With the rise of online shopping, accessing clothing has never been easier, but it’s also contributing to a growing waste issue, according to Jelena Boljević, a fashion activist, who highlights this as a key factor behind Serbia’s increasing textile waste problem.
Official data from the Republic Statistical Office reveals that Serbia’s industry produced 9,329 tons of waste in 2022, with less than a third being recycled.
Serbia’s Waste Management Program for 2022-2031, enacted by the government, aims to implement separate collection of textile waste by 2029, trailing behind the EU’s 2025 deadline.
Radio Free Europe (RFE) reached out to relevant institutions—the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency of Serbia—but did not receive responses regarding the severity of textile waste in Serbia and strategies to address it.
One initiative tackling textile waste is “Sisters by Dresses,” a nonprofit launched three years ago by fashion activist Jelena Boljević. She noticed a demand for discarded prom dresses and, unable to find appropriate donation channels, established an online platform for girls to exchange dresses.
The initiative operates entirely online, allowing girls to submit photos and measurements of their dresses for others to select from.
Boljević presented this initiative and the exchanged dresses at the Alternative Fashion Festival held in April in Belgrade. The festival, featuring 20 brands and initiatives, advocates for environmentally and socially responsible fashion, in contrast to fast fashion’s mass production of low-quality garments.
Boljević has long been passionate about sustainable fashion, advocating for alternatives such as slow fashion, supporting small designers, upcycling, and thrift store shopping.
She believes that online shopping exacerbates the clothing accumulation issue, as incorrect sizing often leads to discarding items, contributing to textile waste.
Ivanka Stamenović, who began crafting bags and wallets from discarded materials 14 years ago, emphasized the importance of repurposing waste materials. Stamenović, now heading the social and environmental enterprise “Ekobag” in Belgrade, showcased her work at the Alternative Fashion Festival.
Social enterprises like “Ekobag” aim to address social issues by employing marginalized groups and utilizing discarded materials, such as billboard posters, which companies often discard after campaigns.
Stamenović’s innovative approach not only reduces waste but also promotes durable, eco-friendly products.
Despite these efforts, textile waste remains a serious problem due to slow degradation, especially of synthetic materials, with limited initiatives for reuse in Serbia.
Efforts to manage textile waste are hindered by inadequate infrastructure for separate collection, leading to most textile waste ending up in landfills, posing long-term environmental risks.
Ivana Jovčić from the Center for Environmental Improvement notes that only a small fraction of textile waste is recycled due to its complex composition and the lack of recycling facilities capable of processing mixed materials.
Jovčić stresses the importance of waste prevention, promoting initiatives that encourage sustainable textile use and reuse.
Regarding legislative regulation, while Serbia acknowledges EU policies on sustainable and circular textiles, current programs fail to fully address textile waste issues.
In July 2023, the European Commission proposed measures to hold manufacturers accountable for textile waste and to mandate separate textile collection by EU member states by 2025.
These measures aim to mitigate environmental impacts and promote circularity in textile production and consumption as the EU produces 12.6 million tons of textile waste annually.
