COMMISÂO DA CEDEAO  
ECOWAS COMMISSION   COMMISSION DE LA CEDEAO  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REGULATION C/REG.XX/YY/ZZ ON TREATMENT OF 
TEXTILE WASTE  
  
2 / 12  
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS,  
 
HAVING REGARD to Articles 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the ECOWAS Treaty as amended, establishing the 
Council of Ministers and defining its composition and functions ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to Article 26 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty signed in Cotonou on 24 July 1993 
which  stipulates that Member States agree to harmonize and coordinate their industrialization 
policies with a view to promoting industrial development and integration of their economies  ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to the provisions of Article 26 (3) of that Treaty, in par ticular point L thereof, 
which commits Member States to adopt common standards and adequate quality control systems 
in order to create a solid basis for industrialization and promote collective self -reliance  ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to the Additional Act AlSA.2/07 /10 on the adoption of the Common Industrial 
Policy for West Africa (PICAO) and its action plan ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to Regulation C/REG.14/12/12 of 2 December 2012 adopting procedures for 
the harmonisation of ECOWAS regulations  ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to Regulation C/REG.19/12/13 on the adoption of the ECOWAS regional quality 
infrastructure framework ; 
 
HAVING REGARD to Regulation C/REG.9/06/17 on the organisation and functioning of the 
Community Committee on Technical Regulations  ; 
 
WHERE AS, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation C/REG. 14/12/12 of 02 December 
2012 approving the procedures for harmonization of ECOWAS regulations, it is necessary to 
establish regulations for the treatment of waste from garment textiles, home linen and shoes 
products  ; 
 
NOTING that after the meeting of the Technical Committee for the Harmonization of Agricultural 
Products held from 2 to 7 March 2015, textile products were selected for standardization in order 
to facilitate trade not only within ECOWAS but also at international level  ; 
 
NOTING that according to the principle of extended producer responsibility set out in Article L. 
541 -10 of the Environment Code and set out in Articles L. 541 -10-3 and R. 543 -214 to 224 of that 
Code with regard to textile garments, home linen and shoes products (hereinafter referred to as 
"TLC"), those placing these products on the market must provide for or contribute to the 
treatment of the waste arising from them not only within ECOWAS but also at the internation al 
level  ; 
 
EMPHASISING that for the treatment of textile garments, home linen and shoes products (TLC), 
Article L. 541 -10-3 and Articles R. 543 -217 to R. 543 -224 of the Environmental Code apply within 
ECOWAS. The Environment Code can be consulted on the L égifrance website 
(http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr ) ; 
 
BEARING IN MIND that the rules for organising the management of waste from products that the 
producer, distributor or importer places on the national market;  the relations with all the actors 
in the sector constitute instruments for facilitating the treatment of textile waste not only within 
ECOWAS, but also at international level  ; 
 3 / 12 CONSIDERING that the ISO/IEC Directives Part 2 define the basic procedures to  be followed in the 
development of International Standards and other international publications  ;  
 
CONSIDERING that Directive 2008/98/EC on waste and repealing certain Directives defines the 
various provisions relating to the prevention and management of waste  ;  
 
DESIRING to establish a Common Market by proceeding, inter alia, with the harmonisation of 
Standards and the development of Conformity Assessment Procedures and Measures with a view 
to reducing Technical Barriers to Trade in the Member States  ;  
 
CONSIDERING that the treatment of waste from textile garments, home linen and shoes products 
is a means of protecting the environment and consumers  ; 
 
CONSIDERING that market surveillance with the aim of protecting consumers can only be 
achieved with an a ppropriate Community policy of technical regulation  ;  
 
CONSIDERING that if each country develops its own technical requirements, these may constitute 
regional Technical Barriers to Trade  ; 
 
CONSIDERING that every effort should be made to prevent and elimi nate all national policies that 
may constitute Technical Barriers to Regional Trade  ;  
 
ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the ECOWAS Meeting of Ministers in charge of Quality held in 
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on 21 April 2017  ; 
 
ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the workshop of the Community Committee on Technical 
Regulations (ECOREG), held on 29 March 2021, 14 draft technical regulations on 
products/services from the four regional value chains: mango, cassava and cassava products, 
textiles and garments, and information and co mmunication technology have been selected for 
elaboration  ;  
 
  4 / 12 EDICT ED 
 
CHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISIONS  
 
ARTICLE 1: PURPOSE  
 
This regulation makes it compulsory in ECOWAS Member States to develop and sustain a waste 
management system for textile garments,  home linen and shoes products (hereinafter referred to 
as "TLC"), i.e. their collection, sorting and recovery . 
 
ARTICLE 2: SCOPE  
 
This regulation applies to:  
- the entire textile garments, home linen and shoes (TLC) sector intended for households, and 
textile waste;  
- issuers of textile garments, home linen and shoes wishing to set up an approved individual 
system for the management of waste from their product s in all ECOWAS Member States.  
 
Are excluded from this category, the hygiene products, i.e. sanitary textiles (sanitary cotton, 
disposable handkerchiefs, paper towels, nappies and other periodical protection products, etc.), 
textile packaging and all othe r equivalent products intended for professionals.  
 
ARTICLE 3: DEFINITIONS  
 
For the purposes of this ECOWAS Technical Regulation, the following terms and expressions shall 
have the following meanings:  
 
3.1 Waste  
Any residue resulting from a process of ext raction, exploitation, transformation, production, 
consumption, use, control or filtration, and in general, any object and material abandoned or 
which the holder must dispose of in order not to endanger public health and safety or the 
environment . 
 
3.2 Industrial waste  
Any waste resulting from an industrial, agro -industrial, craft or similar activity.  
 
3.3 Hazardous waste  
any form of waste which, by its hazardous, toxic, reactive, explosive, flammable, biological or 
bacterial nature, constitutes a danger to the ecological balance as laid down by international 
standards in this field or contained in supplementary annexes.  
 
3.4 Waste management  
Any pre -collection, collection, storage, sorting, transport, landfilling, treatment, recovery, 
recycling an d disposal of waste, including the control of these operations and the monitoring of 
landfill sites during their operation or after their closure.  
 
3.5 Waste collection  
Any waste collection action by the municipality, a group of municipalities or any othe r body 
authorised for this purpose.  
 
3.6 Controlled landfill  5 / 12 A facility or site, meeting the characteristics and technical requirements of the regulations, where 
waste is deposited on a permanent basis;  
 
3.7 Storage of waste  
temporary deposit of waste in  a facility authorised for this purpose;  
 
3.8 Waste treatment  
any physical, thermal, chemical or biological operation leading to a change in the nature or 
composition of the waste with a view to reducing, under controlled conditions, the polluting 
potenti al or the volume and quantity of the waste, or to extracting the recyclable part of it.  
 
3.9 Waste disposal  
Any incineration, treatment, controlled landfill or similar process whereby waste is stored or 
disposed of under conditions ensuring the prevention  of risks to human health and the 
environment.  
 
3.10 Waste recovery  
Any operation of recycling, reuse, recovery, use of waste as a source of energy or any other action 
aimed at obtaining raw materials or reusable products from the recovery of waste, in ord er to 
reduce or eliminate the negative impact of such waste on the environment.  
 
3.11 Textile waste  
Textile waste is waste from textile garment, home linen, small leather goods and shoes (TLC) 
products. Textiles, Linen and Shoes" includes  
- clean garments, even if damaged  
- Shoes in good condition, bound in pairs  
- Home linen (blankets, duvets, etc.), even if damaged  
 
3.12 Reuse  
Any operation by which products or components that are not waste are used again for the same 
purpose for which they were  designed.  
 
In general, it is possible to re -use or recycle textiles . 
 
3.13 Reuse  
Any operation by which substances, materials, or products that have become waste are used 
again.  
 
3.14 Recycling :  
A recovery operation whereby waste is reprocessed into pro ducts, materials or substances for 
their original function or for other purposes. This includes the reprocessing of organic material, 
but does not include energy recovery, conversion for use as fuel or for landfill operations.  
 
3.15 Material recovery  
Refers to different waste treatment techniques that allow components to be given a new function 
and materials from end -of-life products or manufacturing residues to be reintroduced into the 
production cycle . 
 
3.16 Energy recovery (or incineration with ener gy recovery)  
using waste as a fuel to create a source of energy (heat, electricity, etc.)  
 
 6 / 12 CHAPTER II - TEXTILE WASTE  
 
ARTICLE 4: ORIGIN OF TEXTILE WASTE  
 
Textile waste includes :  
- new fabric scraps from the textile industry (spinning mills, weaving mills, garment cutting plants, 
garment factories, etc. or other activities using textiles such as the automotive industry, furniture)  
- used rags and textiles from companies or households.  
 
 
ARTICLE 5: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK APPLICABLE TO TEXTILE WASTE  
 
5.1 Textile waste (Table 1) is mainly non -hazardous waste, the recycling and treatment of which 
must be taken into account in a voluntarist normative context.  
 
Table 1: List of textile waste in the recycling and treatment chain  
 
Waste   
Nomenclature code
  Applicable regulation  
Textile packaging  15 01 09 ( non -
hazardous waste ) Subject to the special 
provisions for packaging 
waste  
absorbents, filter materials, wiping cloths and protective 
garments other than those mentioned in 15 02 02  15 02 03 ( non -
hazardous waste ) Subject to the general 
regulations on non -
hazardous waste  
absorbents, filter materials (including oil filters not otherwise 
specified), wiping cloths and protective garments contaminated 
with dangerous substances  15 02 02* ( non -
hazardous waste ) Subject to general 
regulations on hazardous 
waste  
wastes from finishing containing organic solvents  04 02 14*  (hazardous 
waste ) Subject to general 
regulations on hazardous 
waste  
composite materials (impregnated textile, elastomer, plastomer) 
from textile industry wastes  04 02 09 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
Subject to general 
regulations on non -
hazardous waste  wastes from finishing other than those mentioned in 04 02 14  04 02 15 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
unprocessed textile fibres  from textile industry wastes  04 02 21 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
woven textile fibres from textile industry wastes  04 02 22 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
Garments  20 01 10 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
textiles from municipal wastes  20 01 11 ( non -
hazardous waste ) 
 
Articles R 541 - 7 à R 541 -11 du Code de l'environnement.  
 
NB : Tout déchet marqué d'un astérisque (*) sur la liste des déchets est considéré comme un déchet dangereux en vertu de la dire ctive 2008/98/CE, 
sauf si l'article 20 de ladite directive s'applique.  
 
5.2 Any person who professionally markets new textile garments, shoes or home linen intended 
for households is obliged to contribute to or provide for the recycling and treatment of waste from 
these products (Environmental Code).  
 
ARTICLE 6: RE -USE OR RE CYCLING  
 
As a general rule, it is possible to re -use or recycle textiles (Annex 1).  7 / 12  
6.1 Re -use must be :  
- second -hand use when the products are clean and in good condition;  
- cutting up into wiping cloths for industry.  
 
6.1 Recycling shall be carried out  : 
- by shredding and fiberizing for various uses: padding, mechanical sound or heat insulation, 
liquid, dust and carpet absorbing fabrics (This technique concerns all types of fibers.) ;  
- by mechanical or chemical transformation of thermoplastic textiles  (elastane, polyester, 
polyamide, polypropylene, etc.) into granules for applications in plastics processing or for new 
textile products;  
- by incorporating certain fibres (acrylic, aramid, carbon, nylon, polyester, polyethylene and 
polypropylene, etc.) in to construction materials (cement, tiles);  
- by energy recovery due to the very good calorific value of textiles (incineration, thermolysis, 
cement works).  
 
ARTICLE 7: PRINCIPLE OF EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY  
 
7.1 According to the principle of extende d producer responsibility set out in the Environmental 
Code and concerning textile garments, home linen and shoes products (hereinafter referred to as 
"TLC"), those placing these products on the market must provide for or contribute to the 
treatment of the  waste resulting from them.  Under the principle of EPR, producers are required 
to take measures to minimize the environmental impacts of their products, in particular by 
designing products that are durable and easily repairable, by using recyclable materia ls or by 
reducing the amount of waste generated.  
 
7.2 To fulfil their obligations, they must  
- either join and pay financial contributions to an organisation holding an approval issued by the 
ministers in charge of ecology and industry, an organisation th at pays them in the form of support 
to sorting operators and to local authorities or their groupings in charge of waste management;  
- or set up, in compliance with specifications, an individual system for processing TLC waste, 
which must be approved by the  authorities responsible for ecology and industry.  
 
7.3 This system must perpetuate and develop a TLC waste management system, i.e. its collection, 
sorting and recovery, in particular its recovery in terms of reuse but also recycling, in accordance 
with t he hierarchy of waste treatment methods defined by Directive 2008/98/EC of 19 November 
2008 on waste and the environmental code.  
 
7.4 The extended producer responsibility scheme should optimise the management of TLC waste 
from an environmental, economic an d social perspective.  
 
7.5 This draft technical regulation sets out the conditions for issuing and renewing the approval 
of an individual system for the management of TLC waste.  
 
 
7.6 The procedure for approval of an individual system for the management of TLC waste must be 
based on specifications for individual systems for the waste stream from textile garments, home 
textiles and shoes products, in application of the environmental code.  8 / 12  
CHAPTER III: PROVISIONS RELATING TO LITIGATION  
 
ARTICLE 8: INFR ACTIONS  
 
It is considered as an infr action  of the provisions of this regulation for any natural or legal person 
who :  
 
a) does not comply with the management of textile garments, home linen and shoes products 
(TLC) waste, i.e. their collection, sorting and  recovery..;  
b) does not comply with the regulatory framework applicable to textile waste;  
c) provides inaccurate and/or misleading information  
(d) obstructs the competent authorities and authorised officials in the exercise of their powers.  
 
Each Member S tate may define additional infr actions  if necessary.  
 
ARTICLE 9: PENALTIES  
 
Each Member State shall lay down penalties for infr actions  of this Regulation.  
 
ARTICLE 10: PROCEDURE  
 
Infractions  of the provisions of this regulation shall be reported by the authorised officials of each 
State in accordance with its own administrative or criminal procedure.  
 
ARTICLE 11: APPEALS  
 
Each State shall guarantee any natural or legal person whose proceeds are detained or seized 
pursuant to this regulation, the right to  appeal against such decision in accordance with the 
relevant procedure.  
 
 
CHAPTER IV: FINAL PROVISIONS  
 
ARTICLE 12: REVISION  
 
The decision to revise this regulation shall be taken on the basis of proposals from the Member 
States or the Community Committee for Technical Regulation (ECOREG) in consultation with the 
Member States.  
The revision of this regulation shall follow the same procedure as that for its elaboration.  
 
ARTICLE 13: REPEAL  
 
The decision to repeal this regulation shall be taken on the basis of proposals from the Member 
States or the Community Committee for Technical Regulation (ECOREG) in consultation with the 
Member States (or the Community Quality Council (CQC)).  
 
ARTICLE 14: ENTRY INTO FORCE  
 9 / 12 This regulation shall enter into for ce on the date of signature by the ECOWAS Council of 
Ministers.  
 
ARTICLE 15: PUBLICATION  
 
This regulation shall be published by the President of the ECOWAS Commission in the Official 
Journal of the Community within thirty (30) days from the date of signatu re by the President of 
the Council of Ministers. It shall also be published within the same period by each Member State 
in its Official Journal and notified to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in accordance with the 
provisions of the Agreement on Technic al Barriers to Trade (TBT).  
 
 
DONE AT ..., ON ...  
 
FOR THE COUNCIL,  
 
THE PRESIDENT   10 / 12  APPENDIX 1   
 
RECYCLING IN THE TEXTILE SECTOR  
 
The linear model of "produce, consume, throw away" has reached its limits and our economies 
are increasingly dependent on non -renewable resources.  
The price of materials is increasing, breaking with the trend of the past decades. To meet the 
growing demand, the exploitation of new resources from recycling is necessary.  
 
The circular economy aims to promote less expensive con sumption and production patterns. 
Textile recycling is at the heart of environmental issues and should contribute to saving natural 
resources: one person's waste becomes another's new resource.  
 
 
RECYCLING TECHNIQUES  
 
Textile recycling involves many technologies that can be classified into three categories: chemical 
recycling, mechanical recycling and physical recycling. Used textiles can be used to make new 
textiles (closed -loop recycling), but also non -textile products, such as plastics (open -loop 
recycling).  
 
The challenges are not only technical, but also structural and organisational. This requires the 
implementation of adapted channels, the challenges of which are the massification of deposits, the 
optimisation of sorting and dismantling in order  to facilitate the supply of textile and non -textile 
sectors likely to absorb the textile materials to be recycled.  
 
Finally, the success of textile recycling depends on the development of technologies that integrate 
the economic viability of the sector.  
 
Different forms of recovery of used textiles exist:  
- reuse for a use identical to their first use;  
- closed -loop recycling, which consists of making new textile articles from recycled textiles  
- open -loop recycling, which consists of developing new prod ucts using textile materials 
(insulation, wiping);  
- other forms of material and energy recovery.  
 11 / 12 Many textile recycling solutions exist, as shown in Figure 1 below.
 
Figure 1: Typology of recovery and user sectors of end -of-life textiles  
 
1. Chemical recycling  
 
This recovery method is reserved for textiles containing a significant proportion of chemical or 
synthetic fibres. It consists of regenerating fibres through chemical processes of dissolution 
(recovery of molecules) and repolymerisation. Once re cycled, the fibres can be reused as a 
substitute for virgin fibres.  
 
2. Mechanical recycling  
 
Mechanical recycling, the most widely used technique to date, consists of recovering textile 
materials after mechanical treatment. It includes different methods.  
 
2.1. Cutting: The most common mechanical recycling process consists of cutting and shredding 
the fabric into small pieces that can be used as filling in mattresses or upholstery, as insulation or 
as carpet backing. Cutting is usually done on end -of-life g arments. This involves cutting up the 
textiles, repackaging them and finally marketing the secondary products. Cutting operations are 
carried out either manually using saws or punches, or mechanically using automated cutting 
machines.  
 
2.2. Frayering: Fray ering is an operation that consists of transforming textiles into fibres by 
passing them through a fraying machine which stretches and destructures the material. The 
textile fabrics to be recycled are first cut in rotary cutters to produce shreds which are  then fed 
into the shredder. The shredding process is fully automated. The shredder consists of a succession 
of rotating cylinders, filled with thousands of needles or pins. As the material advances through 
the shredder, the needle density increases in ord er to refine the textile material into fibre. The 
fraying process stresses and breaks the fibres. At the end of the fraying process, the fibres are 
generally reduced in size, their size being considered average and their mechanical properties are 
affected.  These fibres will be incorporated into other longer fibres in the spinning mill for spinning 
and then rewoven or knitted.  
12 / 12  
2.3. Shredding: Another type of mechanical recycling is the shredding of discarded textiles. 
tThis involves reducing used textiles b y shredding them into very short fibres or powders. This 
involves reducing used textiles by shredding them into very short fibres or powders. The textile 
waste is first cut into small pieces and then passed through a rotating drum consisting of several 
blades that will then transform them into fibres of a few millimetres. Sieves or grids are used to 
calibrate the fibre pulp to the desired length.  
 
2.4. Defibration: Defibration is a process that allows the recovery of fibres that are long enough 
to be used i n spinning, with the aim of producing new textile articles in knitting or in warp and 
weft. Defibration essentially uses fraying technologies, but with modifications to the industrial 
equipment that allow the length of the fibre to be preserved, thus produ cing a better quality yarn. 
Depending on the final characteristics sought in the yarn, the spinner can mix fibres from recycling 
with virgin fibres in order to obtain the desired mechanical resistance and effects (mottled effect, 
buttoned effect, etc.). In  the defibration operation, the textile articles are destructured and pass 
from a fabric state to a fibrous material state. The process is fully automated and patented by 
Filatures du Parc. The articles are cut, unravelled, then pre -demarnished and unravel ed so as not 
to damage or break the fibres, the aim being to guarantee a certain quality of second life fibres. At 
this stage, fibres and flock are found that can be used as secondary raw material for the spinning 
stage.  
 
3. Physical recycling  
 
The physica l recycling of textiles will use technologies that make use of the physical properties of 
the materials to be processed.  
A major obstacle to the recycling of garments and other textiles comes from their original fibres, 
most of which are composed of a mixture of fibres. The most common blends used in the textile 
industry are cotton/polyester blends, in various proportions (50/50, 30/70 or 70/30). Blends are 
often binary (two materials), but can also be ternary or even quaternary.  
 
Manufacturers use blen ds of materials either for technical reasons (to increase resistance thanks 
to the polyester fibre) or for economic reasons. Fibre blends can be found in all types of sectors, 
for example the furniture sector (particularly bedding: sheets, duvets, pillows,  mattress 
protectors) and the garment sector.  
 
When textile items reach the end of their life, the difficulty lies in the mixing of materials that do 
not have the same properties, and therefore are not directly reusable as such in other applications. 
However, although it is easy to recycle cotton and polyester individually, it is not easy to separate 
them mechanically, as the fibres are closely linked.  
 
For this reason, industry and researchers are working to develop techniques for separating the 
mater ials.