As the new year begins, textiles recycling and the global trade in used textiles remain firmly at the top of BIR’s policy agenda. With regulatory activity accelerating worldwide and multilateral discussions intensifying, BIR is entering the year with strong momentum and a clear objective: to ensure that the realities of international reuse and recycling markets are fully reflected in emerging textiles policies.
In the closing months of last year, BIR significantly stepped up its engagement in global and multilateral textile policy discussions — laying important groundwork for the year ahead. BIR Trade & Environment Policy Officer Bianca Mannini actively contributed to two major international consultations in October and November, submitting detailed, evidence-based input to:
- the UNEP Global Guideline for Used Textiles online consultation; and
- the Basel Convention Secretariat consultation on used textiles and textile wastes.
These submissions addressed key concerns around trade impacts, regulatory clarity and the risk of unintended consequences for reuse and recycling markets if policies are designed without sufficient understanding of global textile flows.
In December, BIR further strengthened its engagement through direct dialogue with UNEP and a broad range of stakeholders on textile circularity and used textile trade. This included targeted meetings with government representatives from several countries, providing an opportunity to exchange views on the practical realities, economic value and environmental benefits of global used clothing markets.
