One day we’ll all go shopping and recycling in-store.

The brands have not finished mobilising around environmental issues. Following commitments made concerning plastic recycling, they are increasingly looking at their products more globally, from their design to their end of life. Make way for producer-recyclers!

Recycling, refurbishment, repairs…making things last is an increasing necessity for all the economic stakeholders. A global awareness for the well-being of our planet which also questions the complete life cycle of all the products which surround us.

Fashion is starting its circular economy

At the beginning of the year, H&M equipped its flagship New York store with smart bins. The principle is simple: the customer drops its bag of clothes (all brands together) in the bin, which automatically weighs and attributes a score depending on the weight. The score entitles you to a voucher for up to 15% of the amount spent in-store or online. AUCHAN has also launched a space dedicated to the sale and collection of second hand clothes. This corner, located next to the textile department, is managed in partnership with the online thrift store PATATAM, which ensures that the dropped off clothes are recovered and sorted. If they are in good condition, the customer will receive a €5 voucher. Clothes displayed in the department have set prices: €8 for a pair of trousers, €3 for a t-shirt and €15 for a coat. At the moment the operation is in test phase, and depending on the results, by June to could be extended to all shops.

What if disposable was no longer fashionable?

This seems increasingly to be the case, particularly among the younger generations and millennials who are shunning the new in favour of second hand. H&M has just revealed that it has a mountain of unsold clothes worth $4.3 billion. Will they end up finding any takers? Not so sure. Especially since the initiatives for recycling and the second hand market are growing. The sportswear business PATAGONIA and the outdoor equipment retailer REI have both created their own websites for buying and reselling second hand material. LEVI’S has launched one of the largest collections of second hand jeans in the world called AUTHORIZED VINTAGE. And the giant NIKE has come up with NIKE GRIND. A whole range made from recycled trainers. Fashion seems to be in a virtuous circle.

Apple relies on Daisy for its recycling.

On the high-tech side, we are seeing the same things. APPLE has specially developed a robot capable of disassembling and sorting the components of iPhones that have been thrown out. The machine answers to the name of Daisy and she can recycle no less than 200 telephones per hour, or 1.2 million units per year. The aim is to recover precious material such as cobalt whose extraction often causes serious environmental and societal problems. 

So manufacturers as well as retailers, global giants as well as national players…all are conscious of the importance of recycling, and know that they are, or will be, accountable for whatever they put on the market. A responsibility which will undoubtedly become an increasingly dominant criterion for consumers.