International Day of Zero Waste 2025 – textiles

In 2022, the UN officially declared March 30th as International Zero Waste Day.
Each year, governments, UN bodies, civil society, businesses, schools, young people, and other groups take part in activities that raise awareness about zero waste efforts at every level, from local to national. The day highlights how these initiatives help move us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Textiles & fashion

This year UN Environmental Programme picked textile & fashion as the main theme of the International Day of Zero Waste.

Why is important to talk about textile waste?

The fashion industry’s rapid expansion has doubled global fibre production since 2000, with synthetic fibres now dominating and fuelling a growing textile waste crisis. In the EU, citizens discard an average of 16 kg of textiles per year, yet only 12% is separately collected. Due to limited sorting and recycling infrastructure, most is landfilled or incinerated. The industry also accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, alongside vast land use, water consumption, and chemical pollution. Discarded clothing is often exported, burned, or dumped, frequently harming communities in the Global South and shifting the burden of waste elsewhere.

Within the EU, Member States must begin separate collection of textiles by January 2025. However, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes will not be mandatory until 2027–28. This policy gap risks creating uncertainty for municipalities and slowing momentum toward truly circular textile systems.

Take action

A series of initiatives has been organised around the globe: seminars and webinars discussing global waste issues, repair workshops and cafés, clothing swaps, sustainable fashion showcases and exhibitions, clean-ups, and more. Visit the map to see all the initiatives!

Across Europe, our members and alliances organised impactful initiatives promoting textile sustainability, from policy advocacy in France and awareness campaigns in Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands to events and conferences in Italy and Croatia. These actions aim at tackling fast fashion, champion reuse, and advance extended producer responsibility schemes.

#ThisIsZeroWaste | #ZeroWasteDay | #BeatWastePollution