The French government will pay its citizens small sums from October on the occasion of the repair of clothes and shoes in order to fight the excessive waste of clothes, reports the daily Le Monde. Every year, the French get rid of 70,000 tons of clothing, two-thirds of which end up in landfills.
Under the government scheme, citizens will be able to claim a prize of €7 for a heel repair and €10 to €25 for a garment repair, under a total fund of €154 million foreseen for 2023-2028.
Encouragement to repair old clothes
In France, 3.3 billion pieces of clothing, footwear and home textiles were released in 2022, according to the environmental organization Refashion.
“The aim is to support those who make repairs,” French Ecology Minister Berangere Couillard said on Tuesday, referring to both small tailors and clothing brands that offer repair services.
Couillard invited “all tailors and shoemakers to join” the government action.
Part of an important reform
The program is part of a wide-ranging reform of the textile sector, one of the most polluting in the world, launched by the French government at the end of 2022.
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