Spain's largest fashion companies will start collecting discarded clothes from April next year as part of a voluntary pilot scheme to manage textile waste that anticipates EU regulations expected to come into force in 2026. Zara owner Inditex, H&M, Decathlon, Ikea and Primark are among 10 brands that will participate in a trial that will separate textiles and shoes from other waste collection so they can be reused or recycled, according to organisers of the project, dubbed Re-viste.

Spain is awaiting final approval of new EU regulations that will require member states to separate textiles from other waste before it issues rules to fashion companies. The EU regulations won't come into force before 2026 as authorities will give companies at least a year to adapt. In Spain, just 12% of used clothes are collected separately and 88% end up in landfill. During the year-long trial, Re-viste plans to set up dozens of containers in churches, stores, shopping centres and streets to collect the waste in bags and take it to plants for sorting. Once the legislation comes into force, fashion companies estimate that Spain will need one textile waste container for every 1,200 residents.