The Pink Policy Briefing
Reading policy, in the pink, every Sunday.
Photo by Rinck Content Studio on Unsplash
Fashion Roundtable’s weekly read on the policy shaping UK fashion and textiles for the week ending 4th October 2026.
In July, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) seconded in Gerrard Fisher as Textile Industry Advisor.
Fisher is the co-founder of WEFT, the consultancy which spent two years building the evidence base for a UK textiles Extended Producer Responsibility scheme. The project analysed over 500,000 types of garments, concluding that a tEPR system in the UK is indeed viable, and would incentivise circularity.
However, caution is required. Packaging EPR was first set out in the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy. While it is set to become fully operational next year (nine years later), on that trajectory textiles EPR in the UK would arrive in 2035.
Fashion Roundtable raised concerns by way of written evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee, stating:
In the current eco-modulation framework under the EU EPR for textiles, which is currently being researched for a similar UK scheme, performance indicators such as recyclability, durability, and reparability are weighted more heavily than biodegradability or natural fibre content. As a result, synthetic fibres such as polyester often score higher than natural fibres like wool.
It is vital that biodegradability is factored into this metric system, as the current framework rewards polyester over wool for its recyclability, unintentionally incentivising greater use of synthetic fibres. Here, the UK Government must undertake a comprehensive review of this environmental metric system, to ensure it delivers fair, and evidence-based outcomes for both synthetic and natural fibres.
The EU is racing ahead
The EU’s revised Waste Framework Directive entered force in October 2025. Member states must transpose it by June 2027 and have fully operational textiles EPR schemes running by April 2028. France and the Netherlands are already there. In 2024, California became the first US state to formally adopt textiles EPR. Its first hard compliance deadline passed this July, when producers were required to register with a state-approved responsibility organisation.