By Thea Pieridou
Acting Head of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus
Every year, nearly 60 million tonnes of food waste (132 kg per person) and 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste are generated in the EU. Clothing and footwear alone account for 5.2 million tonnes of waste, which corresponds to 12 kg of waste per person annually. It is estimated that less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new products. At its September plenary session, the European Parliament gave its final green light to new measures aimed at preventing and reducing food and textile waste across the EU.
The updated legislation on food waste reduction will introduce binding targets that member states must achieve by 31 December 2030: a 10% reduction from food processing and manufacturing, and a 30% per capita reduction from retail, restaurants, catering services, and households. These targets will be measured against the average volume of waste recorded between 2021 and 2023. At the Parliament’s request, EU countries will also be required to ensure that major economic operators in this sector (to be defined by each country) facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption.
Producers placing textile products on the EU market will be required to cover the costs of collection, sorting, and recycling through new extended producer responsibility schemes to be established by each member state within 30 months of the directive’s entry into force. These provisions will apply to all producers, including those using e-commerce platforms, regardless of whether they are based inside or outside the EU. Very small businesses will be granted an additional year to comply with the extended producer responsibility requirements.
The legislation was signed by the two co-legislators (the European Parliament and the Council) on 10 September 2025, and on 26 September it was published in the Official Journal of the EU. Member states now have 20 months from its entry into force to transpose the rules into their national legal frameworks.
