Marks & Spencer Fights to Improve Most Resource Intensive Industry with Recycled Wool Suits

by | Oct 20, 2017

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Marks & Spencer has launched a recycled wool blend suit made from 55% recycled wool, including wool that customers have donated in stores through the company’s Shwopping initiative. Marks & Spencer takes the donated clothing and sends it to Italy where it is woven into the suit fabric. According to The Mirror, this is the first time a retailer has undertaken a recycling project on such a large scale. The move is part of Marks & Spencer’s commitment to make fashion – one of the most resource-intensive industries in the world – more sustainable.

Shwopping is an initiative Marks & Spencer launched with Oxfam to help reduce unwanted clothing items going to landfill. Consumers can donate unwanted clothing items in special Shwop Drop bins in stores. The retailer has committed to 25% of their clothing and home products being made using at least 25% recycled materials by 2025.

Marks & Spencer has been dedicated to sustainability since at least 2007, when it launched an initiative to address climate change, waste and resources. The company recently updated its sustainability commitments with new objectives, including a goal of having a quarter of its clothing and home products being made using at least 25% recycled materials by 2025.

Meanwhile, clothing brand Theory is aiming for sustainable wool with a different tactic. The company launched Good Wool, calling it the brand’s most sustainable collection to date. Theory dove into its supply chain to find the most sustainable farms, mills and sewing factories in the world. “Every aspect of these garments, from the traceable wool, to the biodegradable lining, to the recycled buttons is made in the most sustainable way possible,” writes Forbes.

 

 

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