Metrics

Every year, an estimated 31% of end-of-life clothing – some 350,000 tonnes – goes to landfill. If all this material was donated for re-use or recycling, it would provide a value of £140 million or more at current (June 2012) prices as well as providing environmental savings [1].

35% of respondents to a WRAP survey said they would donate unwanted clothes more often to an organisation that would re-use or recycle them, if they thought that damaged or heavily worn clothing was valuable to such organisations [1]. A key opportunity therefore lies in making it clear to consumers that various organisations do welcome such clothing, and have a use for it. This highlights the importance of collection initiatives such as those described on this Knowledge Hub.

^1. WRAP, 2012, Valuing Our Clothes