Fast fashion keeps growing, while Europe’s plans for a circular textile sector struggle to keep up. How can we match rising volumes of cheap clothing with EU goals on recycling and sustainability?

In this 50-minute panel, recyclers, brands, policymakers and NGOs will share their views on:

– Market & trade realities – why low-quality textiles and export dependence undermine circularity.
– Regulation vs business – can EPR for textiles, recycled content targets, and design-for-recyclability really work in practice?
– Innovation & scale – what it will take to make fibre-to-fibre recycling commercially viable in Europe.
– Forward-looking solutions – Digital Product Passports, collaboration across the value chain, and how to keep Europe competitive.

The session will feature quick-fire perspectives, interactive rounds, and audience Q&A — closing with each speaker’s “one-line wish list” for EU textile policy by 2030.

Join us for an honest debate on how to bridge Europe’s circular textile ambitions with the fast fashion reality on the ground.

Jointly organised by Recycling Europe & Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V. (bvse)

Speakers

Julia Schneider Member of the German Bundestag Alliance 90/The Greens

Olaf Dechow Senior Project Manager Materials & Circularity Otto Group

Marika Hanschke Advisor for Circular Economy, The National German Retail Association for Textiles, Footwear and Leather Goods (BTE)

Mariska Boer Corporate Communications Executive, Boer Group President of Recycling Europe Textiles Branch

Toby Moss Chief Commercial Officer, Worn Again

Ekaterina Stoyanova Senior Policy Advisor, Recycling Europe

Moderator