Overview
- Collectors report widespread container withdrawals across multiple regions, with no end to the nationwide pullback in sight.
- Malteser removed about 150 of 600 containers in the southwest over two years, DRK units have exited in some districts, and Aktion Hoffnung has taken down roughly 50 with 1,300 still in place as it weighs a full retreat.
- Market revenues have slumped to roughly 10–30 euros per tonne from past levels in the hundreds, leaving collections below cost and contributing to insolvencies among commercial operators.
- Heavily soiled, torn or non-textile waste is increasingly found in bins, driving up sorting burdens and disposal bills that partners pass on to groups such as the DRK.
- Municipal associations warn they may need to expand public collection networks at higher expense, while FairWertung asks residents to place unusable textiles in residual waste and donate only wearable items to remaining channels.