U.S. Representative Introduces Textile Waste Reduction Act to Combat Growing Landfill Crisis
Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, founder of the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus, has introduced the Textile Waste Reduction Act (TWRA). This legislation aims to establish a coordinated federal framework to address the significant issue of textile waste in the U.S. Approximately 11.3 million tons of textile waste are sent to U.S. landfills annually, with about 85% of all manufactured textiles ending up in landfills or incinerated. The average American discards between 70 and 82 pounds of clothing and textiles each year. Currently, only about 14.7% of post-consumer textiles are recycled or donated for reuse. The TWRA seeks to improve data collection and develop a national strategy to advance circularity within the textile industry, building upon a GAO report that identified textile waste as one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the U.S., largely driven by fast fashion.
