Social economy can reduce waste

Caritas Europa, with more than 80 international networks and NGOs, signed an open letter to call for the Waste Framework Directive to ensure a central role for the social economy.

The revision of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive (WFD) and the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Schemes for textiles should preserve and enhance the social economy’s vital role in driving forward a more inclusive and sustainable textile value chain and society at large.

Social economy enterprises are important social economy actors and circular economy pioneers. They prioritise local reuse, and showcase a unique business model that promotes community wellbeing, active citizenship and a sufficiency approach at the same time.

To give social economy actors a chance to live up to their potential in making the green transition a just one in the area of textiles, we jointly call upon EU policymakers to:

• Uphold all positive provisions on the social enterprises’ role in the collection and management of used and waste textiles that the European Commission included in its proposal for a WFD revision;
• Grant decision-making power for social enterprises, alongside municipalities, in the Extended Producer Responsibility schemes’ governance;
• Require that Extended Producer Responsibility fees cover all costs associated with re-use and preparing for re-use activities carried out by social enterprises, including the management of residual waste;
• Ensure that social enterprises maintain ownership over the used and waste textiles they collect.

Strengthening the role of social economy in textile reuse and waste management is an environmental imperative as well as a catalyst for inclusive economic and social development. We call on all those in positions of power across the EU to make this a reality through the ongoing legislative processes and beyond.