France puts a price on throwaway fashion

Cheap clothes rarely include the cost of dealing with them once they’re thrown away. France is trying to change that.

Since 1 September, a new environmental penalty has applied to ultra-fast fashion. It can reach €12 per item in 2026, capped at half the selling price. The rules target brands offering enormous product ranges and garments so cheap that repairing them makes little financial sense.

The idea is to give businesses a reason to make clothes worth keeping. It sits alongside an EU ban, applying to large companies since 19 July, on destroying unsold clothing and shoes. The European Commission cites estimates that 4–9% of textiles placed on Europe’s market are destroyed before anyone uses them.

There are limits. China has criticised the French measure for targeting retailers such as Shein and Temu while leaving European rivals outside its scope. And introducing a penalty doesn’t establish that it reduces waste. The useful test will be whether these rules change what companies produce, and how long we keep wearing it.