# Opportunities and Limitations in Recycling Fossil Polymers from Textiles
### Policy Initiatives  
The increased consumption of clothes of the last decades is nowadays correlated with evidence that clothing has the fourth-highest impact on the environment [3]. Thus, policy initiatives have been considered, but only in the last few years (Figure 5). The current Waste Framework Directive [63] requires that Member States set up schemes for the separate collection of textiles, at the latest by 2025. Moreover, the directive sets mandatory targetsfor general municipal waste reuse and recycling of 55% by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. Other directives not specifically dedicated to textiles but present in the 2015 circular economy package could also mitigate some of the environmental impacts of textiles and clothes. In particular, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive [64] introduced targets for the recycling of 60% of all packaging by 2025 and 70% by 2030. Moreover, the Landfill Directive requires Member States to reduce the share of municipal waste landfilled to 10% by 2035. EU legislation and initiatives focusing directly on textiles and clothes are directed towards helping consumers make more sustainable choices. For instance, the 2011 Textiles Regulation lays down rules on textile fibre names and for the labelling and marking of all textile products, including an obligation to state the full fibre composition of textile products at all stages of industrial processing and commercial distribution. EU standards relating to textiles and clothing, developed through technical body CEN/TC 248 of the European Committee for Standardisation, are generally aimed at increasing the durability of fabrics and apparel. Some of the standards, in fact, deal with minimum performance requirements for certain types of textile products and the interactions of textile products with the environment. For instance, the EU Ecolabel for clothing and textiles, a voluntary certification program, establishes ecological criteria limiting the use of substances harmful to health and the environment, reducing water and air pollution, and criteria for extending the lifetime of clothes [65]. A voluntary instrument that Member States and public authorities can implement to the extent they wish is the EU's green public procurement (GPP) criteria for textiles, which facilitates the inclusion of green requirements in public tender documents [66]. The 2020 new circular economy action plan identified textiles as a key product value chain where urgent EU action was necessary and announced initiatives aimed at making production and consumption of textiles more sustainable. This vision was presented in the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, adopted by the Commission on 30 March 2022. According to the strategy, by 2030, textiles on the EU market should be durable and recyclable, made up largely of recycled fibres free of hazardous substances and produced in an environmentally friendly way while respecting social rights. Textiles should be collected  
Figure 5: Scheme about integrated policy actions in Europe regarding textile recycling. at the end of their lifetime and their incineration and landfill reduced to a minimum thanks to innovative fibre-to-fibre recycling. The proposed new Ecodesign Regulation would define minimum requirements for all products on the internal market regarding circularity (durability, reliability, reusability, reparability, upgradeability, recyclability, and possibility to remanufacture, recycle and recover materials). It would also include resource use and resource efficiency, the use of secondary materials, the presence of hazardous chemicals, environmental impacts, and expected generation of waste materials. Rules for specific products would be decided later, in delegated acts. The regulation would introduce a mandatory digital passport, which would, in the case of textiles, provide businesses operators and consumers with information, for instance, on harmful chemicals, repair, and fibre composition.