MANY RETAILERS HAS DEVELOPED SOME TAKE BACK MODELS TO RETRIEVE THE USED CLOTHES OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. IN MOST CASES THIS LEADS TO EVEN WORSE RESULTS. EXCEPT OUR RE3 MODEL.
Today’s fashion industry has become synonymous with overconsumption, a snowballing waste crisis, widespread pollution generated by used clothes no more worn and the exploitation of workers in global supply chains. What is less well known is that the insatiable fast fashion business model is enabled by cheap synthetic fibers, which are produced from fossil fuels, mostly oil and gas used to produce garments worn less than ten times before they are thrown away due to low quality of these productions. For this reason, many retailers has developed and settled some “take back” models to retrieve the used clothes of their customers. The result, that should have partially compensated the over-production and the extremely high consumption drove to results even worst.
A study held by changingmarkets.org between August 2022 and July 2023, tracked 21 items from 10 fashion brands through their take-back schemes. Garments were donated to H&M, Zara, C&A, Primark, Nike, The North Face, Uniqlo and M&S stores in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, or posted them to a Boohoo scheme. Despite the slogans, three quarters of items (16 out of 21 or 76%) were either destroyed, left in warehouses or exported to Africa, where up to half of used clothing are quickly shredded for other uses or dumped.
A pair of trousers donated to M&S were scrapped within a week. A pair of jogging trousers donated to C&A were burned in a cement kiln. A skirt donated to H&M travelled 24,800 kilometers from London to waste ground in Mali, where it appears to be dumped. Three items ended up in Ukraine, where import rules have been relaxed due to the war. Only 5 items, around a quarter of the original 21, were reused in Europe or ended up in a resale shop. A disastrous result.
We at SEAY have also developed a take-back model but we want to be fully transparent on the whole process.
How?
- we collaborate with non-profit cooperatives that certificates to reuse 100% of the used material collected exclusively in Italy;
- each used garment donated is traced using a unique QR code that previous owners can use to verify how their used garment has been used;
- base on what has been collected from our customers up to date, less than 10% of used clothing has been incinerated, around 60% has been prepared for reuse and 30% has been prepared for recycling.
Over the last months, the European commission has been working on a law which makes mandatory an extended producer responsibility (EPR) also in the textile sector. Textile producers, retailers and brand will soon be mandatorily asked to manage the end of life of the products they have produced and/or placed on the market, through financial and organizational responsibility, which can be implemented individually or collectively. That’s why with our Re3 Model we are able to satisfy right now what will be the future law on the management of textile waste.
We have developed our Re3 Model to be as effective and transparent as possible. Haven’t tried it yet? Let’s test it! Just tick the Re3 box in the cart of our e-store and you will get all the information you need to get an immediate discount on your purchase, to drop us your used garment that you no longer use and to track the new life of your old garment.
