Extended Producer Responsibility is being rolled out across Europe and parts of North America, with many outdoor brands still unsure how to respond. Suston spoke with Enrico Soffiati from Rematrix to find out what EPR actually involves – and how brands can turn it from a compliance hassle into a business opportunity.

Let’s start with the basics. For those who are unfamiliar with Extended Producer Responsibility, how would you explain it in practical terms?

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) essentially extends producers’ responsibility beyond the point of sale to the entire life cycle of their products, including what happens when consumers no longer use them. For textile and outdoor brands, this means contributing to a system that ensures products are collected, sorted, prepared for reuse whenever possible, and ultimately recycled instead of ending up in landfill or incineration.

Many companies initially see EPR as just another compliance obligation. We believe that is only part of the story. When implemented properly, EPR becomes the foundation for building a genuine circular economy that benefits not only society and the environment, but also forward-looking brands.

It requires brands not only to finance the end-of-life management of the products they place on the market, but also to better understand what happens to those products after use. This means improving product data and traceability, collaborating with collection and recycling partners, and increasingly designing products that can be recovered and recycled more effectively.

Ultimately, the goal is to transform end-of-life products from waste into valuable secondary raw materials that can feed new manufacturing processes, including textile-to-textile recycling, and help the same brands reduce dependence on virgin resources.

What is the current legal status of EPR, and are other markets outside the EU implementing it?

The EU is leading the development of textile EPR, where the revised Waste Framework Directive requires all Member States to establish EPR schemes for textiles, with national systems expected to be operational by 2028. France has already operated a textile EPR scheme for many years, while countries such as Latvia, Hungary and Netherlands have similarly introduced national systems. Italy and Spain are currently finalizing their legislation, with implementation expected soon.

Beyond Europe, different forms of producer responsibility are also emerging in markets such as North America and parts of Asia, although they remain less harmonized than the European approach.

While each country will have its own specific requirements, the overall direction is clear: producers will increasingly be expected to take responsibility for what happens to their products after consumers no longer use them.

What first brought you into the EPR space, and what gap did Rematrix set out to fill?

Rematrix was created because we believed the emerging textile EPR landscape was focusing too much on compliance and not enough on industrial execution, while both textile brands and consumers deserve something more ambitious. We come from sectors where EPR schemes have been operating successfully for years, and where managing complex supply chains, logistics and traceability is part of everyday business. When textile EPR began to emerge, we realized that the real challenge would not simply be collecting eco-fees or producing compliance reports.

The real challenge is organizing a fragmented ecosystem involving brands, collectors, sorters, recyclers and technology providers, ensuring that materials flow efficiently from end-of-life products back into new manufacturing.

Our goal is therefore to simplify compliance while building the industrial layer that makes circularity possible. Through our digital platform, iSystem, we combine traceability, operational management and sustainability data, enabling brands not only to meet regulatory requirements but also to generate valuable insights for circular product development, ESG reporting and future business decisions.

Our experience in designing and managing complex supply chains allows us to connect textile brands with the right collection, sorting and recycling partners, helping to create the conditions for textile-to-textile recycling at scale. We are not simply managing compliance, we are helping brands turn compliance into strategic value by building the collaborative ecosystem needed to truly close the loop.

In your experience, where do you see outdoor brands currently struggling most with EPR compliance?

Outdoor brands generally have a strong sustainability mindset, but EPR introduces new operational challenges that many organizations are not yet prepared for, particularly when it comes to managing what happens to products after consumers are finished with them.

The first challenge is that recycling does not begin at the recycling plant. It starts with efficient collection, sorting and preparing high-quality material streams that recyclers can actually use. Without the right upstream organization, even the best recycling technologies cannot perform at scale.

The second challenge is the complexity of outdoor products themselves. Multi-material constructions, membranes, coatings and highly durable components make these products significantly more difficult to recycle than conventional garments. Preserving material quality while separating different components requires specialized expertise and well-organized supply chains.

Finally, brands must navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Different countries are introducing different reporting requirements, fee structures and implementation timelines. Managing all of this independently can quickly become resource-intensive. This is precisely where Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) like Rematrix play an important role.

Are there opportunities in EPR that brands might be overlooking?

Absolutely.

The biggest opportunity is to stop seeing EPR as a cost and start viewing it as the infrastructure for a circular business model. Brands that understand where their products go after use gain access to valuable insights into material flows, product recovery and the availability of future recycled feedstock. This information will become increasingly strategic as demand for high-quality textile-to-textile recycled fibers grows and new regulations, such as Ecodesign requirements and recycled content targets, reshape the market.

For outdoor brands, this is particularly relevant. Technical products contain high-value materials that should not be lost at the end of their first life. Building efficient collection, sorting and recycling systems today will help secure access to valuable secondary raw materials tomorrow.

EPR can also strengthen customer engagement through take-back programs, improve sustainability reporting and ESG data, and foster stronger partnerships across the value chain, from collection and sorting to textile-to-textile recyclers and fiber producers.

At Rematrix, we often say that compliance is simply the ticket to enter the game. The real value comes from using EPR as a platform to build circular supply chains, unlock better data and create long-term competitive advantage.

How do you expect EPR regulations to evolve, and what should brands be doing now?

We expect EPR to become increasingly integrated into the broader European circular economy framework. In the coming years, EPR will no longer operate in isolation. It will increasingly interact with Digital Product Passports, Ecodesign requirements, recycled content targets and greater traceability across the value chain. Together, these initiatives will create a new industrial framework for how textile products are designed, managed and recovered.

Success will therefore depend less on administrative compliance and more on data quality, collaboration and industrial capability. My advice to brands is simple: don’t wait for legislation to force change. Now is the time to map products and materials, strengthen digital product data, understand future recycling pathways and build partnerships that connect collection, sorting and textile-to-textile recycling. Those investments will not only simplify future compliance, they will also secure access to high-quality recycled feedstock, support product innovation and strengthen long-term competitiveness.

The outdoor industry has always been one of the most forward-thinking sectors when it comes to sustainability. I believe it is uniquely positioned to lead the transition towards truly circular products and demonstrate that environmental responsibility and business performance can go hand in hand.

Lead image: Engin Akyurt on Unsplash