GreenBusiness
GreenBusiness
UNIQLO Recycling Initiative reaches milestone million in one month
Mar 4th, 2010
You may have seen this logo at a UNIQLO store near you. It is the logo for UNIQLO’s All-Product Recycling Initiative. The amount of clothes collected in March topped 1 million items – a commendable milestone even for a brand with 777 stores nationwide (as of June 2009).
UNIQLO began recycling fleece clothing in 2001, before expanding to include their entire range. In 2006 they started collecting used clothing during two months each year – in March and September. Around 90% of clothing collected is donated to refugee camps in Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia through the UNHCR and JRCC (Japan Relief Clothing Center) to be re-used. The remainder is recycled to create electricity or industrial fibers. While this is labeled a ‘recycling’ initiative, in fact the majority of clothing collected is not recycled, but reused in developing countries.
Returning clothing at a UNIQLO store
Only UNIQLO clothing can be recycled through the initiative, and it must be washed and brought to the stores by hand. Despite these restrictions, the number of items returned are on the increase. We talked with Igarashi from the global communications division of Fast Retailing Co. to see how UNIQLO managed to get this far.
Supposing each item of clothing bought cost on average 1,000 yen, one can calculate from total annual sales of 462 billion yen (until August 2008) that around 500 million items were sold in that year. If another million items can be collected at the second collection this year, this would bring the annual total of returned items to 2 million. A simple calculation tells us the amount of sold items that make it back to the shop for re-use is jut 0.4%.
Igarashi is not satisfied with that figure. While the initiative has already taken 1.4 million items of clothing to needy refugees, Igarashi has a bigger goal in mind. “While we don’t want to set ‘goals’ when relying on the good will of customers, it is said that there are over 30 million refugees and IDPs worldwide in need of clothing. I want to be able to give at least one piece of clothing to each needy person”.
Photo courtesy of Shinsuke Kamioka
The image of smiling children wearing UNIQLO clothes in refugee camps leaves a lasting impression on the mind. A photo exhibition held at the U T Store Harajuku in August, along with the online Photo Report have been helping raise awareness about the initiative. The fact that 1 million items were recycled in just one month is a culmination of these efforts. However while this is an important milestone for UNIQLO, the real challenge continues.
UNIQLO is also involved in emergency relief, sending clothes to areas struck by natural disasters. In 2008, used clothes were sent to Sichuan after the earthquake, and also Burma and Bangladesh after they were devastated by cyclones.
This initiative by UNIQLO to reuse their clothing is a great CSR model for other brands looking to break into the fast fashion market such as H&M and FOREVER21. Fast fashion, and the accompanying mass production and mass consumption, are oft seen as opposing the ecological ideal. Many people are critical of the current trend due to it’s potential to increase waste. However seen from a different angle, if the products are disused sooner then they are in a better condition to be recycled, and being mass produced means it’s easy to get items of a standard size. This, along with the unisex design means the recycled items can be worn by anyone, young or old. UNIQLO also gets the opportunity to prove that while their clothes may be cheap, that doesn’t mean they can’t be used for more than their money’s worth.
A Ugandan family dressed in UNIQLO (Photo courtesy of Shinsuke Kamioka)
While it’s easy to point out the adverse effects of these business models, finding a way to contribute to society that suits that particular model may be a more constructive way to create sustainable CSR programs. Other major fashion labels have also found ways to give back to society that suit their brand niche, such as the Benetton social action program, Patagonia’s environmentalism, and H&M’s organic cotton.
UNIQLO have announced that they will start collecting used clothes in June as well, just as you switch your wardrobe from spring to summer. Now with three opportunities each year to slim down and smarten up your wardrobe, why not return those unused QNIQLO items to a store and give them a new lease on life?
- This article was translated by Ken from the original Japanese post by Misako Ikeda.
- SERVICEs
-
- URL
- KEYWORDs
Related
-
-
GreenBusiness
-
CulturalCreative
![[30aHEADS]](http://greenz.jp/en/wp-content/themes/greenz_v2-1/banner/gfBanner_30aheads.gif)
