Bulgaria has real capacity for textile reuse and recycling

Bulgaria already has a real capacity for preparing for reuse and recycling textiles. Several professional sorting centers operate in the country with a total capacity of over 35,000 tons per year, with modern equipment and teams of trained sorters, whose skills are key to the efficiency of the process. This was stated by BTA Sirma Jeleva, Executive Director of Bulgarian Association for Circular Textiles (BAKT).

"Bulgaria has both the infrastructure and the expertise to give a 'second life' to a significantly larger amount of textiles. The main limitation today is not the lack of capacity, but the insufficient separate collection and the lack of a clear regulatory framework to direct Bulgarian textile waste towards these existing solutions," Zheleva pointed out regarding Directive 2025/1892, which introduces new European Union rules for reducing textile and food waste.

The collected textiles undergo detailed manual sorting, in which the clothes are separated by type, quality and other indicators and their suitability for reuse is assessed - the most environmentally friendly way to extend the life cycle of textile products.

"Depending on the quality of the incoming raw material, between 50% and 70% of the clothes can be prepared for reuse. Textiles that are not suitable for reuse, but are recyclable, are separated by type of fabric and used to produce industrial cleaning cloths, fibers for new products or non-woven textile products. The parts that cannot be recycled due to mixed composition or the presence of non-textile elements are recovered for energy," Zheleva specified.

According to BACT, in 2024, over 8000 tons of textile waste, including production waste, were collected separately in Bulgaria. In 2023, the quantities were around 6500 tons, which shows an increase in both the collected volumes and public engagement. Of the textiles collected through separate collection containers, usually at least 70% is prepared for reuse or recycled, with reuse remaining the priority with the highest environmental value.

According to preliminary data, over 6000 tons of textiles were collected by the end of September 2025, which shows that citizens continue to actively use existing systems, despite the economic and regulatory difficulties facing the sector.

"However, it is important to emphasize that despite the obligation of all EU Member States from January 1, 2025 to ensure separate collection of textiles at the national level, this requirement has not yet been introduced in Bulgaria. There is no legislative framework that clearly regulates the responsibilities, financing and sustainable functioning of separate textile collection systems," says the executive director of BACT.

In Bulgaria, about 100,000 tons of textile waste are generated annually. The separately collected quantities represent only about 8% of the total volume.

"This means that over 90% of textile waste continues to be disposed of in mixed household waste and is ultimately landfilled or incinerated, without the possibility of reuse or recycling. From the perspective of the circular economy, this is a serious waste of resources, as a large part of this textile is suitable for reuse or at least for material recovery, that is, suitable for being processed into raw material instead of being thrown away," Jeleva points out.

Need for a long-term mechanism and framework

In practice, the systems currently in operation are voluntary partnerships between companies engaged in the collection and recovery of textiles and individual municipalities, without national coverage and without a guaranteed long-term funding mechanism, she also pointed out.

"In 2025, against the backdrop of the general crisis in the textile reuse and recycling sector in Europe, companies repeatedly alerted municipalities and the Ministry of Environment and Water that without clear regulation and financial support, these systems could not be sustainable. In some smaller municipalities, textile containers were removed. However, it is significant that citizens already perceive separate textile collection as a necessary service - after the removal of the containers in a number of settlements, inquiries and signals from people began. This clearly shows that public expectations are ahead of the regulatory framework and that legislative intervention is necessary to ensure a sustainable, national solution," Jeleva points out.

According to her, Bulgaria currently lacks a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework that would define the responsibilities and obligations of participants in relation to the separate collection of textiles. This puts existing systems, which operate on a voluntary basis, at serious risk and hinders their development and expansion at the national level.

For the executive director of BACT, the key step is to introduce the principle of extended producer responsibility for textiles by adopting a special regulation, consistent with the Waste Framework Directive. The future regulation should set clear targets for separate collection, preparation for reuse and recycling, introduce requirements for quality, traceability and environmental standards and guarantee transparency and equality in the management of recovery organizations.

"In order for this regulation to be qualitatively prepared, publicly discussed and correctly implemented, it is necessary to provide legislative clarity in parallel regarding the way in which municipalities can finance the systems for separate textile collection until the actual introduction of the ROP. In Bulgaria, there are already companies with many years of practical experience, built-up capacity, logistics networks and know-how in managing textile flows. Instead of building systems "from scratch", the future framework for ROP should build on existing solutions and working models, ensuring their financial sustainability and national coverage," summarizes Sirma Jeleva.