Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles in the Netherlands

Realized in The Netherlands

Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles in the Netherlands

The textiles industry is the second-most polluting industry in the world. The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management asked Rebel to design a system for Extended Producer Responsibility for the Netherlands.

The challenge

Designing an EPR system for textiles required Rebel to answer three questions:

1) What goals can be formulated?

2) What are the costs of a working EPR system and are possibilities for tariff differentiation present?

3) How do the responsibilities of textile companies change when an EPR system is imposed?

The approach

The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management plans to implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles in the Netherlands in order to take steps towards a circular economy and lower the environmental impact of the textiles sector. The ministry asked Rebel to design a system, set goals, calculate associated costs, and state responsibilities of stakeholders within the system.

In order to answer these questions, we conducted interviews with stakeholders and experts, performed a desk study, and developed a dynamic cost model. The outcomes of the different approaches were combined to answer the research questions.

Impact

Based on our report, the ministry decided to implement EPR for textiles per 2023.