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Primark extends instore textile takeback scheme to Austria, Ireland and Germany

PRIMARK CARES

Primark Extends Instore Textile Takeback Scheme To Austria, Ireland And Germany

Primark, the international fashion retailer, is extending its in-store Textile Takeback scheme to Austria, Ireland and Germany to make it even easier for people to donate their pre-loved clothes and give them a second life.

  • Thousands more customers will be able to give their pre-loved clothes and textiles a second life as scheme rolled out from the UK to 73 new stores across Europe

Primark, the international fashion retailer, is extending its in-store Textile Takeback scheme to Austria, Ireland and Germany to make it even easier for people to donate their pre-loved clothes and give them a second life.

Building on the success of its launch in the UK in 2020, which has seen 23 tonnes of textiles diverted from landfill, the scheme lets customers donate clothing, footwear, accessories and textiles such as towels and bedsheets, from any brand via their collection boxes located in store. These are then collected, sorted and either re-used, recycled or repurposed.

Primark has partnered with Yellow Octopus, a leading a recycling specialist, to run the scheme. Yellow Octopus has a ‘no landfill’ policy across the 21 countries it operates in, diverting around one million garments from landfill every month. The company aims for as many donations as possible to be worn again, with the remainder being repurposed into new products such as insulation, toy stuffing and mattress fillers.

The expansion of the in-store donation scheme follows the launch of Primark’s new sustainability strategy last month as the business outlined steps to become a more sustainable and circular business. As part of its commitments, Primark will be improving the durability of its own products and will also, as a signatory of Textiles 2030, be working with WRAP and other retailers to refresh its clothing longevity guidelines to collectively move the fashion industry towards a more circular economy and in turn reduce fashion waste.

Lynne Walker, Director of Primark Cares, said: “We know that making it easier for customers to donate their pre-loved clothes to be recycled back into the system is an important part of our drive to become a circular and more sustainable business. Expanding our in-store Textile Takeback scheme to now run across four countries and more than 250 stores means giving more clothes a second life and fewer clothes going to landfill. Our target is for all the clothes we sell to be made from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030. Textile Takeback is another step on this path to ensure more new clothes are made from old clothes, giving clothes a longer life and reducing fashion waste.”

Jack Ostrowski, CEO of Yellow Octopus Group, commented: “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Primark and assist in its effort to drive down textile waste and divert fashion goods from going to landfill. It is important for the entire fashion industry to transition from linear to circular business model. As every journey, it has to start somewhere, and the take back programme is the very beginning of circularity in fashion. Through constant innovations, investments and collaborations Yellow Octopus Group is proud to be on the forefront of providing solutions which will lead to achieve fully circular fashion ecosystem. We are happy to be sharing this journey together with Primark.”

The profits from the scheme will go to UNICEF, one of Primark’s charity partners.

To find out more about how Primark is becoming a more sustainable and circular business and to find out more on how to give clothes a longer life visit www.primark.com/howchangelooks.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For more information:
Primark Press Office
Email: corporate_pr@primark.ie Phone: +353 1 5247 335

About Primark:

Primark is an international retailer that offers customers the latest fashion, beauty and homeware at great value prices. Founded in Ireland in 1969 under the Penneys brand, Primark today has 399 stores across 14 countries in Europe and North America and employs more than 70,000 people. Primark is working to make more sustainable fashion affordable for everyone and is focused on giving clothing a longer life, protecting life on the planet and improving the lives of people who make Primark products. As part of this it has unveiled a series of commitments it is working to achieve by 2030. These include making all its clothes from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials, ensuring clothing is recyclable by design, halving carbon emissions across the value chain, removing single-use plastic and pursuing a living wage for workers in the supply chain. You can find out about these commitments and more here.

About Yellow Octopus:

Yellow Octopus Group is a leading European provider of Commercial Sustainability Solutions to Fashion Industry.

Within Yellow Octopus Group Ecosystem and its Circular Fashion Impact Fund there is a family of companies within sustainability and technology space working toward achieving an ultimate goal of creating Circular Fashion.

Yellow Octopus Group companies are working with major global brands providing sustainable services including Take Back Programs, Stock Exits, Re-commerce Models, Upcycling and Tech for Good software.

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