Sustainability News in Retail
Completely Retail Marketplace looks at the latest Sustainability News from the world of retail.
Globally, consumers choose to buy from brands that commit to sustainability. Nowadays, going green is about more than just conserving energy or asking customers to recycle their shopping bags. Sustainability allows brands to better connect with their customers and do their bit for the planet.
Read the below Snapshot blog post to gain further insight into the latest sustainability news in retail.
H&M reveals new textile recycling endeavour
Retail Giant H&M has recently announced its plans to collaborate with Remondis, a German recycling group, to save and resell preloved garments and textiles.
H&M has stated that Looper Textile will commence the operation in Europe and aims to salvage and extend the life of up to 40 million garments in 2023. In addition, the new venture will be used as a base to test an array of new collection and automation technologies. These include near-infrared sorting, a technology that transforms current textile collection and sorting practices.
In a recent interview, Emily Bolon, chief executive of Looper, stated: “Used and unwanted garments must first be collected and sorted into different streams, such as by type of material or garment, to be reused or recycled.”
It has been reported that 40% of used clothes are currently collected in the EU, and 60% of post-consumer textiles go directly to waste. The initiative is a possible solution to this waste problem.
Bolton added; “By building infrastructure and solutions for collection and sorting, we hope to move one step closer toward enabling circularity, thereby minimizing the CO²-impact and improving resource efficiency.”
Jigsaw announces new repair scheme pop-up space
Jigsaw has recently announced a repair service to add to their “Jigsaw Forever” scheme. To launch the service, they are opening a pop-up in London. The repair service will be available at its Kensington high street this March.
The fashion retailer has stated that the service will be free of charge for one year after you’ve made your purchase and thereafter there will be a small repair fee.
The predecessor to the repair offering, their rental and resale service was launched in June 2022 and offers customers the option of short-term flexible rentals from as little as £6 per day or a monthly subscription where customers can utilize their “rotation wardrobe” giving them access to ready-to-wear items and accessories.
Jigsaw Forever, the circular service was then launched slightly later in July of 2022 and offered Jigsaw customers the option of re-sell launching in key stores from September 2022.
Jigsaw opened a pop-up shop on 19 January at its Kensington high street store to expand on the brand's partnership with My Wardrobe HQ. The intention is for the pop-up to run until the stock finishes.
Customers can now also donate old Jigsaw items in return for a voucher to spend in-store.
Jigsaw CEO Beth Butterwick said: "With the secondary market growing 11 times faster than the primary, sustainability is undoubtedly going to transform the fashion industry over the next 10 years.
Our research tells us our customers value the beauty of our products, often keeping them in their wardrobes for years. Our partnership with My Wardrobe HQ not only allows existing customers and new to enjoy standout pieces via rental and subscription but as excitingly, discover unique pre-loved Jigsaw unicorn pieces."
"With style longevity enduring over disposable fashion, these options open us up to a much broader audience of age groups to falling in love with 50 years of Jigsaw ethos."
Curry's starts selling refurbished tech online
A new trial sees Curry’s selling refurbished technology on its website. The move comes after the tech retailer noticed a growth in demand for cheaper and more “eco-friendly” tech products. This move is no surprise, given the availability of eco-information and the current financial squeeze caused by the cost of living crisis.
In response to the mentioned, Curry’s started their resale efforts last November. They began by selling cheaper, pre-owned mobiles, laptops and Chromebooks on its website to “test the resale waters”.
Since the start of their resale crusade, they have reported that the sales of second-hand items have skyrocketed, with 80% of their refurbished product lines selling out within the first week of sales.
They noted that the demand for refurbished laptops is in high order. Even without marketing, they noticed that one in 10 online users searched organically for laptops and browsed the available refurbished listings on their site.
As a part of their internal refurbishment process, each product is individually checked, restored (if needed), and then repackaged by a member of the Currys refurb team. They have reported that its Newark tech centre has processed over 600,000 individual tech items in the last twelve months.
How has their refurbished offering changed?
The refurbished tech was previously only available via the ‘Currys Clearance’ eBay store. Now, buyers of refurbished tech products have the same payment options they would expect when purchasing new items via www.currys.co.uk. This means customers can purchase products with various ‘buy now, pay later’ options.
The tech retail giant has also guaranteed that each refurbished item has its charging power outlets and leads sold with it.
The latest offering also provides customers with the option to buy from an assortment of grading levels. This means that not only are "excellent" graded items for sale, but you can purchase from 'very good' and 'fair' conditioned items as well. Again, this offers customers a range of different price points to choose from.
Despite the varied condition of the tech items, they are all sold with a 12-month technical guarantee.
In a recent interview, Currys HOD – Circular Economy, Mandeep Gobindpuri said: "In the UK, we produce the second highest amount of e-waste per capita in the world. As much as we all love brand-new tech, we need to address this challenge."
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