Ireland's Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has opened a stakeholder consultation on a draft delivery plan for its textiles extended producer responsibility scheme.

The consultation is a required step in transposing the 2025 revision of the Waste Framework Directive, which entered into force last October and requires all EU member states to establish mandatory textile EPR schemes. Ireland must transpose the directive into national law by June 2027 and have a functioning scheme in place by April 2028, with micro-enterprises given until April 2029.

Ireland has one of the highest textile consumption rates in the EU at 53kg per person per year, according to the government's Circular Economy Strategy 2026-2028. Approximately 35kg of used textiles is disposed of per person annually - above the EU average - and the country generates more than 110,000 tonnes of textile waste a year. An estimated 39 per cent of Irish shoppers buy clothing weekly or monthly.

Scheme design

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) supported the Irish government during the initial design phase, producing a recommendations report and proposed implementation roadmap. The scheme design aligns with Ireland's existing EPR systems for packaging, WEEE, batteries and tyres to reduce administrative burden, and prioritises prevention and reuse over recycling. A third principle - protecting the country's established used textiles infrastructure - shapes proposals for how collection and sorting will work.

Ireland's 432 charity shops diverted 11,300 tonnes of textiles from landfill and incineration in 2023 alone. Under the suggested scheme, social economy enterprises engaged in second-hand textile collection will be exempt from EPR obligations and allowed to operate their own collection systems, with their textile waste managed at no cost by the producer responsibility organisation.

Producers placing textiles on the Irish market will be required to register with and pay fees to a PRO. Fees will be calculated through eco-modulation, linking what each producer pays to the environmental performance of their products - a mechanism intended to reward more durable and recyclable designs.

Jacqueline Healy, assistant principal officer at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, said WRAP's "expertise, professionalism, and collaborative approach was invaluable in helping us deepen our understanding of the challenges and opportunities."

Policy context

The consultation follows the publication in April 2026 of Ireland's National Policy Statement and Roadmap on Circular Textiles 2026-2028, which sets a national direction for reducing textile waste. Community Resources Network Ireland, the representative body for community-based reuse and recycling organisations, is identified in the roadmap as a stakeholder in the delivery plan's development and in supporting social enterprises to participate in the EPR scheme.

CRNI executive director Aidan Ó Gormáin said the roadmap's "recognition of the vital role of social enterprises in delivering this transition is particularly welcome. Across Ireland, CRNI members already provide practical circular solutions through textile reuse, repair, retail, skills development and community engagement."

Ireland's Circular Economy Strategy 2026-2028, published in February, confirmed the April 2028 deadline alongside a ban on the destruction of unsold apparel and footwear under the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. France remains the only EU member state with an operational textile EPR scheme, run by Re_fashion since 2007, though several others including the Netherlands and Sweden are at various stages of development.

Aimee Campanella, development director for textiles EPR at Reconomy, said the proposed April 2028 go-live date "gives textile producers time to prepare, but businesses should be using this period to understand what the new scheme will mean for their operations and how they can put the right systems in place."

The consultation is now open until 9 September 2026.