Translated by
Nazia BIBI KEENOO
Printed
July 10, 2025
France’s textile restoration sector is on the brink, in keeping with a warning issued by Le Relais—one of many nation’s largest assortment and sorting operators—on July 9. As stress mounts, style retailers and the eco-organization Refashion are engaged in two simultaneous negotiations, the main points of which FashionNetwork.com can solely reveal.
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Emmanuel Pilloy, president of Le Relais France, described the textile restoration sector as being at a breaking level. He pointed to Refashion—the eco-organization funded by business stakeholders to supervise end-of-life administration for clothes and footwear—as a key supply of the issue.
“Refashion’s current contribution to sector players—those handling collection, sorting, and textile-linens-shoes (TLC) recovery—stands at just €156 per ton,” Pilloy informed FashionNetwork.com. “That figure is far too low to sustain the industry. It places 3,000 jobs at risk—2,000 of them at Le Relais France, which handles 80% of the country’s textile collection.”
Le Relais, together with different subject operators, is demanding a rise to €304 per ton, claiming that that is the minimal quantity wanted to take care of operations, safeguard jobs, and help long-term sustainability. This might require a further €30 million in emergency assist—on prime of the €6 million granted in January—to help assortment and sorting operations which have misplaced main resale channels to lower-cost Asian sources.
In accordance with FashionNetwork.com sources, this €30 million determine was on the middle of a high-stakes assembly on the Ministry of Ecological Transition on Friday, July 4. Retailers had reportedly been getting ready for a authorities announcement that night. Nevertheless, no assertion adopted—presumably as a result of a letter from style manufacturers despatched to the manager department later that day. The same assembly on June 26 additionally ended with out outcomes.
Negotiating a second emergency assist package deal
“We were called in that same Friday morning and expected a proposal by evening,” mentioned Aurore Médieu, ecological transition and round financial system lead at ESS France (the French Social and Solidarity Financial system group). “But there was so much lobbying during the day—mainly by marketers and Refashion—that by the time we arrived, the ministry had no offer on the table.” She added that some collectors at the moment are unable to pay July salaries.
From the angle of Alliance du Commerce, which represents retail style, footwear chains, and malls, the proposed €30 million is just not viable.
“We already paid an exceptional €6 million in January, on top of the €35 million originally planned,” Yohann Petiot, the group’s managing director, informed FashionNetwork.com. “Adding another €30 million would represent a 25% hike in eco-contributions. That’s nearly double the budget. Once the state accepts these figures, they won’t come back down.”
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In accordance with sources, the French authorities in the end proposed €190 per ton—a compromise that may quantity to €19 million in added assist from manufacturers and retailers.
Nonetheless, the style sector is cautious. Many concern that accepting any improve would lock in larger contribution requirements going ahead. The Alliance du Commerce additionally criticized the dearth of obligations tied to this new funding, significantly relating to transparency and governance amongst assortment operators.
There are additionally considerations over opportunism—some concern that entities with international operations may use the funds to relocate beforehand exported inventory again to France. Others accuse ESS actors of partaking in “employment blackmail.”
An issue that goes past the ESS?
Yann Rivoallan, president of the French Federation of Girls’s Prepared-to-Put on (FFPAPF), expressed frustration with the state of affairs.
“There’s intense lobbying, including claims and calculations for inflated compensation. They’re asking for double the contribution,” Rivoallan informed FashionNetwork.com on July 1. “We’re open to discussion—but not without transparency. Right now, their numbers and methods raise too many questions.”
Petiot echoed this concern: “The state no longer has the budget to subsidize the ESS sector, so the pressure falls entirely on brands. But we can’t hand over retailer money without oversight. We’re demanding verification and accountability in what remains a very opaque space.”
“There’s no employment blackmail. Job cuts are a real threat,” countered Aurore Médieu. “The Ministry of Ecological Transition tells us this isn’t its concern, but we challenge that. How will they explain to consumers that half of the collected clothing could be incinerated by 2028?
“If the government’s target is to collect 425,000 tons, with half set aside for recycling—we simply don’t have the infrastructure to process it all. Without proper support, we’ll lose critical players in the reuse ecosystem due to the collapse of export markets.”
She additionally identified that this isn’t simply an ESS problem. Non-public gamers are additionally affected—together with Gebetex, a textile restoration agency close to Paris, whose director, Jean-Mayeul Bourgeois, not too long ago mentioned the challenges posed by the rising inflow of Asian clothes.
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Past the emergency assist debate, Refashion can also be renegotiating its long-term operations. The talks formally started on June 27, and as FashionNetwork.com has discovered, the schedule is tight—implementation is about for January. The result may considerably reshape how monetary help is allotted between assortment, sorting, and recycling throughout the whole textile worth chain.
