According to data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSP), Latvia imports on average more than 30 000 tonnes of various clothes, footwear and household textiles. Approximately half of this volume – an average of 14 600 tonnes a year – are used clothes from other countries, according to producer responsibility and waste management organisation Latvijas Zaļais punkts JSC.
Although the volume of used textile goods going through Latvia on their way to other countries, the country remains an important export market for used clothes close to garbage state and at risk of ending up in waste landfills. “Close to garbage state”, according to Latvijas Zaļais punkts, is any used goods that have almost no recycling potential, which makes it difficult to return them to repeated circulation.
Latvijas Zaļais punkts director Kaspars Zakulis reminds:
textile products form approximately 4% of waste buried in Latvia.
While our country is one of the first EU member states that is rapidly moving towards the adoption of a sorted textile collection system, Latvia still receives large volumes of used clothes and footwear. He warns that “existing regulations” and investments from a couple of private companies is not enough to introduce a sorted textiles collection system and promote recycling in the local market.
“We need changes to regulations and primarily outline responsibilities: who is responsible for generating textile waste and who pays for the introduction and maintenance of this system. Currently the investments of a small number of waste managers are not enough to function as a long-term solution. Additionally, considering the low quality of collected textile products, which consists of used clothes imported from other countries, regulations have to include various textile recycling solutions,” explains Zakulis.
In the past six years the volume of used textiles imported to Latvia has increased by nearly four thousand tonnes – from 11.6 thousand tonnes in 2017 to 14.9 thousand tonnes in 2022. A light drop was observed during the pandemic – in 2021 – when Latvia imported 11.9 thousand tonnes of textile products.
At the same time, since 2017 there has been an increase of nearly five thousand tonnes for textiles exported from Latvia to other countries. But it does not compensate the volume that remains in Latvia and is close to garbage state.
Latvijas Zaļais punkts together with Eco Baltia LLC and other partners in Latvia have created more than 170 special red textile sorting containers residents can use to donate all kinds of clothes, footwear and household textiles.
According to results of public surveys, these containers are used by approximately 33% of residents (21% in 2020). Additionally, 71% of respondents have said they would engage in textile sorting more actively if there were containers close to their homes.
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