Wednesday 19 December 2018

UK clothing goes green with a wardrobe full of emissions savings

UK clothing is going green with a wide range of environmental improvements over the last six years.

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) says its Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 (SCAP 2020) has helped generate an 11.9% reduction in the carbon footprint per tonne of garments sold by its 80 signatories and supporters.

The organisations signed up to the programme include 11 retailers and brands responsible for selling more than half of all UK clothing by volume - their greenhouse gas reduction per tonne of clothes sold is estimated to be the same as the amount of emissions produced on a car journey of 24,000 miles.

The report also highlights a number of other reductions acheived between 2012 and 2017 - a 17.7% reduction in the water footprint per tonne of garments, a 1.1% reduction in waste per tonne and a 14% reduction in the volume of waste sent to landfill.

Peter Maddox, WRAP Director, said: "I am delighted by what SCAP 2020 signatories have achieved.

"Compared with the wider sector they continue to set the bar high for improving sustainable practices and it’s important that they do because while clothing might only be the eighth largest sector in terms of household spend, it has the fourth largest environmental impact behind housing, transport and food."