WASTEWORLD

WasteWorld March 22nd 2023 – 23 million clothes in landfill and Flame UK is Cyber Essentials accredited!

23 million clothes are sent to landfill or burned! 75% of all clothing returns are not recycled!

Can't read or see images? View this email in a browser

Welcome to Wednesday, 22nd March Edition.

In today's Waste World:

23 million clothing items are ending up in landfill or incinerated
Waste Price Watch – what's happening in the waste market?
We're Cyber Essentials Accredited!
What we've been reading – quirky stories that have interested us this week!

ARTICLE

23 million clothing items ending up in landfill or incinerated

Three quarters of clothing returns not recycled

A new study from the BFC's Institute of Positive Fashion, DHL and Roland Berger found that, in 2022, 75% of UK clothing returns were not recycled. The study also found that these returns generated about 750,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the last year.

Their research found that 50% of returns that could not be resold were sent to landfill and a further 25% were incinerated. Only the remaining 25% were recycled. The biggest contributor to the amount of CO2 produced was the emissions from vehicles used with this accounting to 50% of emissions. The equipment used to clean returns items and the single-use plastic they are repackaged with were just some of the other factors.

The research found that wrong sizing and poor quality were the main reasons for people returning items. So, the report suggests that retailers add sizing calculators and avatars to combat this. However, 56% of the shoppers surveyed said the cost of returns fees was the deciding factor for whether they returned items, not the environmental messages.

Check out our blog to find out more about waste in the fast fashion industry!

MARKETS

Waste Price Watch

Each issue we bring you the latest market prices for recycling; plus the cost of PRN (Packaging Recycling Note) and landfill fees.

For full detail and up to date prices click here. For details on PRNs click here.

FLAME UK NEWS

We're Cyber Essentials Accredited!

Flame UK are now Cyber Essentials Certified!

We want everyone we work with to feel like their data is secure with us. That's why we've become Cyber Essentials Accredited! The government backed scheme helps businesses to show they're taking the extra steps to protect their customers and their data.

Dan Pegram, Director at Flame UK, said: "We’re incredibly pleased to have achieved the Cyber Essentials accreditation. We want to show that we’re doing everything we can to keep every person and business that we work with safe. This accreditation is a way of reaffirming our dedication to cyber security amid the ever-evolving risks in the digital era.

We’re proud to be taking the extra measures necessary to protect our business in the event of a cyber-attack and display our commitment to ensuring the safe handling of all our data."

To find out more, check out our blog or take a look at our certification here.