ETC CE Report 2024/4 Volumes and destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe's circular economy

04 Mar 2024

Tom Duhoux, Dina Bekkevold Lingås, Lars Fogh Mortensen

This ETC CE report provides the detailed analysis underpinning the EEA briefing 'The destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe's circular economy'.

In this report, the ETC CE provides an overview of existing knowledge, data and trends on the volumes and destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe. The growth of online shopping, flexible return practices, changed consumer preferences and fast-fashion business strategies in Europe have resulted in increased shares of returned and unsold textiles. Over the past years, fast fashion as well as luxury brands, have been reported to destroy returned or unsold clothing, shoes and other textiles. Textile product destruction, where products are destroyed by retailers, brands or manufacturers before use, is an example of a resource ‘take-make-waste’ approach, highlighting the inefficiency of current linear production-consumption systems which cause avoidable negative impacts on the environment and climate.