Kenneth Glad
A proposed policy change could shift more responsibility for waste management onto the companies that place products on the market. Supporters say the approach is designed to encourage better collection, reuse and recycling over time.
Norway is considering rules that would make companies help cover the cost of collecting and handling textile waste.
The proposal would apply not only to clothing, but also to shoes and household textiles such as curtains.
Who pays
According to NRK, producers, importers and sellers would pay into a producer-responsibility system for the textiles they place on the market.
That matters because it shifts part of the waste burden away from municipalities and consumers, and back toward the businesses supplying the products.
NRK says that the Norwegian Environment Agency wants the rules to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The plan follows new textile-sorting requirements based on an EU directive.
Norwegians threw nearly 45,000 tonnes of textiles into household residual waste last year, according to NRK.
Furthermore, Norwegians bought more than 13,000 tonnes of textiles from foreign online shops including Shein, Temu and Zalando last year, a 263 percent increase from the year before.
Those two figures point to the same pressure point: more textiles are entering homes, while too much of what leaves them still ends up in ordinary trash.
Synnøve Rubach, a researcher at Norsus, a Norwegian sustainability research institute, told the broadcaster that many discarded items could still be reused or recycled.
A different habit
Kristin Vaag is a Norwegian woman who sews many of her own clothes from reused materials, and she said learning about textile waste changed how she shops.
“I was immediately hooked,” Vaag told NRK, recalling the sewing machine she received as a birthday gift nine years ago.
She said the low price of new clothing began to trouble her once she thought about the work behind each piece of clothing:
“Every garment is made by someone.”
Her concern is not only what people buy, but how quickly clothing has become something to replace rather than maintain.
“I really want to help influence people to become a little more quality-conscious,” Vaag said.
She hopes more consumers will look for quality, repair what they own and consider secondhand options before buying new.
Ylva Eline Erbach, head of Tekstilpro, a Norwegian textile industry initiative, told NRK that businesses are willing to contribute financially, but said Norway needs a coordinated national collection system that can support reuse and recycling.
Such a system would need clear sorting, reliable collection and better options for textiles that are damaged but still usable as raw material.
For the Nordic country, the proposal is a waste policy. For the clothing industry, it is a warning that cheap turnover may soon carry a higher cost.
Sources: NRK; EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2025/1892
