry will do when left to its own devices. The answer, it turns out, is not enough.
