Can a supermarket promote re-loved clothes?

With an estimated £140m worth of clothing going to landfill in the UK each year, British supermarket Asda is helping to find new homes for unwanted clothes with a trial of an in-store ‘Re-Loved’ charity clothing shop.

Closet costs

In the UK, the value of unused clothing in wardrobes has been estimated at around £30 billion. It is also estimated £140 million worth of clothing goes into landfill each year. In fact, during 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production globally totalled more than the emissions of all international flights and shipping combined. As a whole in the UK, the average lifetime for a garment of clothing is estimated as 2.2 years. Extending the active life of clothing by nine months can significantly reduce its environmental impact.

Re-loved

In September 2019, the ‘Re-Loved’ pop-up shop in Asda’s Milton Keynes store featured donated second-hand clothes from a number of different brands, as the retailer looks at ways to encourage customers to reuse, repurpose or recycle their unwanted clothes. The move is part of a drive by George, Asda’s fashion brand, to improve the environmental impact of its clothes and operations, following the launch of its new sustainability strategy and the first range of recycled polyester clothing. It already has a zero-tolerance policy towards incineration of clothing waste and its surplus products are donated to be repurposed or recycled by a number of different charities. It also has clothing recycling points for customers at almost 500 stores.

Tickled Pink

All proceeds from the shop will go to Asda’s Tickled Pink campaign, which supports Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now. Asda founded Tickled Pink in 1996 to raise awareness and funding for the treatment of breast cancer in the UK. To date, the Tickled Pink partnership has raised over £64 million for vital breast cancer research and support.

This story shows how ASDA supports Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, specifically Target 12.5: “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse.”

About ASDA

Founded in 1949, Asda is a British supermarket retailer, headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They have more than 140,000 employees serving more than 19 million customers who shop in their stores every week.

Learn more about ASDA.