France Textile Recycling Market Overview, 2029

France is paving its way to the top in textile recycling in the fashion capital of the world, where each recycled fiber means a greener tomorrow. In the fashion capital of the world, France is on its way to the top in textile recycling; the recycling of each fiber means a greener tomorrow. The French textile recycling market is expanding, along with many opportunities in several areas. Increased infrastructure investments are being made in new sorting facilities and recycling plants. Other sectors, such as automotive textiles and home furnishings, are also entering into the market due to the increasing usage of recyclables. With increasing sustainable fashion and circular economy practices, innovation chances and further development of the recycling market are created. Following are some of the environmental benefits resulting from textile recycling within France. This keeps many tons of textiles from reaching landfills; thus, it mitigates soil and water pollution and emission of GHGs. For example, if 1,000 tons of textiles can be reprocessed, then 1,800 cubic meters of landfill space be saved. Additionally, water and energy consumption for recycling are lower than that required in new textile production, hence reducing its ecological footprint. The economic impact of textile recycling in France is huge, with jobs created in collection, sorting, and processing. Companies such as Eco TLC and Texaid give a high number of jobs in these sectors. It also supplies industries like fashion and automotive with recycled raw materials, ensuring a certain economic gain in cost reduction from raw materials and profit made from the recycling products themselves. Regional dynamics influence activities in the textile recycling market in France. Well-built systems for recycling, with participation rates in their good proportion, can be found in urban areas such as Paris, while in rural areas, problems like a lack of collection points arise. Disparities like these are targeted through regional expansion by Le Relais in terms of collection possibilities and raising awareness in areas that are underserved. It is public-private partnerships, though, that will really have the most potential to take the textile recycling market of France to the next level. The ADEME partners with private sector firms like Eco TLC and Texaid in developing the recycling infrastructure and supporting research. These partnerships mobilize the strengths of multiple players to advance the cause of recycling toward the attainment of sustainability goals.

According to the research report "France Textile Recycling Market Overview, 2029," published by Bonafide Research, the France Textile Recycling market is anticipated to add to more than USD 40 Million by 2024–29.France's textile recycling system is supported by a far-reaching collection infrastructure. In this regard, municipal bins and charity shops, like Emmaüs, offer individuals options to make donations and collect used textiles. In sorting facilities like those of Texaid, automated sorting technologies include NIR scanners, through which the textiles are efficiently sorted for recycling or eventual reutilization. France's government has enacted policies that encourage textile recycling. Under the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme, producers are required to take care of their end-of-life products, therefore encouraging design for recyclability. In addition, the Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law promotes waste reduction and recycling. The state support for research and development in technologies related to recycling, including financing Eco TLC's projects, enables the sector to move ahead. Government regulations supply many of the key drivers for France's textile recycling market. The Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law, which institutionalizes extended producer responsibility, enshrines the principles of textile recycling. Consumer demand also pushes the market toward sustainable fashion, as companies like Patagonia and H&M report using recycled materials for their respective clothing collections. And on top of that, it's economically supported firms like Recupel profit from the cost advantage by reusing fibers in their products. For example, one ton of textile recycling could save up to 20,000 liters of water and reduce 1.5 tons of CO2 emissions. The benefits enumerated above show the potentials of textile recycling to meet the sustainable development goals.

The textile recycling market is a vast array of materials whose processes differ in relation to respective ways of recycling, and are not without difficulties. In that case, cotton is one of the common natural fibers that dominate in the textile recycling market. Methods of mechanical recycling are widely adopted and result in cotton wastes being sorted, shredded, spun into new fibers, and subsequently formed into new yarns meant for the production of new products. The grade of the cotton fibers comes down at each cycle, so already France is investing in innovative solutions such as chemical recycling that can break down cotton to the molecular level for high-grade reuses. Technologies for this challenge, such as NuCycl, have been developed by companies like Evrnu. Polyester and polyester fibers drive a huge share of France's textile recycling market due to their extensive usage and recyclability. Generally, this will involve melting the polyester wastes and extruding them into new fibers. One of the advanced recycling technologies is enzymatic recycling, and with this, companies from France like Carbios are in a position to break down the PET wastes into its original monomers, hence enabling the infinite recycling of it. Nylon and nylon fibers are peculiarly challenging in the textile recycling market. Though nylon is recyclable, the process is complex and energy-consuming. Commonly, there is a mechanical route to which it is put for recycling, resulting in lower quality fibers compared to the original fibers. Chemical recycling offers a promising solution are in France alone, companies like Aquafil have implemented a chemical recycling process called Econyl, able to produce high-quality nylon from waste, including old fishing nets and carpet fluff. Wool is another natural fiber that undergoes the process of recycling in France. The wool textile sorting, cleaning, and shredding into fiber lead to the process of spinning new yarn. Despite lesser number of wool recycling operations than in the case of cotton, organizations like Le Relais, a textile sorting and recycling entity, ensure improvement in wool recycling processes and creation of innovative new products from wool wastes. Also in France, other textile materials, like silk and linen, together with synthetic blends of these materials, are recycled, although very little. The government of France has enacted the Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy, setting a framework for reducing textile wastes and promoting recycling processes.

France has been at the forefront of legislative efforts geared towards promoting textile recycling and reductions in wastage from fashion industries. One such example of France's commitment towards textile recycling is the implementation of extended producer responsibility for textiles, clothing, and footwear. This system, managed by the eco-organization Refashion (formerly Eco TLC), requires producers, importers, and distributors to contribute financially toward the collection. Through this system, a large network of collection points could be established all over the country; there are now more than 46,000 reported collection points. Apparel wastage is a big focus in France, where most of the important houses of fashion are based. Luxury brands, like Kering Group, behind Gucci and Saint Laurent, among others, have take-back and recycling programs in place. Indeed, Kering has partnered with cutting-edge textile recycling companies to develop new technologies for recycling mixed fibers. On home furnishing wastes, a company such as Valdelia is engaged in the collection and recycling of professional furniture, including textiles. They work with all stakeholders in this area to ensure that proper dismantling and recycling of elements take place. In automotive textile waste, a company like SFERA (Société Française d'Enlèvement et de Recyclage Automobile) manages the recycling of end-of-life vehicles, along with interior textiles. Another example of innovation in how to handle many streams of textiles waste is the Renaissance Textile project in Normandy. This is a plant on an industrial scale that has the yearly capacity to process 3,000 tons of textiles into new fibers for the fashion industry. Several companies and local authorities are uniting for this purpose. For instance, the social enterprise Le Relais collects used textiles, cleans them up, and sells secondhand clothing while recycling products that cannot be resold. Regarding industrial textile wastes, more advanced sorting technologies using optical recognition and artificial intelligence have been developed, for instance, by Pellenc ST to improve the sorting of textile wastes. The French government has been quite aggressive in reducing textile waste. One such measure is an anti-waste law, which was passed in 2020 and forbids the destruction of unsold non-food items, from car tires to textiles. This legislation drives brands to explore other alternatives than unsold stock, thereby increasing recycling and donation efforts.

France has moved on to the top in textile recycling in Europe, with new policy and initiative structures in place to help combat such a rising challenge are textile waste. France has taken the lead in the area of Extended Producer Responsibility, which requires producers, importers, and distributors of textile products to be responsible for the product's lifecycle. Since 2007, the EPR system in France prohibits any destruction of unsold textiles and requires them to be given away for use or recycling. The legislative framework has increased the current textile collection rate of a mere 18% back in 2010 to approximately 39% today, with ambitious targets set for the future, one of which involves collecting 50% of all textiles placed on the market by 2025 and seeing to it that 95% of the collected textiles are reused or recycled. 2022 was marked by the entry into force of the Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Law, which further bounded France to sustainable textiles. This law enforces unsold goods to be reparable, compostable, or recyclable and eventually prepares producers through collaboration with recycling associations. It will also try to avoid overproduction within the textile sector one of the most waste-producing industries. For instance, Circle Sportswear and VEJA take the front line in the efforts toward increased content in recycled materials and sustainable practices while incorporating new regulatory environments into their respective business models. The development of new technologies for recycling has been another area of France's progress. On the other hand, Weturn and Carbios are pioneering advanced fibre-to-fibre recycling techniques, which allow old garments to be transformed into new ones. This has been further testified to by the recent inauguration of France's first fully automated line for sorting and recycling of textile waste in Nouvelles Fibres Textiles as it would sort garments according to their composition and color for further processing into recycled fibers. The other side is managed by the agency Refashion, which plays a core role in collection and recycling and is financed through a fee paid by 95% of French brands and importers. This organization manages not only logistic textile recycling but also provides resources for eco-design to make a shift towards more sustainable materials.
France is at the top of textile recycling in the world, it enacted innovative laws and regulations that take a hard line against waste and in favor of a circular economy. Under the French law fighting waste and for the circular economy, unsold textiles can no longer be destroyed in France but have to be donated or recycled from 2022. The law holds a manufacturer liable for the end-to-end life cycle of products and thus includes online retailers, forcing them to pay for an "eco contribution fee" to recycle their packaging waste. The EPR legislation is aimed at reducing packaging and textile wastes while increasing the recycling rate in the European Union. In respect to textile recycling, France stands on the frontline with many firms being attracted to investing in new ways of developing recycling technologies in a bid to keep up with the fast-growing demand for sustainable fashion. For example, Emmaüs, a French Company, has developed a program for recycling textiles through the collection of second-hand garments, sorting, and resale or recycling into new products. Another company, Wolkat, has developed a platform that allows customers to recycle old clothes in exchange for a discount on their next purchase. It means that efforts by the French government in encouraging textile recycling have increased drastically, with over 50% of the used clothes collected for re-use or recycling. This is far ahead of the European average of less than half of the used clothes collected for re-use or recycling. Environmental damage resulting from fast fashion is one of France's big concerns, with textile production amounting to about 270 kg of CO2 per person. In counteracting this problem, the French government encourages clothing rental and circular fashion, tries to reduce waste, and directs customers towards clothes of a higher quality that could last longer.



Considered in this report
• Historic year: 2018
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in this report
• Textile Recycling market Outlook with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Material
• Cotton
• Polyester & Polyester Fiber
• Nylon & Nylon Fiber
• Wool
• Others

By Source
• Apparel Waste
• Home Furnishing Waste
• Automotive Waste
• Others

By End-Use Industry
• Apparel
• Home Furnishings
• Industrial & Institutional
• Others

By Textile Waste
• Post-consumer
• Pre-consumer

By Process
• Mechanical
• Chemicals

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary and secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephone interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this; we have started making primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting them in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us, we can start verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations, and organizations related to the Textile Recycling industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing and presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.