Circular Fashion on top of the list of New York City’s agenda as the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and New York City Economic Development Corporation team up with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to exert a collective effort for the #WearNext campaign.
Make Fashion Circular was launched by the British charity to support circular fashion and keep clothes out of landfills. As part of the initiative, the City will partner with collectors, recyclers and resale companies in a citywide mission tackling waste and pollution in the apparel industry throughout the East Coast fashion capital.
From March 4 through June 9, over 1,100 stores and participating locations across the city will serve as drop off points for unwanted clothes. Every available location will be marked on an online map created by the DSNY. Users can find their nearest drop-off spot at nyc.gov/textiles, while updates on the campaign can be found using the #WearNext hashtag.
The list of participating brands include Asos, Athleta, Gap, H&M, Reformation and Zara, as well as companies such Bank and Vogue, Hallotex, I:CO, Lenzing and ThredUp.
The City of New York’s landfills collect approximately 200 million pounds of clothing yearly. The Ellen McArthur Foundation also reports that 73% of the materials used to produce clothing globally are destined landfill or to be incinerated at the end of their life, with less than 1% of old clothing being actually re-cycled into new clothing.
Launched by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in May of 2018, Make Fashion Circular works to lead international efforts to establish ethical and circular business models within the fashion ecosystem.
“As customers, we know where we buy our clothes and we know where we have worn them, but #WearNext is about the next stage of that journey – where do our clothes go when we have finished with them?” asked Francois Souchet, lead of the initiative.
The effort made by New York City is a big step, however, reflects Souchet, we need to keep in mind that that customers alone cannot fix the fashion industry’s waste and pollution issues. It is necessary for the whole industry to cooperate in the creation of a system where where clothes are produced from safe and renewable materials, new business models are in place to increase their use, and used clothes are turned into new ones.
