South Africa's extended producer responsibility ("EPR") framework already covers paper, packaging, certain single-use products, batteries and electrical and electronic equipment. Yet textiles remain outside the net.
At present, garments attract EPR obligations only in respect of their packaging; the clothing itself is unregulated, meaning fast-fashion volumes, originating outside South Africa, spill into second-hand markets and what does not sell ends up in landfill with no producer funded mechanism to finance collection, sorting or recycling.
The scale of the issue is significant. In 2022, approximately 1.1 million tonnes of waste were disposed of in South African landfills, including 70 300 tonnes of textiles. By comparison, plastics accounted for just under 200 000 tonnes. These figures also exclude private landfill volumes. Only about 13% of textiles are recycled and less than 1% is recycled back into clothing, highlighting a largely linear system.
