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Senate Bill 707, or the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, establishes a stewardship program which manages and recycles apparel and textile products. Originally, the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 regulated the management of solid waste, but this act now creates a program for specific products. The program requires retailers to join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and adhere to Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) regulations. A comprehensive plan for recycling and management of textile products is required to be approved and is reviewed every five years. If producers violate CalRecycle regulations, the department may assert a fine, but PROs cover regulatory costs. Fines are collected into the Textile Stewardship Recovery Penalty Account, and online producers are required to report sellers who exceed $1,000,000 annually in apparel or textile sales.
Chief Executive Officer Peter Majeranowski of Circ, Inc. said, “Textile recycling is a growing industry domestically, creating jobs, and reviving manufacturing in areas near recycling facilities.” Majeranowski thanks Gavin Newsom for leading funding incentives that motivate producers to utilize lower-impact fibers and yarns. According to the EPA, the movement towards textile recycling and lower-impact fibers is a necessity. In 2018, there were 17 million tons of textile waste—5.8% of the total municipal solid waste for the year. Much of the textile waste filling landfills is low quality. Through textile waste decomposition, harmful chemicals pollute the surrounding environment and adversely affect animals and humans in the surrounding areas. The fashion industry is the main producer of industrial pollution, accounting for “10% of global carbon emissions.” Current solutions for this problem in the United States and Europe include dropping off discarded clothing to donation organizations, but often these items are shipped abroad where it continues to crowd landfills.
Between its introduction in February 2023 and approval in September 2024, the bill has reached “widespread support” and active engagement by stakeholders. Following its passage, supporters are calling for similar bills to be brought to the federal level. This support brought both excitement for the bill and hope for long-lasting impact because of continuous reworkings of the bill from a variety of perspectives in environmental organizations and community leaders.
Key provisions of Senate Bill 707
As stated above, Senate Bill 707 requires producers and manufacturers to create a PRO and submit a comprehensive plan of “collection, transportation, repair, sorting, recycling, and the safe and proper management of covered products in the state.” For Senate Bill 707, covered products include any “apparel or textile article,” such as clothing items. To create this plan, producers must develop an initial needs assessment, which details the quantity and scale of covered products it manufactures and ends up in landfills. CalRecycle must approve the plan, and the plan must be implemented into action within twelve months of approval. By July 1, 2030, all producers and manufacturers must have an approved plan enacted. CalRecycle is tasked with maintaining and updating a website listing all compliant producers. Every five years, the PRO must review its plan with approval from CalRecycle to determine if revisions must be made.
In addition to developing its PRO plan, producers must create drop-off or collection locations for consumers to deposit their old textiles. The number of required drop-off locations a producer must have depends on the population of the county in which it is located. Producers must also report detailed plans for processing and handling the collected apparel from drop-off sites, either through sending the garments to second-hand markets, reusing the garments, repairing issues with the apparel, or recycling it. Retailers who knowingly and intentionally fail to comply with its PRO are subject to a violation of a $50,000 penalty per day. Additionally, producers must develop an education and outreach program to help educate consumers and the general public about the collection program.
Senate Bill 707’s Textile Creation Fund
Furthermore, Senate Bill 707 also establishes the Textile Stewardship Recovery Fund within the State Treasury. The Textile Stewardship Recovery Fund comprises the money that the department collects from producers. The money the fund would collect will be used to further the policies and program of Senate Bill 707.
What does this mean for retailers and consumers? Retailers will be tasked with monitoring the CalRecycle’s website to ensure that its producers are compliant with its PROs. After a plan is approved, a retailer may not sell apparel or textiles in California from a producer failing to comply with its RPO. For consumers, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act means that they will have an opportunity to deposit unwanted or old clothes with retailers free of charge. Senate Bill 707 holds retailers and producers accountable for the entire lifespan of its textiles and apparel. Consumers will be able to research the environmental impact of the producers and retailers they are shopping from and decide whether to support stores that fail to meet its PRO. Furthermore, consumers will become better educated about the impact of this collection program and textile waste. However, consumers may see an increase in the price of apparel due to producers and retailers passing the cost of creating a PRO and collection sites onto its customers.
Legal Implications
To date, there has been no active litigation against Senate Bill 707. However, this will likely change in the future. Senate Bill 707 is forcing producers and retailers to create, report, execute, and follow an entirely new aspect of its business. This new framework poses numerous potential challenges for producers and retailers. Chelsea Murtha, the American Apparel and Footwear Association’s Senior Director of Sustainability, explains that “apparel brands are not waste-management providers. . . [T]his isn’t their area of expertise…building out a system that doesn’t exist in a state this big is going to be a challenge. It’s ambitious.” The new system of taking back and responsibly disposing of clothing will now fall on producers and retailers, something that previously fell solely on consumers. To reflect this change, retailers may pursue litigation to strike provisions of Senate Bill 707 that increases costs and resources. For example, constitutional legal challenges could arise if retailers operate in other states with different regulations. The deadline for the program to become operational is 2030. While litigation has not yet begun, the potential for future challenges against Senate Bill 707 provisions looms as the 2030 deadline approaches.
What’s Next?
Senate Bill 707 is precedent-setting as the nation’s first extended producer responsibility bill for clothing. Commenters call for strong regulations to accomplish the goals of the bill and to ensure its longevity. There is a clear interest in expanding the program to a global level. However, efforts first need to be made at the federal level. Rachel Kibbe, Chief Executive Officer of American Circular Textiles and Circular Services Group, opined, “We face the potential of sustainability teams turning focus and resources to compliance, over innovation and true progress…[A] unified federal approach would streamline the system, prevent disjointed efforts, and better enable businesses to comply across state lines.” In this context, Senate Bill 707 serves as a crucial step towards addressing textile waste in the fashion industry federally and internationally.
Conclusion
Senate Bill 707 is a groundbreaking and unique legislative effort to regulate textile waste in the fashion industry by holding retailers accountable for its products’ environmental impact. Fashion is a large-scale industry, and this program focused on sustainability will provide for its continuance in the future. Although legal challenges are sure to arise, the comprehensive framework of Senate Bill 707 will likely withstand these challenges. As unprecedented law, its success could inspire larger-scale efforts towards environmentally friendly practices in fashion.
*The views expressed in this article do not represent the views of Santa Clara University.
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