Eco-modulate the EPR fee and levy ultra-fast-fashion to cut the low-value inflow at source

Mechanism

Two complementary levers targeting the inflow problem:

• Eco-modulation (bonus/malus) of the EPR fee. Scale the producer's fee by recyclability: lower for durable, mono-fibre, repairable, ecodesigned garments; sharply higher for short-lived blended-fibre items destined to become reject. This raises revenue to process the reject and gives producers a direct incentive to design for sortability and durability.
• A volume levy on ultra-fast-fashion. A per-item charge on very-high-volume, very-low-price sellers (the model behind France's proposed fast-fashion law), rising with the number of references placed on the market, to internalise the downstream cost of flooding the system.

The goal: reduce the share of each tonne that is unsellable and unrecyclable, and price in the cost of the rest, so the sorting margin is no longer dragged below zero by garments that were disposable by design.

Where it fits

This attacks the cost side upstream. Cost-indexed EPR support and municipal contracts keep collection alive today; eco-modulation and a fast-fashion levy shrink the cost they have to cover over time.

Operating profile

• Malus and levy revenue feeds the same EPR pot, raising the per-tonne support ceiling without drawing on general taxation.
• The recyclability signal reaches design decisions, where the leverage actually is.
• Phased fee schedules give producers time to reformulate ranges rather than simply absorbing a fine.

Limits

• Lag: the garment mix in donation banks reflects what was sold years earlier, so relief at the sorting centre trails any fee change by seasons.
• Enforcement: cross-border sellers shipping direct to consumers are hard to capture; import-point collection is the weak spot, and a national-only fee invites leakage.
• Calibration: set too low it becomes a cost of doing business; set too high without phase-in it risks legal challenge. The fee must be credible and durable.