A circular solution to reduce textile waste
The average Victorian creates 28 kg of textile waste every year. About 95% of clothes sent to landfill could have been reused or recycled.
In March 2023, the outdoor brand Kathmandu launched a pilot program in Victoria that will reduce these numbers, funded by the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre’s Business Innovation Fund.
Kathman-REDU is an Australia and New Zealand first that takes sample, damaged or returned Kathmandu products that otherwise would not make it to retail and refurbishes them to be resold under the label Kathman-REDU.
Sustainability Victoria’s interim CEO Matt Genever says textile waste is a big problem both in Australia and around the world.
“Renewal and resale of damaged or unwanted clothing is a challenge the apparel industry must overcome globally,”
“We’re proud to support innovative, industry-leading solutions right here in Victoria.”
Kathmandu has also partnered with Upparel, a leader in textile recovery and recycling in Australasia, to collect already-in-circulation Kathmandu clothing to be repurposed or reused via in-store Upparel bins in 24 locations. Some of what’s collected will also be returned to retail as part of Kathman-REDU.
Circular fashion experts Aleasha McCallion from Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Kirri-Mae Sampson from Hatch and Make were consulted to put sustainability best practice into the company’s systems.
And Kathmandu’s long-term go-to, Remote Repairs, Australia’s leading repairer of outdoor and adventure equipment, is giving the Kathman-REDU pieces a second life.
The reincarnated products are available in the brand’s Richmond store and at its flagship in the Galleria in Melbourne’s CBD. The pilot aims to refurbish and sell 5,000 pieces of clothing.
At the end of the pilot, Kathmandu will assess if it can scale up and deliver the program across more stores.
“We’re trialling several initiatives here in Victoria to determine customer interest and finesse our delivery of these programmes,”
“We’re very fortunate to have the backing of Sustainability Victoria to explore this new way to repurpose what would otherwise become textile waste.”
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Visual summary
The video shows a woman named Laura who meets different people to learn more about the Kathman-redu project.
The main speakers in the video are:
- Frances Blundell, Chief Legal and ESG Officer KMD Brands
- Matt Genever, Interim CEO at Sustainability Victoria
- Robert Fry, General Manager of Product Kathmandu
Text
[Opening visual of video with text saying ‘Recycling is the Perfect Fit’]
Laura: As every outdoor enthusiast knows, there's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. Christchurch in New Zealand has some of the best scenery and is also a reminder why I never leave home without my favourite jacket. Christchurch is also the home of well-known outdoor clothing brand Kathmandu. Hi Frances.
Frances: Hi Laura, Welcome to the store. Let me show you some jackets.
Laura: Founded over 30 years ago, the company has embarked on an impressive sustainability journey. Frances, what actually is textile waste?
Frances: It's discarded clothes, primarily. It's clothes that have either reached the end of life or are no longer wanted or needed.
Laura: What is the problem with our clothing being in landfill?
Frances: When that clothing breaks down, it releases greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere which contributes to our global warming.
Laura: So literally everything that we buy, if we throw it out, we are actually contributing to climate change?
Frances: We are. We need to find solutions for garments when they reach the end of life.
Laura: So Kathmandu, you are in the business of selling clothes. How do you fit into this system of end of life and where our clothes end up?
Frances: We want to be part of the solution and the solution is circularity. Circularity is about keeping resources in use for as long as possible.
Laura: One way that Kathmandu is helping to keep clothing out of landfill is with its Kathman-REDU project. But what is Kathman-REDU?
Frances: It's a product refurbishment and resale program. We take our own Kathmandu products that are otherwise unsellable, we refurbished them, clean them up and resell them under the REDU label in select Victorian stores
Laura: Kathman-REDU is a pilot program being undertaken with the support of Sustainability Victoria.
Matt: Textiles is one of the critical challenges that we have here in Australia and indeed globally. Here in Victoria, every Victorian generates around 28 kilograms of clothing waste every year. Only 7% of that is recycled. About 95% of all clothing that makes its way to landfill could actually have been reused or recycled. It's incredibly important that we've got innovative, forward-thinkers like Kathmandu.
Laura: As well as giving old clothing and new lease on life, Kathmandu is working to lessen the environmental impact of its new clothing lines.
Frances: Okay, this is the Heli Yeah jacket.
Laura: It looks like a great jacket. Robert, the Heli Yeah jacket looks like any other jacket. What's so special about it?
Robert: It's an evolution of an existing style that we have in line that we've had for years and years, a very popular jacket, but we knew we could do better. So the Heli Yeah jacket incorporates recycled polyester face fabric, liner fabric, trims findings, details, zipper tape. Just about everything that we could make out of recycled polyester in the jacket, we did. It's really difficult to recycle textiles. Most garments are made of a multiplicity of materials. Teasing those materials apart so that they can be remade into other things is an extremely difficult thing to do. We're getting to a place where we can make garments out of a hundred percent one material, which means that at its end of life, it can be shredded and turned into something without having to be disassembled.
Laura: So in the future, when a garment is made 100% from the one material, the hope is it can become a jacket again and again, and again and again.
In contrast to throwaway, fast fashion, the Heli Yeah jacket aims to promote respect and care for the garment. And it does this in a very interesting way.
Robert: Every single individual jacket has its own unique QR code. And so when I scan this QR code inside the jacket, it takes me to the history of the garment from inception, through creation to delivery into my hands. In the future, this data set that accompanies each individual product can grow, right? We can continue to add. It's really important for the customer to understand the meaning of their garment. It's not just something that you buy and then throw away, but it was someone's idea. It was made in a place, it got shipped to a place where you got access to it, and it has a life beyond that.
Laura: How do customers feel about Kathmandu's move towards recyclability?
Customer one: It's great that it's not all going to landfill. So when I throw something out, I know it's going to somewhere that's being used.
Customer 2: I think it's great that they're trying to reduce textile waste. And for people like me, I think it does make a difference.
Customer 3: Having a better impact on the environment is a really big deal, and it's really awesome to see companies like Kathmandu trying to do this.
Laura: Today, I learned that when a jacket is made from many different fabrics, it's so difficult to recycle that most end up in landfill. But there are solutions. If we actually design recyclability into the end of life of a product, we can create change and it's great to see that companies like Kathmandu are really leading the way here.
Matt: The circular economy is really about making sure that everything we make can be used over and over again instead of just being used once and going to landfill. We can all play our part here.
Robert: People want to do the right thing. They just often don't know what to do. I think a lot of the job rests with us as a company and helping the customer on the journey. Help them fact find, do the right thing at the end of the life of the garment.
[End of Transcript]