Regulatory Background

In the United States, the management of both pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste fall under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The RCRA is a set of waste management policies and regulations developed by the EPA which apply to any facility known to generate hazardous waste products. The EPA’s definition of hazardous waste includes any byproduct which poses an innate risk to human or ecological health or is ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic (EPA, 2002). 

​

Most of the pre-consumer waste generated during textile manufacturing exists in the form of wastewater effluent (EPA, 2002). This outflow is made up of byproducts from several discrete textile manufacturing processes, leading the EPA to consider it a Non-Specific Source Waste. Under the RCRA, wastewater from the textile industry falls into the “F-List” alongside the toxic effluent byproducts of other industries (EPA, 2005). Pollutants in this category must be sent to Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities where they are stored temporarily before being sent to a wastewater treatment facility. Exemptions exist for factories that generate F-List wastes on the condition that they have an onsite wastewater treatment program (EPA, 2002). 

​

In addition to the wide-reaching RCRA, which regulates textile waste throughout the US, there are also smaller-scale local and state regulations which apply to textile waste. 

CalRecycle is a program in California that oversees and regulates the states recycling program, alongside educating the public about sustainable disposal practices. CalRecycle also puts on workshops on how to decrease manage and reduce textile waste day to day. Another example is Zero Waste Marin, which offer education and recycling programs for Marin residents.

​

We believe that a tax which incentivizes alternative materials would work alongside regulatory statutes like the RCRA and statewide or local recycling programs to minimize the environmental impact of the fashion industry. 

​