Reducing Textile and Clothing Waste

Giving clothing and textiles a second life

Clothes are made to be worn, loved and re-worn. But if our customers want to give their pre-loved clothes a new life, we offer a convenient way to donate unwanted clothing or textiles. With the help of recycling specialist Yellow Octopus Circular Solutions, our Textile Takeback scheme allows customers to donate any brand of pre-loved clothing, textiles, footwear and bags at collection boxes in any of our stores across the UK, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

Each donated item is sorted and graded by our partner. If the items donated can’t be reused or resold, they will be recycled in line with the EU Waste Hierarchy, a framework developed by the European Union to guide waste management by prioritising options that minimise environmental harm.

All proceeds from the scheme support UNICEF, our global charity partner, and are used to provide vital, life-saving assistance to children and families during humanitarian emergencies.

We’re committed to expanding the Textile Takeback scheme to all markets where local regulations and infrastructure allow.

Click here to see local additional textile recycling services, you can also contact your local council to check what they offer in your area.

Let your pre-loved be re-loved

Ever wonder what happens to stock we don’t sell?

We work hard to avoid clothing waste by managing our stock carefully, like placing specific orders with our suppliers to make sure we have just the right amount of stock for our customers in our depots and stores. Where we do have leftover stock, we partner with trusted charities to ensure any unsold stock is donated, resold or recycled if it can no longer be worn.

Tackling waste at source

Textile waste can happen during the production process - especially when fibres are made or fabric is cut to create clothes. That’s why we’re working closely with our suppliers to better understand where this waste occurs and how we can support them to reduce it.

As part of our commitment to becoming a more circular business, we’re focused on keeping this type of waste out of landfill and incineration. Instead, we aim to ensure it’s reused or recycled wherever possible.