WRAP has launched a UK-wide textile collection programme with founding commercial backing from Next, Primark and Tesco, targeting a sector blueprint by spring 2027. The initiative responds to an economic crisis in domestic sorting: a £426 net loss per tonne on non-reusable fabric, and a resale market that has dropped roughly 80% over recent years.

The environmental action NGO published its first deliverable this month: the foundational report Transformative Practice in Textiles Collection. It maps current take-back, donation and recycling practices, flags intervention points and frames options for diverting recoverable fibre from landfill before disposal.

How big is the UK waste problem?

The country generates an estimated 1.45 million tonnes of post-consumer textiles every year — roughly 21kg per person. Nearly half of those items, 49%, end up in general residual waste streams or are placed in the wrong recycling bins.

Why are sorters losing money?

The 80% drop in resale price has pushed the economics of post-consumer textile collection below break-even. WRAP's baseline report puts the operating gap at £426 per tonne for non-reusable fabric. Without structural reform, the body projects that the resulting cost could transfer a £400m financial burden onto local councils by 2035.

What is the programme actually proposing?

WRAP's workstream rests on three pillars:

• Citizen engagement: making textile donation and disposal easier, more visible and behaviourally rewarding.
• Fair system design: building a transparent, financially sustainable model that works for collectors, sorters, brands and recyclers.
• Fibre-to-fibre recycling: raising feedstock quality and lowering processing costs so commercial-scale recyclers can secure supply.

The programme will also test alternative capture routes, including doorstep collections and retail reverse-logistics models that return post-consumer garments through store networks.

Who is funding the work?

Next, Primark and Tesco have committed initial programme funding. WRAP chief executive Catherine David framed the move as a transition from stated ambition to operational change.

"Transforming textile collections is an industry-wide challenge that no organisation can solve alone," David said. "By investing in this programme, Next, Primark and Tesco are showing the leadership needed to move from ambition to action and help build a system that works for the whole sector."

Primark's circularity lead Nicholas Lambert tied the work to feedstock access for circular fashion.

"Primark is proud to be working with WRAP to help develop an industry-wide approach to the important issue of used textile collection," Lambert said. "We recognise that effective collection systems are a critical foundation for a more circular fashion industry."

What happens next?

Following the baseline report, WRAP is moving into a co-design phase with brands, policymakers and waste-management operators. The final 2027 Blueprint is expected to set out how retailers, local authorities and recyclers share the cost and value of post-consumer textile streams.

For sourcing and compliance teams, the timeline sets a hard reference point. Any retailer aligning its UK take-back commitments, recycled-content claims or partnerships with municipal collectors will need to track the co-design outputs closely — particularly the financial model that determines who absorbs the £400m projected gap when the Blueprint lands.