Europe's leading fashion sourcing show, Source Fashion is tackling the fashion industry's rapidly changing regulatory landscape by launching a vital new resource: the Mini Guide to Textiles Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the EU and UK. This practical guide is designed to help brands, retailers, and producers prepare for the sweeping EPR requirements that will soon take effect under the revised Waste Framework Directive.

With a compliance deadline looming in 2026, the guide offers essential clarity ahead of Source Fashion's next edition, held from January 13-15 at Olympia London.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fundamentally shifts the burden onto textile producers, brands, and importers to manage their products' entire lifecycle, from design to end-of-life. As part of the EU’s Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, new regulations will mandate that producers finance and organize textile collection, sorting, reuse, and recycling systems across member states, with similar policies under consideration in the UK.

The concise guide provides a clear overview of these approaching changes, covering who and what EPR applies to, geographical scope across EU and UK markets, key requirements and cost implications, intersections with frameworks like the Eco design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and implementation timelines, including a roadmap to compliance by 2025.

Drawing on lessons from international markets where EPR schemes are already established (like France and Australia), the guide includes case studies and best practices. It also addresses significant challenges, such as the lack of regional harmonization and infrastructure investment uncertainty. Critically, it offers a practical checklist of steps for producers, retailers, and brands to begin immediately, including product assessments and appointing legal representatives in each market.