Sweden Overwhelmed By Textile Waste Surge After EU Ban On Disposal
Sweden’s recycling centres are overflowing with discarded clothing following the European Union’s ban on throwing away textiles, with municipalities calling on fast fashion giants to shoulder responsibility for the mounting waste.
“It’s a huge amount coming in every day. It’s been crazy,” said Brian Kelly, secretary general of the Artikel2 charity shop in Stockholm, where bins are brimming with unwanted garments.
Under new EU regulations effective from this year, all member states are required to implement separate textile recycling, similar to systems already in place for glass, paper, and food waste. The goal is to promote a circular economy—where clothes are reused or recycled instead of being incinerated or dumped.
In Stockholm alone, textile waste collection jumped by 60% in the first two months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to Karin Sundin of Stockholm Vatten och Avfall, the city’s waste management authority.
After sorting, about 60–70% of collected textiles are deemed fit for reuse, while 20–30% are recycled into padding, insulation, or composite materials. Only 7–10% is incinerated for energy—an improvement from past practices where incineration was the norm, noted the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Despite these gains, Sweden’s infrastructure struggles to keep up. Most used clothing is exported to countries like Lithuania for further sorting and processing. “We don’t have the large-scale sorting facilities needed to extract full value from the waste,” Sundin explained. “It’s labour-intensive and expensive.”
Swedes discard approximately 90,000 tonnes of textiles annually—roughly 10 kilograms per person. The EU average is even higher at 19 kilograms, according to 2022 data from the European Environment Agency.
The fashion industry’s environmental footprint is considerable. Producing a single 135-gram T-shirt requires 2,500 litres of water and one kilogram of chemicals, generating 2 to 5 kilograms of CO₂ emissions, said Yvonne Augustsson of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Extending the lifespan of garments can significantly reduce that impact. “In Sweden, an article of clothing is used about 30 times. Doubling this to 60 uses halves its climate impact,” she said.
Municipalities, especially in sparsely populated areas like Kiruna, are overwhelmed. With limited infrastructure and few options for reuse or recycling, some are still forced to incinerate textiles.
Fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Zara are under increasing pressure to take accountability. A preliminary EU agreement reached in February would require them to fund the collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling of their products at the end of their lifecycle. The aim is to promote the design of longer-lasting clothing and reduce environmental damage.
Swedish brand H&M has expressed support for these initiatives. Meanwhile, environmental groups are encouraging consumers to rethink their shopping habits.
“People should aim to buy no more than five new clothing items per year,” urged Beatrice Rindevall, head of the Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature, which promotes clothing swaps as an alternative.
In Linköping, a recent campus clothing exchange featured racks of secondhand apparel—from hot pink jackets to faded jeans and striped tees. “We provide a solution so people can choose reuse over waste,” said volunteer Eva Vollmer.
As textile waste rises across Europe, Sweden’s experience underscores the urgent need for industry reform, infrastructure development, and behavioural change—from fast fashion producers to everyday consumers.
