Since January 1, 2025: Old clothes not in the residual waste

With the implementation of the EU Waste Framework Directive (AbfRahmenRiLi), used textiles must now be collected and recycled separately by public waste management companies from 01.01.2025 (to the legal text).

Clothing including shoes, handbags, bags, bedding, home textiles and stuffed animals are considered used textiles.

As the primary aim of the circular economy is recycling, it goes without saying that the above-mentioned textiles should be recycled, and in this case even reused, in as clean a condition as possible, i.e. clothing that can still be worn.

However, recovery (recycling and energy recovery) are also objectives of the circular economy. For this reason, it is important that textiles are not heavily soiled, worn, damp or musty.

Example: One or two small holes or two missing buttons in an otherwise clean sweater or shirt are not the problem and can help people in need. The emphasis here is deliberately on "badly", because nobody will reuse a badly torn shirt or a torn tablecloth that consists only of scraps of fabric, nor is it possible to make cleaning cloths from them.

Damp textiles, plasticized textiles or textiles with electrical/electronic components do not belong in the used textiles container but in the residual waste garbage can.

All used textiles should only be placed in intact and clean plastic bags and sealed so that they cannot absorb moisture.

Kommunalservice Jena has been successfully carrying out this separate collection since 2013. Around 150 used textile containers are available to citizens in the city of Jena, mainly at the glass collection points. There are also collection containers for collection at the recycling centers in Lobeda and Löbstedter Straße in Jena.