Recycling

A lot of energy goes into producing clothing. We’re doing all we can to not let that energy go to waste. Having a wardrobe declutter? Recycling is a handy way to pass on clothing. Making sure your unwanted clothes go to a good home means the energy used to create them goes further.

Recycling  with Oxfam

The average lifespan for an item of clothing is 3.3 years. Consumers send a whopping 336,000 tonnes of used clothing to residual waste every year in the UK.

On average each year, Sainsbury’s customers divert around 15 million items of textiles from landfill by donating their unwanted clothing in Oxfam textile banks, raising significant funds for Oxfam’s work and providing a sustainable option for clothes recycling.

“Many people still think that their unwanted clothes won’t make a difference to charities, but at Oxfam we can reuse or recycle almost any garments. The items donated by Sainsbury’s customers raise millions, helping us continue our vital work to end extreme poverty around the world.”
Fee Gilfeather, Oxfam Sustainable Fashion Team

What can be recycled?

Customers can bring any clothing, shoes or accessories – good quality or worn out – to Oxfam textile banks on over 340 Sainsbury’s sites.

What happens to the clothes that get recycled?

Nothing goes to landfill. Oxfam regularly collect donations and they are then either resold in Oxfam shops, online or at festivals. They are also reused in Frip Ethique, Oxfam’s social enterprise scheme in Senegal or in other countries around the world. If they can’t be reused, they are recycled into things such as mattress filling or carpet underlay by working with reprocessing companies. To find out more about Oxfam visit www.oxfam.org.uk.

Oxfam is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 202918) and Scotland (SC039042). Oxfam Ireland is a registered charity in Ireland (no. 2000946) and Northern Ireland (no. CHYXN 89651)

Recycling with Newlife

Ahead of its time, Newlife The Charity for Disabled Children has been forging brand partnerships and providing a unique retail experience with sustainability and a drive to help disabled children and their families at its heart.

By sending any damaged or unsold items to Newlife to be resold or recycled, Sainsbury’s can help to raise money to fund the charity’s core charitable services. Items are sold in Newlife’s stores across the UK and through the charity’s online and eBay stores. If the products can’t be resold, they are broken down to the raw materials so that they can be recycled or reused for a different purpose, where possible. All items donated to Newlife are saved from landfill, helping the planet by decreasing the amount of waste, recycling as much as possible and selling items for a great cause.

All profits from Newlife’s stores go directly towards changing the lives of disabled and terminally ill children across the UK. For more than 30 years, Newlife has been here to make sure disabled and terminally ill children get the chance to thrive and enjoy the best quality of life possible, by providing life-changing specialist disability equipment as grants and loans to thousands of children each year, as well as essential support to families through a free Nurse Helpline. As the UK’s only charity providing emergency equipment loans to disabled children who urgently need help, Newlife offers a lifeline to those children and their families who just cannot wait.

And that’s not all.

Newlife supports adults with additional needs with volunteering and employment opportunities, providing a means for career development.

Through pioneering research, Newlife has forged vital advances in medical science. And through advocacy and campaigning, the charity has given disabled children a voice, even being instrumental in changing laws for the benefit of the families they serve.

To find out more about Newlife visit www.newlifecharity.co.uk .

Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children - Registered Charity Number: 1170125 in England & Wales