Clothes That Can Be Recycled

Circularity is often thought about at the end of an item’s life. But making sure clothing can be reused and recycled begins at the design stage and we’re committed to offering our customers clothes that are recyclable by design by 2027.

How we’re bringing circularity to life

There is no single industry-recognised definition of the word ‘recyclable’ for textiles and clothing. We’ve created our own Circular Product Standard, which is our framework for how we intend to design products now and in the future. It was built with input from industry experts like Circle Economy, the Sustainable Fashion Academy, and WRAP, and is aligned with the principles of our partner, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

We’re also training our teams and suppliers in circular design principles through tailored training programmes. This includes working with Circle Economy and the Sustainable Fashion Academy to develop a custom ‘Circular by Design’ training module that teaches how to apply these principles to our everyday work. We’ve taken this further by collaborating with the Circular Textile Foundation to launch a more advanced programme, where our teams and suppliers can learn to adapt circular design principles to different product categories, considering the unique needs of each product type.

These training efforts support the changes we’re making in our products. In 2023, we launched our first circular product collection in line with our Circular Product Standard. Since then, circular clothing in Primark is growing. We’re looking at certain categories first, like denim and jersey, which are more simple to move into recyclable by design. Next up, is other categories, such as knitwear, which is more difficult but a challenge we are looking at. We’re trying to find solutions for products made of blended fibres (recognised as one of the major inhibitors of textile-to-textile recycling) and other products, such as socks or lingerie, which are more difficult due to their performance of function.

A product designed in line with our Circular Product Standard follows these principles:

• Designed with recycled or more sustainably sourced fibres: the main fabric is made using cotton from the Primark Cotton Project (formerly the Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme) (95%) and/or recycled cotton, and/or organic cotton. 5% is made up of trims, embellishments or buttons, which, where possible, are removable or recyclable.

• Designed for physical durability: Product meets the wash and performance test requirements as detailed in our Durability Framework (foundational level).

• Designed to be technically recyclable at commercial scale: fabrics made from 100% cotton. Care labels and stitching thread made from 100% polyester, with essential functional trims only.

What else are we doing?

Love your clothes for longer repair workshops

For the past three years, we’ve been offering repair workshops for customers. Run in many of our stores, these workshops aim to teach people how to mend, darn, embroider, customise or upcycle their clothes. We currently offer workshops in stores in UK, Ireland, France, Italy and the Netherlands but we continue to expand this.

Since these workshops aren’t available everywhere yet, we’ve also created an online customer hub with simple step-by-step videos covering everything from basic stitching to sewing on buttons and zippers.

Sign up here for one of our workshops.

Expanding our Textile Takeback scheme

Our Textile Takeback scheme is one part of our wider approach to circularity. With the help of recycling partner Yellow Octopus, we offer customers and colleagues a convenient way to donate unwanted clothing or textiles and give items a second life. If what is put into the takeback boxes can’t be reused or resold, the clothes or textiles will be recycled. Read more here.

Our partnerships

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

We’ve worked with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation since 2018 as part of its ‘Make Fashion Circular’ initiative. In 2021, we became Network Partners of the Foundation and joined its Advisory Board for Fashion. We also partnered in their Jeans Redesign Project, designing a collection of denim products designed to be easily recycled. In 2024, we joined the Foundation’s the Fashion ReModel to help the industry unlock the barriers to scaling circular business models.

WRAP

We’re working with WRAP to support our commitment to giving clothes a longer life. This three-year partnership will explore how collaboration and innovative solutions can better manage textile waste. This includes looking at the next step for Primark’s textile donation scheme and other routes for circular clothing.

But don’t just take our word for it, hear more from our partners