adidas, H&M, Inditex and BESTSELLER Launch Apparel Recovery Coalition

The Or Foundation, adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group and Inditex have formed the Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC), a body that will test extended producer responsibility for post-consumer textiles in the countries where used clothing actually lands, not where it is first sold. Circle Economy supports the initiative. The coalition will operate as an independent foundation registered in the Netherlands.

The launch directly addresses a structural gap in producer-responsibility systems. Today, those systems bind largely to the market of first sale, while used textiles move across borders and generate environmental and social impacts in receiving countries. The scale of that flow is measurable: according to European Environment Agency data, the European Union exports roughly 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles each year, with the majority shipped to Africa and Asia.

What will ARC actually do?

Over the next two years, ARC plans to develop and test a producer-responsibility model that reflects the global structure of post-consumer textile flows. The work will bring together brands, producer-responsibility organisations, sorting and recycling companies, policymakers and affected communities.

The coalition launched at Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana. The Or Foundation describes Kantamanto as one of the world's largest second-hand clothing hubs, putting approximately 25 million garments back into circulation each month — a volume comparable to roughly 300 million garments a year. The market also sustains the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people.

Ghana hosts the first pilot

ARC's first implementation project will run in Ghana, aiming to strengthen the existing circular textile ecosystem. The Or Foundation will continue its own activities at Kantamanto Market, including infrastructure improvements, environmental rehabilitation work and education programmes.

In a second phase, ARC plans to launch at least one additional pilot in another country with heavy imports of second-hand textiles. The coalition intends for the experience and data from these projects to inform the development of post-consumer textile management systems.

Who pays, and when?

The funding question has a concrete answer, at least for the near term. During the 2026-2027 period, adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group and Inditex will make voluntary contributions to finance circular-economy activities in second-hand clothing markets.

The voluntary nature of those contributions marks the scheme as a pre-regulatory experiment rather than a compliance obligation, and the two-year pilot window will test whether a responsibility model spanning first-sale and destination markets can be operationalised before mandatory EU extended producer responsibility rules reshape textile waste flows.