UK retailer Marks & Spencer has announced plans to re-introduce its clothes recycling scheme, Shwopping, in partnership with Oxfam, starting 1 October.
The recycling scheme was paused temporarily in March of this year to enable the retailer to focus on implementing health and safety measures due to the pandemic.
Since the launch of Shwopping in 2008, the retailer has raised nearly £23 million from the sales of donated items to help people living in extreme poverty.
'More Ways To Donate'
Fee Gilfeather, head of audience and strategic planning at Oxfam, commented, “We are delighted that M&S, which shares Oxfam’s sustainability ambitions, is bringing back Shwopping to its stores.
“The return of Shwop drops to M&S stores means that there are more ways for people to donate to Oxfam and support our [efforts] in fighting poverty and helping vulnerable communities around the world.”
Customers can donate unwanted clothes, shoes, bras and accessories of any brand or condition in nearly 290 M&S stores.
The retailer added that all clothing items collected through the scheme are sent to Oxfam to be resold in one of its shops or online.
Some clothes are reused via its social enterprise in Senegal, while the remaining are recycled into new materials, which are used by businesses such as M&S’s mattress filling.
'A New Purpose'
Head of sustainable business for M&S, Carmel McQuaid, said, “We want our customers to be confident that the clothes they buy at M&S are made to last, but if they finish wearing their old favourites, we make it easy to give them a new purpose through Shwopping.
“It’s a brilliant programme that many of our customers rely on as they shop with us for new staples—and now more than ever it’s perfect for those who have been decluttering.”
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
