Le Relais, a major player in textile collection and sorting and a member of Emmaüs France, announced on Tuesday June 9 that it was “forced” to drastically reduce its collections and eliminate 60 integration jobs, citing “a deterioration that has become unsustainable in the economic balance of the sector”.
“This reorganization represents around 15,000 tonnes less collection and will lead to the elimination of around 60 integration jobs,” indicates Le Relais, specifying that collection containers will be removed. “This difficult decision comes after several months of continuous deterioration in the economic conditions for collecting, sorting and recycling textiles. »
The sector of collecting and sorting textiles, with a view to their reuse via sale in solidarity shops or their recycling, faces significant difficulties, linked in particular to the influx of clothing from fast fashion.
“The explosion of fast fashion has led to a massive increase in volumes placed on the market, accompanied by a continuous decline in the average quality of the textiles collected,” underlines the press release. “This development reduces the possibilities of reuse, increases sorting costs and weakens the economic balance of the entire sector,” it is specified.
“Today, certain flows (collections, editor’s note) cost around €250 per tonne to collect while their valuation can go down to around €150 per tonne”, explains Le Relais, stressing that “under these conditions, continuing certain collections would amount to jeopardizing the economic balance of the company”.
New specifications
In addition, the geopolitical context is increasing logistics and energy costs. Le Relais notes that its collections supplied “several approved European sorting centers. (…) However, the costs of collection, transport and marketing are now higher than the revenue generated, making these operations sustainably loss-making.”
New specifications for the sector are being studied and should come into force on January 1, 2027.
In France, nearly 900,000 tonnes of clothing, household linen and shoes were placed on the market in 2024, a figure which poses challenges in terms of waste management.
The Minister for Ecological Transition Mathieu Lefèvre estimated on Thursday that “circular fashion”, which makes it possible to recycle used textiles and shoes, could generate a turnover of “more than 30 billion euros by 2030”, and represent a “competitiveness lever” for France.
