What really happens to your old clothes?

Exploring how people dispose of clothes and improve textile recycling habits

James Beard

April 06, 2022

The Emperor’s old clothes

Choosing how to dispose of unwanted clothing is just as important as making sustainable purchasing decisions. While buying better-quality or more sustainable garments helps reduce environmental impact, what happens at the end of a garment’s life plays a major role in the overall footprint of fashion.

Research into consumer behaviour highlights how people currently reuse, donate, and discard clothing, and where there is still room for improvement.

Charity begins at home (but doesn’t end there)

The UK textile recycling system is strongly supported by charities, which rely heavily on clothing donations to fund their work and extend the life of unwanted garments.

Recent research shows:

  • 57% of people donated clothing to charity shops in the past year
  • 36% used clothing banks
  • 20% donated via door-to-door collections
  • 13% used community schemes

For many, the charitable impact is an important motivator, with 59% of respondents saying it is extremely or very important when deciding where to donate clothing.

This shows that donation remains a key part of how people manage unwanted textiles.

Rack of Clothing

Room for improvement in clothing collection

Despite high levels of donation, an estimated 300,000 tonnes of textiles still end up in landfill or incineration each year in the UK.

Retailer takeback schemes are becoming more widely available, but awareness remains low. Only 12% of respondents said they had used an in-store clothing takeback service in the last year.

Nearly half of respondents (46%) said they were unaware that these schemes existed at all.

This suggests that improving visibility and accessibility of clothing collection options could help divert significant amounts of textiles away from disposal and into reuse or recycling systems.

Reuse is still the priority

The greatest value in used clothing comes from reuse. Many garments can be worn again either domestically or through international second-hand markets.

However, not all clothing can be reused indefinitely.

Survey findings show:

  • 13% of people had not disposed of any clothing recently
  • 6% admitted to throwing clothing away
  • Of those, 45% said items were not in good enough condition to reuse

This highlights an important challenge: not all textiles are suitable for reuse, and some end up being disposed of when no other options are available.

The need for better textile recycling

When clothing cannot be reused, recycling becomes essential. One promising solution is fibre-to-fibre recycling, which allows old textiles to be processed into new fabrics.

This type of recycling could help create a more circular fashion system, where materials are continuously reused rather than discarded.

While reuse will always be the preferred option, improving recycling infrastructure will be key to reducing textile waste at scale and supporting more sustainable fashion choices.

Moving towards a circular future

As awareness of fashion’s environmental impact grows, consumers are increasingly concerned about the sustainability of their clothing choices.

Improving donation systems, expanding retailer takeback schemes, and developing advanced recycling technologies will all play an important role in reducing textile waste and building a more circular clothing economy.

 

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author, James Beard, and do not necessarily reflect the views of recycle-more, Valpak Limited, or any other organisation.