M&S recycles half a million items of clothing in six weeks

Marks and Spencer customers have donated half a million unwanted items of clothing to charity.

The retailer launched a clothes recycling ‘Shwopping’ scheme six weeks ago, letting customers donate a piece of clothing when purchasing a new one. All of the donated clothing is then given to Oxfam to use how they wish; usually to either re-sell or recycle.

M&S are hoping to reach the one million mark by the time the scheme has reached two months and are calling on its customers to help it do so. As an incentive, they are holding a Shwopping event from 21 to 24 June, in which customers receive a £5 money off voucher when spending £35 on clothing in-store.

The scheme came as a result of a survey commissioned by M & S which showed one in five UK consumers to have thrown away an item of clothing after only one wear at an average cost of over £22 per item. This means that over £91 million of useable clothes end up in landfill every year.