WRAP

Nonprofit WRAP has warned that if the UK’s used textiles sector goes under, charities, local authorities and consumers will have to pay the cost of dealing with unwanted used textiles.

Environmental action NGO WRAP has come out with a Design for Recyclability Toolkit for Fashion and Textiles as a practical resource to help businesses integrate recyclability into product development.

A report by global environmental action NGO WRAP has established clear benchmarks for repair and resale using data from six companies and helped to develop a single methodology that can be applied by businesses of all shapes and sizes, to give robust and comparable data on big environmental savings from preloved and repair, showing that introducing a little circular living into our lives reduces the price and the environmental price tag too.

The lack of universal industry standard has prompted global retailer Primark to come up with its own Durability Framework that spells out guidance designed to encourage longer-lasting clothing across the fashion industry.

New numbers released by environmental group WRAP on Tuesday show that the state of post-consumer textiles in the UK does not augur well for circularity, and the situation is compounded by concerns that the recycling and reuse sector is on the verge of collapse.

The Textiles 2030 Annual Progress Report 2021–22 of climate action NGO WRAP sets out the baseline for Textiles 2030, based on the signatories’ combined carbon and water footprints in 2019.

Investors in Europe are increasingly opting for starups that have clear-cut sustainability commitments, with more than half of them having declined a startup investment opportunity in the last 12 months due to concerns about that company’s sustainability credentials. 

A new report marks the first piece of consumer research that WRAP has conducted on home textiles and provides a timely follow-on from the organisation's citizen insights report on clothing longevity in the UK, published in October 2022.

‘Affordable’ retailer Primark is inching closer to its ambitious move towards a more circular future with the launch of its first ever collection that promises enhanced durability and recyclability.

A survey in the UK on ‘Clothing Longevity and Circular Business Models’ reveals that cost is the primary reason why pre-loved, rental, upcycled and repair models are not yet popular. And, UK citizens stack an average of 118 items of clothing in their wardrobes, with 26% or more not worn in the past year.