The Ministry of Climate says most of Estonia's 79 municipalities are ready for the change.

At the same time, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported, there are currently no good solutions on what to do with the amassed textile waste afterwards.

At present such waste is mostly disposed of via mixed municipal waste containers.

Peep Siim, head of the Ministry of Climate's circular economy department, said: "It is safe to say that over 80 percent of local governments are prepared to accept textile waste separately, usually at local waste collection stations."

Different local authorities are handling the issue in different ways.

For instance in Tartu, textile waste can already be taken to a waste station, while in Tori municipality in southwest Estonia, refuse collectors will transport the waste; in Pärnu, special containers will be placed at waste collection points.

Kadri Kõresaar, chief environmental specialist in Pärnu, said: "A person comes to a waste collection point, finds a container specifically designed for reusable textiles, and next to that we will place another container for waste textiles."

"The items placed in the waste container will then be taken to the Paikre landfill. As to items placed in the recycling container, we have planned collaborations with second-hand stores," Kõresaar added.

Lauri Luur, a board member at Jäätmehoolduskeskus, an NGO set up by 24 municipalities to govern waste management, said local governments should gain economies of scale by cooperating in handling separately collected textile waste rather than acting alone.

"If several municipalities collected waste textiles, for example, then there would be a sufficient quantity to present to a manufacturer or recycler as a potential partner," Luur said.

However, separating out textiles will not on its own solve the issue of sorting and processing.

At least in the near future, even after separate collection, much of it will still end up being incinerated or sent to landfills in any case, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

"In the future, it would be rational to expect the establishment of a sorting center in Estonia where textiles could be sorted according to predefined parameters; be the textile or clothing waste reusable, fit for re-purpose, or recyclable," Keit Nestor, operations manager at the Paikre prügila landfill in Pärnu, said.

"Whether processing facilities might also be set up in Estonia is another question," Nestor added.

According to Nestor, this would require nationwide investment and amendments to the Waste Act.

The climate ministry said it views separate collection a step forward in getting textiles out of the cycle of mixed municipal waste altogether.

It also creates the conditions for textile recycling in the future, Peep Siim said.

"Our role, in cooperation with businesses, is to establish quick sorting and shredding solutions within an Estonian context, so we can categorize textile materials by type and then decide whether mechanical or chemical recycling is the best solution for Estonia," he said.

While there has been talk of building a processing plant in Sillamäe by 2026, the ministry is currently unable to confirm if that will go ahead by that date.

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