Sainsbury's rolls out returned clothing charity trial across UK

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jun 22, 2022

Following a successful trial, Sainsbury’s is rolling out its partnership with UK clothing re-use charity ‘Newlife’, to all supermarkets.

So far, the retailer has donated 65.5 tonnes of unsellable clothing returns and faulty garments to Newlife, which has built its foundation around recycling, reprocessing, and reusing clothing to support 1.1 million disabled and terminally ill children in the UK.

Any of Sainsbury’s Tu Clothing ranges across its stores that are unfit for resale will be recycled or resold by Newlife “to help fund its important charity work and support Sainsbury’s commitments within its sustainability strategy, Plan for Better”.

The money raised from reselling clothes in one of Newlife’s nine stores around the UK will help fund loans of sensory play equipment, grants for disability equipment, as well as emergency equipment loans for families. Charity shop sales also help to fund Newlife’s Nurse run national Helpline, which provides compassionate support for families with disabled and terminally ill children.

As well as helping Sainsbury’s deliver a positive impact for its local communities, the partnership also has a positive impact on the environment. All Sainsbury’s clothing returns and faulty garments that cannot be resold by Newlife will be broken down into raw materials so that they can be recycled or reused for a variety of different purposes such as car insulation and dog bed stuffing.

Stephen Johnson, Director of Technical & Ethical at Sainsbury’s said the retailer "is committed to taking action to protect the environment and to supporting our local communities. We’re pleased to be rolling out our partnership with Newlife across all of our supermarkets and are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together so far".