Par
Lucie Fraisse
Published on
The collection of used textiles is interrupted until further notice in the territory of Toulouse Métropole. It is therefore no longer possible to place your used clothes or shoes in the relay terminals that mesh the territory.
The terminals are no longer accessible
“Since July 15, the terminals for the contribution of used textiles are no longer collected by the relay, the company for socio-economic purposes which has mainly the burden on the territory of Toulouse Métropole,” said the community in a press release. These terminals are no longer accessible to date. »
A decision that comes in a context of national tension on recycling used textiles. Tuesday July 15, 2025, employees of companies from the Le Relais network have poured tons of second -hand clothes in store parking lots, as in front of the Decathlon of Abbeville, in the Somme.
Conflict with major clothing brands
The relay believes that the funds paid to it to assume its mission of recycling textiles are insufficient and do not allow to compensate for the costs of their work.
The big brands of clothing, shoes and household linen have the obligation to finance the end of life of the products they put on the market. The Eco-Organism Refashion, controlled by these major brands, thus donates funds to companies responsible for sorting, collection and revaluation.
Crisis related to ultra fast food
But for the past few months, the sector has experienced a crisis, linked to the explosion of ultra fast food, with poor quality clothes, whose reuse rates are bad while collection costs remain the same.
The clothes collected were also traditionally sold in Africa. But the second -hand market collapses on the African continent, due to the arrival of new textiles from Asian companies in ultra fast-fashionsold at lower prices than those of the clothes collected in France.
Saturation of the sector
The second -hand market in France is not sufficiently developed to allow to sell stocks, the textile collection sector is saturation. Hence the decision to stop the collection of clothing, shoes and household linen until further notice.
As everywhere in France, Toulouse Métropole undergoes the consequences and calls on the various actors to meet urgently to reach a solution and thus allow the resumption of service.
Exceptional support decided by the Minister
Has a step in this direction been taken in this sense on Thursday evening? Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition has announced Exceptional support of 49 million euros for the sector which is allowed to revalue the price of the ton of used textiles.
Pending a final settlement of the conflict, the inhabitants of Toulouse Métropole are invited to keep the clothes and shoes they no longer want at home. “In any case, they should they be abandoned on the public highway, under penalty of fine“, Prevents Toulouse Métropole.
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