Major NZ clothing brand launches recycling initiative – this one is for real

We have a problem with clothing and fabric waste. Every year in New Zealand, an 175,000 tonnes of textile waste goes to landfill.

That’s about three tonne every 10 minutes – a mind-boggling figure.

What if you could return unwanted clothing and other textiles at the same places that you buy them? It’s a deceptively simple idea, but one that makes so much sense when you think about it.

In good news, a New Zealand-first recycling partnership between Icebreaker and Upparel, about to be rolled out nationwide helps make this a reality. From March 27, recycling bins will be available in icebreaker Touch Lab stores, where shoppers can put any pre-loved clothing or other unwanted textile items.

READ MORE:
* Unwearable clothes and other surprising things you can recycle
* The company wanting to turn your old T-shirts into roading
* Usedfully says $3b needed for recycling facilities should be funded by a public private partnership

As a bonus, donations made at Icebreaker stores will receive a little gift, in the way of a $10 store credit.

Helping grow the circular economy is about recognising value where others can’t.

“At Upparel, we see waste as a resource,” says Jeff Vollebregt, New Zealand director of the self-funding B-Corp certified Australasian textile recycling company. ”What’s really exciting is that Icebreaker are the same way. They see the same thing, and they’re partnering with us on this initiative to reduce textile waste from landfill.”

In the 12 months since establishing in New Zealand, the Upparel has diverted more than 80 tonne of textiles from landfill, including unwanted textiles, unwearable garments and leftover PPE uniforms. In Australia, were the company has been operating for just over two and a half years, 1.1 million kilograms have been diverted.

The Icebreaker partnership adds another link in the resource recovery chain, supporting the back-end upcycling process Upparel is already operating.

The new partnership is a positive step towards the circular economy – where everything has potential value and capacity for re-purposing, rather than being labelled worthless and discarded.

“We’re really excited about that impact we’re making for the environment but also, the reduction in landfill and what we’re doing for our future generations,” says Vollebregt.

Jordi Beneyto-Ferre, senior manager of global materials and sustainability says that Icebreaker tries to ensure that every product put in the market, is grown, marketed and commercialised in a sustainable manner.

“But there’s no ignoring the fact that there is a large waste problem within the world. So icebreaker wants to do their part.” He says Icebreaker is focused on ensuring the lifecycle of products has minimal impact on the environment.

“Last year we committed to invest in repairing and re-homing products, and Upparel is the perfect partner to bring this to life by giving consumers an easy way to give pre-loved clothing a second life. It’s about taking responsibility at the end of a product’s lifecycle by keeping those materials in circulation and lessening the need to create new materials.”

Once at Upparel, textiles are sorted and wearable items passed on to charity partners for resale. Together with local businesses, Upparel makes new products using recycled textiles, and a fluffy, shredded fabric product that can replace plastic-based polyester fillings used in mattresses, cushions, bean bags, pet beds and home insulation.

“We honestly think it would be a good thing if we were overwhelmed because it means that the consumers [are] understanding what we’re trying [to get] them to do.

If we get huge amount of textiles returned and then Jeff gets too much work, that is a good outcome. It means we are actually recirculating things, taking things away from landfill and putting them into a recycling system, which is at the end of the day, a good thing for everyone.