Takeaways

• First-of-its-kind program: California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 (SB 707) creates a statewide extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework for apparel and textile articles.
• July 1, 2026 deadline: “Producers” of “covered products” must register with CalRecycle-approved producer responsible organization (PRO) Landbell USA.
• August 13, 2026 workshop: CalRecycle will seek feedback on informal regulatory concepts from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Prepare before attending: Map covered products, producer status, California sales channels, and existing recovery programs.
• Offer practical input: Focus comments on definitions, reporting, fees, marketplaces, collection logistics, reuse, repair, and recycling.
• Coordinate internally: Include legal, compliance, sustainability, supply chain, finance, and product teams.
• Monitor next steps: Track CalRecycle rulemaking, Landbell USA guidance, and future stewardship plan requirements.

California’s Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024 (Act), enacted through Senate Bill (SB) 707, creates the nation’s first statewide extended producer responsibility program for apparel and textile articles. The Act is intended to move textile waste management upstream by requiring producers of covered products to help fund and support systems for collection, transportation, repair, reuse, sorting, recycling, and safe management of covered products sold in California. Its broader purpose is to reduce landfill disposal, promote circularity, and address greenhouse gas, environmental justice, public health, and other impacts associated with textile waste.

The program is now moving from statutory design to implementation, with CalRecycle overseeing the process and the producer responsibility organization (the PRO) serving as the central compliance vehicle. CalRecycle approved Landbell USA as the PRO to carry out the requirements of the Act, and CalRecycle states that all producers of covered products must join Landbell USA by July 1, 2026. CalRecycle Textile PRO Application

A “covered producer” subject to the Act is the brand owner, licensee, manufacturer, importer, distributor, or retailer that sells or offers apparel or textile articles in California. These businesses, which may include national apparel and home-goods companies, other retailers selling store-brand clothing and textiles, and private-label importers should treat the July 1 deadline as a near-term compliance milestone, particularly if they manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer apparel or textile articles for sale in California. Companies should also review whether any exemptions may apply, including the Act’s treatment of smaller sellers and secondhand products, while recognizing that product scope and implementation details will continue to be refined through CalRecycle’s rulemaking process.

As part of the rulemaking process, CalRecycle will hold a Textile Stewardship Informal Regulatory Concepts Workshop on August 13, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in person and virtually. CalRecycle Workshop Notice. The purpose of the workshop is to consult with the public, the regulated community, and other interested parties and to solicit feedback on regulatory concepts related to the Act’s requirements.

For textile industry participants, the workshop is an opportunity to help shape practical rules before formal regulatory language is finalized. The Act’s eventual stewardship plan will require a system for covered products that addresses collection, transportation, repair, sorting, recycling, and safe and proper management, and the statutory text contemplates producer funding through mechanisms such as eco-modulated fees tied to factors including California sales volumes and management costs. California Legislative Information, SB 707. Because CalRecycle’s regulations are expected to shape the program’s practical obligations, industry engagement in 2026 may materially affect how compliance works for years to come.

Businesses should consider participating in the workshop by sending representatives from legal, sustainability, compliance, supply chain, product, finance, and government affairs teams. Before the workshop, companies should map their California sales channels to better assess what products are sent directly into or are eventually sent into California; identify potentially covered products; assess who in the supply chain, including each of the company’s brands, may be the statutory “producer,” and whether any exemptions may be relevant; and gather data on the company’s existing takeback, resale, donation, repair, reuse, and recycling programs. During the workshop, businesses can provide practical feedback on definitions, producer identification, online marketplace obligations, PRO reporting, fee design, data confidentiality, collection infrastructure, and realistic timelines for implementation. Companies with national or global product lines may want to explain how California requirements could interact with other national or global operations.

Troutman Pepper Locke will continue to track textile EPR rulemaking. For more information about textile or other EPR laws, please reach out to Karlie Webb or Shawn Zovod.