The move from Primark will make it easier for people to donate pre-loved clothing items for recycling to give them a second life.
Building on the success of its launch in the UK in 2020, which has seen 23 tonnes of textiles diverted from landfill, the scheme lets customers donate clothing, footwear, accessories and textiles such as towels and bedsheets, from any brand via their collection boxes located in store. These are then collected, sorted and either re-used, recycled or repurposed.
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Primark has partnered with Yellow Octopus to run the scheme. Yellow Octopus has a ‘no landfill’ policy across the 21 countries it operates in, diverting around 1m garments from landfill every month. The company aims for as many donations as possible to be worn again, with the remainder being repurposed into new products such as insulation, toy stuffing and mattress fillers.
The expansion of the in-store donation scheme follows the launch of Primark’s new sustainability strategy last month as the business outlined steps to become a more sustainable and circular business. As part of its commitments, Primark will be improving the durability of its own products and will also, as a signatory of Textiles 2030, be working with WRAP and other retailers to refresh its clothing longevity guidelines to collectively move the fashion industry towards a more circular economy and in turn reduce fashion waste.
“We know that making it easier for customers to donate their pre-loved clothes to be recycled back into the system is an important part of our drive to become a circular and more sustainable business. Expanding our in-store Textile Takeback scheme to now run across four countries and more than 250 stores means giving more clothes a second life and fewer clothes going to landfill,” Lynne Walker, director of Primark Cares, says.
“Our target is for all the clothes we sell to be made from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030. Textile Takeback is another step on this path to ensure more new clothes are made from old clothes, giving clothes a longer life and reducing fashion waste.”
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By GlobalDataJack Ostrowski, CEO of Yellow Octopus Group, adds: “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Primark and assist in its effort to drive down textile waste and divert fashion goods from going to landfill. It is important for the entire fashion industry to transition from linear to circular business model. As every journey, it has to start somewhere, and the take back programme is the very beginning of circularity in fashion. Through constant innovations, investments and collaborations Yellow Octopus Group is proud to be on the forefront of providing solutions which will lead to achieve fully circular fashion ecosystem. We are happy to be sharing this journey together with Primark.”
The profits from the scheme will go to UNICEF, one of Primark’s charity partners.
