Founder and chair of the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus, Pingree has introduced the Textile Waste Reduction Act (TWRA), legislation aimed at establishing a coordinated federal framework to reduce textile waste, improve data collection and develop a national strategy to advance circularity in the textile industry.
The bill is based on recommendations made in the first-ever Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on fast fashion pollution—originally requested by Pingree and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in 2023.
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“The GAO report confirmed what we’ve known for years: that textile waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the US; that it’s being driven largely by fast fashion; and that federal action is necessary to confront this crisis in a real, impactful way,” Congresswoman Pingree explained.
“This bill would help lay the foundation for that effort by creating a coordinated federal strategy to reduce textile waste and build a more circular textile economy.”
Specifically, the TWRA would:
- Direct the EPA Administrator to take coordinated federal action to advance textile circularity.
- Require EPA to develop a comprehensive National Textile Circularity Strategy and conduct a needs assessment identifying the actions, investments, and policy priorities necessary to implement the strategy.
- Create an Interagency Working Group on Textile Circularity to coordinate federal activities.
- Establish an Advisory Board to provide recommendations to the Interagency Working Group.
- Require EPA to identify and publish federal funding opportunities available to states, Tribal governments, local governments, and nongovernmental organisations that support textile circularity.
- Require EPA to annually publish updated data on textile waste generation and management.
Pingree’s office says millions of tonnes of textiles are discarded each year in the US, with the vast majority ending up in landfills. These discarded materials may leach contaminants including PFAS and microplastics into water and soil, while increasing costs for communities facing capacity shortages at landfills.
Her office also claim there has been no coordinated federal effort to address textile waste and support a more circular textiles economy.
In addition, over several decades, hundreds of thousands of fibre and textile jobs that once sustained communities across the US have shifted overseas.
“Our country has the resources and know-how to lead this effort on a global scale. It’s well past time we turn that potential into action—and help transform this wasteful industry into one that’s more efficient, more sustainable, and better for people and the planet,” added Pingree.
Pingree founded and launched the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus in June 2024 to create climate-smart policies focused on reducing, repairing, rewearing and recycling textiles.
The caucus has received support from organisations including American Circular Textiles, the Garment Worker Center, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, Patagonia and ThredUp.
