Marks & Spencer brings back Shwopping recycling programme

British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) brings back Shwopping recycling programme in the UK, starting October 1, 2020. Shwopping is M&S’ clothes recycling scheme in partnership with Oxfam, which will help customers to build on the 35 million items recycled since 2008, raising nearly £23 million to help people living in extreme poverty.

Shwopping was temporarily paused in March to enable M&S colleagues to focus on putting in place the additional measures needed to safeguard against the COVID-19 pandemic while serving customers. Following a rise in wardrobe clear-outs during the lockdown, M&S customers can restart donating unwanted clothes, shoes, lingerie and accessories of any brand or condition in nearly 290 M&S stores in the UK.

All clothing items that customers donate are sent to Oxfam to be resold in one of its shops or online, to be reused via its social enterprise in Senegal or to be recycled into new materials, which are used by businesses such as M&S’ mattress filling.

As Marks & Spencer brings back Shwopping recycling programme, Carmel McQuaid, head of sustainable business for M&S, said, “At M&S, our goal is to source all our products with care and ensure nothing we make goes to waste. We want our customers to be confident that the clothes they buy at M&S are made to last, but if they finish wearing their old favourites, we make it easy to give them a new purpose through Shwopping. It’s a brilliant programme that many of our customers rely on as they shop with us for new staples – and now more than ever it’s perfect for those who have been decluttering.”

“We are delighted that M&S, which shares Oxfam’s sustainability ambitions, is bringing back Shwopping to its stores. Shwopping is designed to make it easy for customers and the general public to donate unwanted garments to Oxfam via M&S stores and helps to extend the lifecycle of clothes and reduce the number of items of clothing going to landfill. The return of Shwop drops to M&S stores means that there are more ways for people to donate to Oxfam and support our work fighting poverty and helping vulnerable communities around the world,” added Fee Gilfeather, head of audience & strategic planning at Oxfam.

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