Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), founder of the Slow Fashion Caucus and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, released a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report听on developing a textile circular economy in the United States. The report,听requested by Pingree and DeLauro, builds on听GAO鈥檚 December 2024 report听on textile waste and lays out how policymakers can take federal action to address textile waste as momentum grows in states and other countries.
鈥淕AO鈥檚 2024 report made clear that the growing textile waste crisis demands federal leadership. Now, as states and other countries take action, this new report gives Congress an important resource to build on that momentum,鈥澨齭aid Pingree.听鈥淜eeping textiles in use longer can cut pollution and create opportunities for American businesses that repair, reuse, and recycle them. I recently introduced the听Textile 91TV Reduction Act听to lay the foundation for a coordinated national response. This report strengthens the case for that effort and outlines options for how Congress can seize this opportunity to reduce waste, support American businesses, and protect our environment.鈥�
鈥淪tates and countries around the world are already figuring out how to keep clothing out of landfills, and this report shows the United States does not have to be left behind,鈥澨齭aid DeLauro.听鈥淎 healthier textile economy means jobs in repair, resale, and recycling. It means less pollution in our soil and water. And it means lower costs for communities running out of landfill space. GAO found that what is holding us back is a lack of infrastructure, funding, and reliable data. Congress can fix all three. It is time to build a new kind of textile industry here at home 鈥� for the economy, for the environment, and for workers.鈥�
GAO鈥檚 December 2024 report documented the environmental harms of textile waste and found that federal efforts to address it were fragmented and given a lower priority than other goals. GAO recommended that Congress consider directing and expressly authorizing federal entities to take coordinated action to reduce textile waste and advance textile recycling.
The听new reportbroadens that work to examine a textile circular economy: a system that keeps clothing and other textiles in circulation through durable design, reuse, repair, and recycling. Drawing on research, site visits, and interviews with 49 stakeholders, GAO identifies potential benefits including new jobs and markets in secondhand retail, repair, recycling, and infrastructure development; reduced pollution and demand for raw materials; and changes in how consumers purchase and dispose of textiles.
GAO also identifies barriers to realizing those benefits, including limited domestic infrastructure and funding, gaps in comprehensive data, and a lack of common terminology and standards. The report documents policies being proposed, enacted, or implemented in U.S. states and abroad, including textile producer responsibility programs in California, France, and the Netherlands, and the European Union. These efforts offer U.S. policymakers lessons as they consider how to support textile circularity nationwide.
GAO鈥檚 menu of policy options ranges from maintaining the federal status quo to expanding industry responsibilities, providing incentives such as tax credits, restricting textile disposal in landfills, improving data collection, and educating consumers. The report describes opportunities and considerations associated with these approaches without endorsing a particular option.
Pingree鈥檚听Textile 91TV Reduction Act听would establish a coordinated federal framework to advance textile circularity. The legislation would require a comprehensive National Textile Circularity Strategy, create an Interagency Working Group and stakeholder advisory board to coordinate and inform federal activities, improve textile waste data collection, and make existing federal funding opportunities easier to identify. These steps would help provide the foundation for policymakers to evaluate and pursue the opportunities outlined in GAO鈥檚 new report.