Jeans should come with a €2.50 deposit to encourage more clothes recycling, two economics experts have told AD.

British-born Gelderland regional minister for the economy, Michiel Scheffer and Nijmegen sustainable entrepreneurship professor Jan Jonker, have proposed the levy on the 20 million pairs of jeans sold each year in the Netherlands.

They argue that there is a hole in the recycling market as far as jeans are concerned: only 15% are reused, and a deposit scheme could increase the rates.

PvdA Labour MP Yasemin Çegerek told the paper she supports the idea. ‘Annually, 140 million kilos of waste that could be used as raw materials for other products disappears in the garbage,’ she said. ‘We need a cultural shift. I believe in the system of deposits, including for jeans.’

Scheffer says he intends to talk to the seven Dutch paper mills in Gelderland about ‘constructing a pilot plant for recycling textiles.’