Overview

• On July 17 Le Relais halted all garment collection and urged donors to stop using its bins amid deep financial shortfalls.
• The Ministry of the Ecological Transition announced €49 million for 2025 and a further €57 million for 2026 to shore up the textile recycling chain.
• Refashion’s emergency package boosts the eco-contribution from €156 to €223 per tonne in 2025 and €228 in 2026, below Le Relais’s €304 demand.
• France’s reuse sector collects around 270 000 tonnes of textiles annually, with 60 percent resold second-hand—mainly in Africa, where demand has collapsed under low-cost Asian competition.
• Rising recycling costs driven by fast fashion’s low-quality waste are straining eco-tax revenues and exposing weaknesses in the country’s circular textile economy.