I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 52 together.
At present, Ireland relies, in part, on the export market to meet the processing needs for the volumes of used textiles produced. There are two official sources of data in relation to textiles recycling. The National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO) maintains, and can provide directly, records of annual returns from textile waste operators. The National Transfrontier Shipment Office (NTFSO) also maintains records of exports of used textiles declared as waste. This information is available directly from the NTFSO. This does not include data relating to the export of textiles intended for reuse and not declared as textile waste.
In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency published a report on the Nature and Extent of Post-Consumer Textiles in Ireland which was the first detailed study of textiles and provides important estimates on textiles in Ireland. The report is available at www.epa.ie/publications/circular-economy/resources/nature-and-extent-of-post-consumer-textiles-in-ireland---study-report.php. This report made a series of recommendations, one of which pointed to ‘a pressing need to obtain better data on flows and fate of post-consumer textiles’. Supporting improved data on used textiles is a key priority of my Department and it is planned to commission a research study this year to address the data gaps identified.
To support the delivery of the textiles commitments in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, my department established a Textile Advisory Group in 2022 as a sub-group of the broader Waste Advisory Group, bringing together relevant expertise from industry, community and regulatory bodies. Under an external chair, the Group has been asked to identify key opportunities for Government to promote, facilitate and enable circularity in the textiles’ ecosystem and examine the way in which textiles are designed, produced, used and discarded, moving away from a linear economy to a just, sustainable and circular textile industry. Full information on the work of the Textile Advisory Group can be found at www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/528f7-circular-economy/#textiles.
In terms of developments at EU level, the European Commission launched the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles as part of the Sustainable Products Initiative in 2022. The Textiles Strategy sets a 2030 Vision, whereby textile products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable, to a great extent made of recycled fibres, free of hazardous substances and produced respecting social rights and the environment. Ireland is fully supportive of the proposed measures in this Strategy which are fully consistent with the textile commitments contained in the Government's Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy.
Regarding the separate collection of textile requirement in the EU Waste Framework Directive, and within the framework of the Textile Advisory Group, the Local Authority Sector is leading a sub-working group on Post-Use Textiles. Those deliberations are on-going, but I expect to receive recommendations from the Textile Advisory Group process before the end of the year.
Question No. 52 answered with Question No. 51.
