Textile collecting at KappAhl
As of now, there is collecting of discarded textiles and shoes in all KappAhl's Swedish stores. The textile collecting is part of the fashion chain's ambition to enable customers to contribute to the recycling of discarded textiles and thus help to increase the supply of fabrics made from recycled materials.
- Unlocking the discarded textiles is one of our industry major environmental challenges, says KappAhl's CEO Johan Åberg. Making sustainable operations more accessible to our customers is an important key to a more sustainable textile production and use.
Studies show that the Swedes throw away more than half of the textiles produced on the market in the bin for incineration. Most of these could be reused or recycled. More places for textile collecting contributes to that sustainable behavior becomes even more accessible to the many people.
- There are many important uses for discarded textiles, says KappAhl's sustainability manager, Fredrika Klarén. Our ambition is that more textiles should be able to be reused and recycled in various ways, for example in the development of technologies to produce new textile fibres.
The fashion chain receives all kinds of clothing, textiles and shoes unless they are heavily soiled, well packed in sealed plastic bags. In return, the customer receives a voucher valid at KappAhl. For every kilo of textiles submitted KappAhl donates a sum to charity in their production countries.
Challenging students at the School of Textiles
Following the start-up of the textile collecting, KappAhl challenged second year design students at the School of Textiles in Borås to create new interesting garments from textile waste. Some of the students' creations are currently on display at KappAhl's head office in Mölndal. The garments in the exhibition include made from old jack lining and sweat pants.
Why textile collecting
One of KappAhl's sustainability goals is to reduce the use of conventionally grown cotton and oil-based products, such as polyester, in favour of more sustainable materials. Every year more than half of Swedes textile waste ends up in municipal waste. The majority of these are burned in municipal heating plants, but could instead be re-used and their impact on the environment greatly reduced. In a world where we have to use resources in a more sustainable way, recycled materials are an important future commodity.
For further information
Fredrika Klarén, Sustainability Manager. Tel +46 704 715 558, fredrika.klaren@kappahl.com
Charlotte Högberg, Head Public Relations. Tel. +46 704 715 631, charlotte.hogberg@kappahl.com
KappAhl was founded in 1953 and is a leading fashion chain in the Nordic region with nearly 400 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland together with Shop Online. KappAhl offers good-value fashion of its own design to a wide range of consumers – women, men and children – with a particular focus on women in the mid-life age range. 19% of the range is sustainability labelled. In 2013/2014, the turnover was SEK 4.7 billion and the number of employees approx. 4,000. KappAhl is quoted on NASDAQ Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.kappahl.com.
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