Throughout 2024, Apparelist has followed along with California’s efforts to pass Senate Bill 707 (SB707), called the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024. On Sept. 28, 2024, the legislation was officially signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, making it the first Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) textile recycling program in the U.S.

While it’s too early to know exactly how this law will impact the apparel decorating community, Gary Jones, VP of environmental, health, and safety affairs for PRINTING United Alliance, has shared throughout the last several months that it could affect decorators as they can fall under the definition of a “producer.”

“The apparel decorator serving the California market will most likely see an increase in demand for higher quality garments, which tend to be more expensive and coupled with the EPR fees, may see a net decrease in demand as each garment will get more expensive to produce,” Jones adds. “There may also be a shift in the demand for garments that are more readily recyclable as well, which could offset some of the costs. We will not fully appreciate the impact until the implementing regulations get written as they will be providing more details on the goals of the legislation.”

First to Know About California’s EPR Law

As the legislation continues to go into full effect and the impacts start to hit the industry, Jones and the Alliance are staying on top of the details. Learn more about SB707 in Jones’ full article.

“The new California law is forging new ground as it sets out for the first time mandatory requirements addressing the complete life cycle of apparel and other textiles,” Jones says. “The goal of the legislation is to reduce the volume of materials being produced and thrown away by mandating that brands and others that produce clothing focus on increasing the quality of their product and how to make it easier to repair and/or recycle. This will be done by the fees being charged to anyone who is placing a covered item into the marketplace. Fees will be much higher for the less than desirable items.”