UNIQLO launches a recycling initiative

Japanese apparel retailer UNIQLO launches a recycling initiative called RE.UNIQLO, aimed at collecting the brand’s clothing that is no longer needed by customers and give them a new life and new value. This effort is a new step towards benefiting the environment and communities by keeping valuable resources out of landfills.

The RE in RE.UNIQLO is proof of the virtues of recycling, reusing and reducing. Under the initiative, the company collects pre-worn UNIQLO items from customers to be recycled as part of new products. In the process, waste, carbon dioxide emissions and resource consumption are reduced throughout product lifecycles. Through RE.UNIQLO, UNIQLO is uniting with customers in a drive to become a brand that is better for the environment and communities alike.

Further, UNIQLO is committed to providing customers with more sustainable apparel, by using sustainable materials and using fewer resources in production processes. RE.UNIQLO is a major step forward building upon these efforts. It further develops the All-Product Recycling initiative that the brand started in 2006 to collect lightly used clothing from customers and donate them to refugees and others in need and promotes product-to-product recycling.

On November 2, Recycled Down Jackets will be launched in Japan as the first offering from the initiative. These items will incorporate rejuvenated down taken from 620,000 jackets gathered around the country since September last year. In addition, UNIQLO will initiate a new down product collection campaign in stores across 21 markets, including Japan, from late September.

Also read: Nespresso takes an important step towards circularity

As UNIQLO launches a recycling initiative, Christophe Lemaire, artistic director of the UNIQLO Paris R&D Centre, said, “My personal commitments are aligned with the goals of RE.UNIQLO. The Uniqlo U Recycled Down Jacket represents UNIQLO and my own continued dedication to sustainability.”

UNIQLO looks to expand its down recovery activities worldwide from fall 2020. This is in line with a commitment to collaborate with customers everywhere to provide more sustainable down products. In Japan, customers handing in used UNIQLO Down merchandise to store cashiers will receive digital coupons in return.

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