EU's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Law and Its Implications for India's Textile Industry

The European Union (EU) has approved a new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for textiles. This is a major regulatory shift that makes fashion brands and producers accountable for their products' entire lifecycle, from design and production through collection, sorting, recycling and disposal.

- Arvind Gaur

Under this law, not only EU-based producers but also non-EU exporters supplying the EU market will become subject to new obligations. For India's fashion exporters, recyclers, policymakers, and investors, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

What the Law Covers

The key features of the EU textile EPR:

• It applies to clothing, footwear and home textiles

• Producers (including importers into the EU) will need to finance the costs of collection, sorting, reuse and recycling of the textile products they place on the market.

• A key mechanism will be "eco-modulated" fees: higher levies charged for products that are less recyclable, less durable, or designed for "ultra-fast fashion".

• Each EU Member State must implement a national EPR scheme within a set timeframe (for example, 18-30 months after adoption of the directive).

• The initiative is part of the wider EU Circular Textiles Strategy and extends existing waste-management, separate-collection and product-design rules to textiles.

There are also targeted new obligations for separate collection of textiles (for the first time), plus binding waste-prevention targets in some proposals (e.g., 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 for textile waste prevention).

In short, producers exporting or selling into the EU textile market will face substantial additional regulatory requirements, with costs, administrative, data-tracking, material-design and end-of-life responsibilities.

Why This Matters for India

India's textile industry sits at a strategic intersection of global supply chains, labour intensity, export orientation and emerging circular-economy pressures.

Export exposure to the EU