Britons waste 'billions' by throwing away clothesClothes recycling poll marks start of Recycle Week
22 June 2009
Britons waste billions of pounds and are damaging the environment by throwing old clothes in the bin, according to a study released today to mark the start of Recycle Week.
The study found that 63% of people's clothing ends up in landfill sites, rather than being recycled or reused. Some of this clothes waste will go on to biodegrade to form methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Clothes recycling
The YouGov poll revealed that British consumers spend £38 billion each year on new clothes, but only 16% of the clothes they throw out are recycled. According to the study, the average UK consumer spends around £600 on clothes a year and discards £400 worth.
Out of nearly 2,000 people questioned, 39% said they did consider what impact throwing away clothes had on the environment.
Recycling household waste
Recycling unwanted items is one way you can become more environmentally friendly, and according to a recent Which? survey is the most popular green activity Which? members do on a regular basis.
To mark Recycle Week, our complete guide to recycling will help you get started with recycling - find out where your rubbish and recycling goes, how to recycle more and watch a helpful video guide featuring Recycle Now's Philip Ward.
Make a recycling pledge
The theme of this year's Recycle Week (22 June - 28 June) is wasting less, and organiser Recycle Now is encouraging households to sign up and make a pledge to do something new in an effort to become greener. Oxfam is supporting the campaign.
David McCullough, Oxfam's trading director, said: 'A huge amount of natural resources go into the production of clothing, so while it's easy to get wrapped up in fast fashion, spare a thought for the environment, as well as your purse.
'Why not make the most of your existing wardrobe and pledge to donate what you don't want and recycle what you can't use this Recycle Week.'
Economic considerations
However the YouGov survey did indicate that the economic downturn is prompting consumers to think more carefully about the items they throw away - just over half of respondents claimed they were recycling and reusing more clothing than this time last year.
And the amount of household textiles recycling has almost doubled to 112 million tonnes over the past five years.
Recycle Now's Laura Underwood said: 'Recycle Week is a great opportunity to remind us just how easy it is to waste less and reuse more of the things we buy. Not only does it help the environment, but it can also benefit our pockets.'
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