Threads untangled: Regional mapping of post-consumer textile management

In the coming decade, the EU intends to intervene in the textile value chain to steer it towards sustainability and circularity. As part of this effort, post-consumer textile (PCT) management should align with the waste hierarchy. This study employs material flow analysis (MFA) to examine and compare PCT management in two European regions: Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands. Additionally, future scenarios provide insights into transformations of PCT management toward 2030. The results show that Flanders outperformed the Netherlands in 2018, with a higher share of PCTs being collected separately, going to product recovery, local reuse, and material recovery. However, in both regions, there is still much potential to increase the recovery of products or materials. In 2018, local reuse was at only 4 % in Flanders and 2 % in the Netherlands. Most materials were still lost through incineration, with 52 % in Flanders and 62 % in the Netherlands. Even so, the future scenarios indicate that the Netherlands’ greater policy ambitions, with specific targets aimed at higher circular strategies, such as local reuse and closed-loop recycling, can result in more circular PCT management toward 2030. Hence, when designing interventions, policymakers should go beyond targets on separate collection to successfully steer the waste management of PCT toward circularity. This study shows how MFA-based monitoring provides a good overview of a specific system, allowing for a high level of transparency. Therefore, monitoring PCT management is key to developing informed policies and effective targets. • Reshaping the textile value chain towards circularity requires more insight into the handling of discarded textiles. • This study finds that the current handling of post-consumer textiles in Flanders and the Netherlands is far from circular. • Mapping material flows gives transparent, system-wide insights across space and time. • Effective monitoring of waste management is a crucial prerequisite for a successful transition to a circular economy. • Further research on waste prevention, reuse and recycling is required to ensure effective interventions.