Fashion month is over for another season and whilst high street shops rush to imitate the designs off the catwalks across the world, one thing is clear, fast fashion is not going anywhere.
Whilst high-end fashion designers may only release 2 collections a year, high street brands will release between 16 and 24, which is having a detrimental effect on the environment. WRAP’s latest report on the Cost of UK Fashion found that every year, over 1 million tonnes of fast fashion is discarded, a figure that is steadily rising.
Consumers have admitted that they are often not sure where to start when it comes to recycling clothes; two-thirds of Briton’s do not recycle their clothes because they do not know if they are in a state to give away. There is such a great opportunity for more education in this area and it needn’t be doom and gloom!
Significant inroads have been made; H&M and Zara have recently introduced drop-off bins in their stores to encourage recycling of unwanted clothes and the British Fashion Council have also challenged the industry with their Positive Fashion initiative.
Whilst plastic waste is often discussed as a huge contributor to the waste problem, fashion is not far behind; it is the second largest contributor to all waste worldwide at the moment. This can be changed and it is our responsibility as business owners and business leaders to lead this transition.
As part of our textile recycling service, we encourage workplaces to make it easier for their employees to recycle their clothes. This type of initiative must become widespread if we are to help tackle the problem. Ultimately the fashion industry must ask itself what they are doing to make it easier for consumers to recycle and help end the fast fashion crisis.
Read WRAP’s full report on the Cost of UK Fashion here.
