53 retailers, suppliers, charities and recyclers in the clothing sector, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, Next, Stella McCartney and John Lewis, have committed to reducing the environmental impacts of clothing by 15% by 2020.
The Sustainable Clothing Action Plan is being led by WRAP and contains several commitment targets to be met by 2020, including a 15% reduction in carbon emissions, water and waste to landfill, and a 3.5% reduction in waste arising during the manufacture of their clothes, which apparently amounts to 16,000 tonnes a year.
The signatories to the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan account for 40% of the UK clothing market based on retail sales value. Should the commitment targets be met, the annual carbon saving equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from the road could be expected, as could a water saving equivalent to 170,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
WRAP Chief Executive Liz Goodwin said that the Action Plan "has excellent industry buy-in with signatories representing 40% of UK clothing sales and many leading charities and recyclers on board. By agreeing to these stretching targets they are demonstrating their commitment to reducing the environmental footprint of the sector."
Dan Rogerson, a Minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said, "It cannot be right that millions of pounds worth of unwanted clothing ends up in landfill each year. I welcome these targets to help encourage us all to think more about how we can re-use products."
Although this commitment has been made on the production side of the clothing sector, there is a clear role for customers to help reduce waste from clothing. As a result, WRAP has also launched a "Love Your Clothes" campaign, designed to encourage the public to think about the way they buy, use and dispose of their clothing.
Mr Rogerson added, "The Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 gives us a real opportunity to reduce the environmental footprint of UK clothing consumption and I am confident that combined with the launch of the innovative Love Your Clothes campaign it will help deliver these targets."
