Clothing companies begin to get with the program on recycling

Instead of tossing out old pieces of clothing or worn-out shoes, recycle them.

Several fashion brands are collecting gently worn apparel and giving them a second life as part of a new garment or as other products, including insulation.

“Unlike glass, paper, aluminum and cardboard, we have a personal contact with our clothing and footwear,” says Ira Baseman, owner of Community Recycling, based in Fairless Hills, Bucks County. “There is an emotional attachment to it. So, with re-use, the piece of clothing or pair of shoes can have an extended life.”

Baseman's company teamed with Los Angeles-based Reformation, which runs the first sustainable sewing factory in the United States, to launch a program called RefRecycling where you can get free shipping labels, pack up the clothing items you no longer want and send them away for free. After your boxes are received, the items will be recorded, allowing you to track your recycled items and view your environmental impact.

Other companies, like H&M and American Eagle Outfitters, are collecting used clothes in their stories and recycling them either through donations to thrift stores or breaking down the garments to be remade into new clothes or other products.

Only 15 percent of clothes, shoes and accessories are recycled each year, the remaining 85 percent, or 10.5 million tons, ends up in landfills, according to Reformation and Community Recycling.

“We're always trying to think of new ways of becoming a more sustainable company, and with RefRecycling we can also help our customers be more sustainable,” says Yael Aflalo, founder of Reformation. “Making sure that the clothes they buy are made sustainably is, obviously, a priority. But it's also important to help them with garment care and what to do with their old clothes when they're over them — and to make that as easy as it possibly can be.”

When you buy clothes from Reformation, the box comes with a free shipping label so you can send back items you want to recycle.

Americans throw away 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person, per year, Aflalo says, although nearly all of it could be recycled or reused.

Baseman agrees.

“We need to continue to raise awareness of what to do with unwanted clothing, shoes and accessories because they are wanted items whether they will be worn by someone else or used to create something new,” Baseman says. “So, every donation helps.”

“With RefRecycling, you can responsibly reuse your stuff without leaving the house, and you can track where it goes — making recycling easier, more transparent and accessible, which is critical for its future,” Aflalo says. “We hope that services like this give people good, compelling options for their used clothes that is not the landfill. Aside from more traditional reuse (think thrift shop), we believe the cradle-to-cradle movement and the efforts of brands to design for reuse and recyclability is also key for the future. That would allow us to actually upcycle stuff — put it to the same or better use.”

Baseman says manufacturers are embracing this idea of recycle and reuse, by offering programs where customers can donate an item and often receive a discount on a new article of clothing, shoes or accessory.

I:Collect USA has been gathering clothing and shoes for reuse since January 2014. In conjunction with I:CO, American Eagle Outfitters launched a program in April for Earth Day to recycle used and unwanted denim into building materials for affordable homes for Make It Right. The charity, founded by actor Brad Pitt, builds sustainable, affordable homes, buildings and communities for people in need. American Eagle Outfitters was able to collect thousands of recycled denim to insulate 34 homes.

During this campaign, customers brought their old denim to any of American Eagle Outfitters' 823 stores across the country and Canada and received a 20 percent discount on a new pair of jeans. Any collected unwearable denim was shredded and recycled into UltraTouch Denim Insulation and other building materials for use in Make It Right's homes around the county.

“This partnership underscores our commitment to eliminate waste and preserve vital resources, while enabling our customers to become involved in our sustainability efforts and to truly close the loop on the textile waste cycle,” says Helga Ying, American Eagle Outfitters vice president of external engagement and social responsibility in a news release.

“The jeans will provide safe, sustainable installation — an important part of Make It Right's high-performance, solar-powered homes. Better insulation increases energy-efficiency, leading to lower power bills for working families,” says Cesar Rodriguez, Make It Right's products director.

American Eagle plans to explore another recycling campaign in 2016. The Pittsburgh-based retailer sells jeans with stretch material made from recycled coffee grounds; each pair contains 2.25 grams of recycled coffee grounds.

Other manufacturers and designers are joining the cause. The Eileen Fisher line has a clothing initiative called “Green Eileen,” where it accepts donations of gently worn Eileen Fisher branded items at all of its retail stores.

The donated clothes are sold in one of eight designated stores with profits going toward programs that benefit girls and women. Customers receive a $5 reward card that can be redeemed in store or online.

Neiman Marcus has teamed with Real Real, a consignment website where customers can turn in designer items that weren't even purchased at the store and get paid in Neiman Marcus gift cards and earn an extra 10 percent.

Levi Strauss & Co. expanded its clothing-recycling initiative in 2015 to all Levi's mainline and outlet stores in the country. The program builds on the ongoing partnership with I:CO. Wearable clothes are resold, while more-worn items are recycled as cleaning cloths, fibers for insulation and paddings or other new products.

Bring unwanted items — any brand of clean, dry clothing or shoes, even non-Levi's items — to collection boxes at Levi's stores and receive a voucher for 20 percent off a single, regular-priced Levi's item. The donations are sent to I:CO collection facilities.

H&M recently introduced a denim collection that uses 20 percent recycled cotton yarn. It's called Denim Re-Born. Any customer who donates a bag of clothing — any brand — at an H&M store receives a voucher for 15 percent off their next purchase. Those donations are sent to I:CO which sorts them, sending some to second-hand stores and other items for use as rags or cleaning clothes as well as breaking them down to be recycled into yarns and used to create another garment.

And this trend is here to stay.

“Clothing recycling and reuse is definitely on the rise as more brands are launching take-back programs, and consumers are asking companies to be responsible for the entire life of the stuff they make,” Aflalo says.

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at jharrop@tribweb.com or 412-320-7889.