The European Union collectively generates approximately 2.5 billion tonnes of waste annually, posing a challenge to both environmental health and resource sustainability.  

For years, the cornerstone of the EU’s response has been the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which first entered into force on 12 December 2008.  

The Directive establishes the fundamental legal framework for waste management, aiming to protect human health and the environment by minimising the adverse impacts of waste generation and management.  Member States were then given responsibility for implementing the measures of the Directive into domestic legislation.  Many Member States thus far have already established Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks to support these objectives.  

EU waste policy explained 

At the heart of the WFD is the ‘waste hierarchy’, a five-step order of priority for waste policy.  Prevention is the most preferred option, followed by re-use, recycling, and other forms of recovery (such as energy recovery).  Disposal, including landfill, is seen as the last resort, to be used only when no other option is feasible.

The framework also provides clear definitions of what constitutes waste, by-products, and ‘end-of-waste’ criteria, which define when a waste material has been sufficiently processed to be considered a new product.

This philosophy has underpinned the rollout of EPR regulations across the bloc.  The aim is to incentivise producers to design better and more sustainable products, coupled with a contribution fee system. 

The contribution fee system underpins the ‘polluter-pays principle’, which stipulates that the original producer of the waste must bear the costs of its management, making producers financially and often organisationally responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, from design to end-of-life management, including collection, sorting, and treatment.

Directive revised to target critical sectors  

On 16 October 2025, the revised version of the Waste Framework Directive entered into force, marking a new phase of EU environmental policy.  

The revision focused on two of the most problematic waste streams: textiles and food.

In 2020, textile consumption was ranked as having the third-highest impact on water and land use and the fifth-highest for raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions. The EU reported that 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste was generated in 2019, yet only a fifth was ultimately collected for recycling.

To tackle this, the revised Directive introduces mandatory EPR schemes for textiles and footwear in all EU Member States.  In line with well-established EPR practices, producers will be required to pay proportional contribution fees that will finance the separate collection and sustainable management and disposal of these items.   

These fees will also be ‘eco-modulated’, meaning that the contribution fees will be linked to the environmental performance of the products. 

Factors such as durability, repairability, and recyclability, as defined under the separate Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), will determine the fee, thus incentivising producers to design more sustainable products.

Implementation timeline 

Under the revised Directive, EU Member States now have a clear timeline for implementation.  All Member States have been given 20 months to transpose the revised directive into domestic legislation, ensuring that the new rules are harmonised across the entire bloc.

For the textile industry, a 30-month deadline has been set for the establishment of domestic EPR schemes (for Member States that have not already established one).  

For food waste, Member States must designate the competent authorities responsible for prevention measures by 17 January 2026 and must adapt their national food waste prevention programmes to meet the new targets by 17 October 2027.

The European Commission will conduct a comprehensive review by 2027 to monitor progress and consider new targets for 2035.