While more consumers are embracing circular initiatives that enable them to extend the life of their clothing, brands must make them more accessible to meet the scale of the environmental problems caused by clothing waste.
The efficacy of circular initiatives by apparel companies is limited by where
they and their customers are located.
According to recent
research,
consumer awareness of the fashion industry's environmental and social damage is
increasing — as is a corresponding trend in more conscious consumption and
purchasing habits. Yet, even as more shoppers express interest in extending the
life of their clothing — such as through recycling, repair and return schemes —
their ability to follow through can be hampered by their location, which is
having a major impact on the effectiveness of such schemes, according to a new
study.
The clothing industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters — as cheap,
fast-fashion clothing that gets thrown away after one or two uses and ends up in
landfills. According to 2020 European Parliament
data,
less than half of used clothes are collected for reuse or recycling, and only 1
percent of used clothes are recycled into new clothes.
In an effort to eliminate some of their environmental impacts, more and more
apparel brands are implementing circular-economy policies — including
initiatives intended to extend the life of clothing (repairs and resale) and for
customers to give back or trade in old purchases to be up/recycled, resold or
donated — to reduce waste.
The new research — published in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and
Society
by the UK’s University of Birmingham and University of Bristol, and
the University of Georgia and Buffalo State University in the US —
explored these post-consumer policies of 17 apparel and activewear brands to see
how geography impacts their effectiveness.
Professor John Bryson,
Chair in Enterprise and Economic Geography at Birmingham Business School, said:
“For our study, we examined 17 ‘eco-friendly’ [apparel] companies based in
Europe and the US that had a post-consumer circular economy policy —
such as returning clothing for mending, store credit, recycling or donation. We
wanted to see how geography impacted these ‘waste-reduction networks’
[which] might be configured locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.”
The researchers found that brands are using a variety of waste-reduction
networks to keep their products out of landfills. For example, US firms
éclipse and Girlfriend
Collective have a program where customers return old
clothing for store credit or money off their next purchase.
However, the study found that, for firms with take-back schemes for reuse or
upcycling —including Filippa
K, Girlfriend Collective, Globe
Hope, Mate the Label,
Pact, Vaude
and Veja), the shopper’s physical location
plays an important role — despite many of them selling globally online and
through brick-and-mortar retailers. Swedish brands Filippa
K and
Houdini have joined a growing
number of brands that resell used garments via a secondhand marketplace — but
only for shoppers within Sweden.
“éclipse, Filippa K and Girlfriend Collective’s return initiatives align with
their sustainability principles; but for companies that ship globally, these
schemes will be limited to domestic customers,” said Buffalo State University
Professor Vida Vanchan.
“éclipse requires customers to return clothing to its headquarters in
Colorado, and Filippa K’s preowned market is restricted to those in
Sweden. Girlfriend Collective’s initiative is only available in the US even
though it ships to Canada, the UK, and Australia, among other global
markets.
“It is not practical to think that a customer in the UK is going to pay for
something to be sent all the way to Colorado, which would have an environmental
impact. These waste-reduction networks are only effective for those who can
easily access them.”
The case is the same, if not worse, for apparel brands that offer mending
services — which are often only available in certain locations. For instance,
French footwear brand Veja only has cobblers available in two French stores —
but it sells its sustainable
shoes
through 3,000 retailers in 50 countries.
The study highlights other kinds of waste-reduction initiatives that can be
implemented internationally, such as providing repair guidance on websites.
“All the companies we looked at have taken steps to improve their environmental
impacts and reduce waste, and that is to be applauded,” Bryson pointed out.
“However, we have found that the consumer waste-reduction networks offered by
these companies are very limited by geography. Despite the fact that a lot of
these companies sell their products internationally, the waste-reduction
networks only operate on a local, regional or at most national level.”
The researchers said one way to help with eco-conscious consumers bridge this
gap could be to work with online resellers such as
Depop,
eBay,
ThredUp
or Vinted. But the onus is on brands to invest the
necessary resources into expanding availability of circular services, to ensure
broader swathes of consumers can extend the life of their garments and help
brands achieve their waste-reduction goals.
“Company-led post-consumer product initiatives need to be supplemented by
investments in waste-management systems that ensure that most of the clothing is
recycled rather than landfilled, which will likely need support from
government,” Bryson concluded. “These initiatives are to be welcomed, but they
need to be more accessible to meet the scale of the environmental problem caused
by waste clothing.”
The study echoes the conclusions of a recent report by the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation, which puts forth a model for global, external producer
responsibility (EPR) ecosystem for
textiles
that provides sufficient funding for separate collection, sorting, recycling
and/or reuse of all discarded textiles — not just the current focus on the
fraction of those with a high market value — in which “businesses contribute to
supporting infrastructure in proportion to what they place on the market."
Published Aug 16, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff
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