Westfield minimizes textile waste with creative recycling program

By

Rebecca Taras

Published
May 12, 2017

Westfield has partnered with I:Collect—a reputable global provider that handles the recycling and reuse of clothing, shoes and textiles—for its Refashion the Future initiative, with the goal of cutting down on landfill waste while preserving valuable materials that are otherwise recyclable. 

Consumers are invited to discard their used clothing and shoe to participating Westfield shopping centers across the United States. The program accepts items any brand, but they must be in clean, dry condition. In return, donors receive a Program Rewards Card good for shopping deals and promotions at select retailers. 

I:Collect is then responsible for collecting and sorting the goods and determining whether or not the items are considered second-hand, or should be processed into secondary materials such as insulation material, carpet padding, upholstery filling, etc. On the sartorial side, fibers extracted from unwearable pieces are sometimes used for “upcycled clothing and resold in retail stores—Adidas and Felder Felder are just two examples of companies jumping on the sustainable bandwagon.

Any monetary compensation Westfield receives from I:CO will be donated to GLAM4GOOD, a non-profit organization that provides transformative educational experiences, clothing giveaways and confidence bolstering fashion and beauty advice to people in need.

While Refashion the Future is definitely a positive initiative for the environment and a philanthrophic cause, it is also likely one of Westfield's marketing efforts, which reported a 2% decrease in sales over the first quarter of 2017.