We will no longer be able to throw used clothes, shoes, bedding, blankets, curtains or carpets into the mixed waste bin. From 1 January 2025, we will be separating waste into fractions with one additional fraction - textiles and clothing. Does this mean another bin under our house? Not necessarily.

According to statistics, the average person in the European Union buys around 26 kg of clothing in a year. And how much do we throw away? An average of 11 kg. Interestingly, however, globally only about 1 per cent of discarded clothing is recycled. This is set to change - at least a little - from 2025 onwards.

The European Union on 30 May 2018 adopted Directive 2018/851, which obliges member states to "establish separate collection of textile waste". Read: we will also separate textiles and clothing. What does this mean for us in practice?

Municipalities propose: collections, new containers, ubraniomats

It is up to the authorities of each municipality to decide on the form of collection in their area. The basic place for the collection of textiles is to be the Selective Collection of Municipal Waste, the so-called PSZOK. Some cities - e.g. Lublin - decide that this will be the only place where used clothes, shoes and textiles can be handed over. But will a trip with a few pieces of clothing to a PSZOK - for many people much further from their homes - be an option we will willingly choose? 2025 will be a test for us all. Most cities, especially the big ones, give residents a choice and indicate several forms of separate clothing collection. Examples of ideas to address this obligation are:

• regular collections, similar to those for bulky waste, which take place several times a year,
• the provision of new textile containers (e.g. in Wałbrzych),
• collection in existing PCK containers in the city (e.g. in Gdynia),
• the provision of ubraniomats, i.e. containers that can be accessed via special applications (e.g. in Sopot).

Segregation of textiles from 2025. No additional bins or bags

The introduction of an additional container or bag is unlikely to be an option, as the cost of collecting this waste fraction would be disproportionately high. Although it is not impossible to collect textiles from residents' homes. An example of this is the city of Częstochowa. This is where a free service for collecting textiles from residents has been available since 1 October this year. All you have to do is pack such items in a special bag, report it and wait for it to be collected from you.  

It is also worth remembering that we do not have to throw away unwanted clothes. If the items are in good condition, we can at least ask around among family or friends if anyone would like to use them. Another option is to list them on sales portals. Increasingly, we can also find second-hand shops, fairs or various garage sales, where we can put our unwanted fabrics, clothes and shoes on display.

Looking at the statistics, the topic of recycling clothing and other textiles is an important issue to address. When changing the regulations, it is worth considering how much we buy ourselves. Are the things we have in our wardrobes actually used by us? Let's also ask ourselves, when shopping, is what we want to buy really necessary for me? It's also worth checking what materials our future purchases are made of, but that's another topic we'll try to cover soon.