Upcycling
Inherit, sell and recycle.
The biggest proof that a garment is of good quality is what it looks like when the child has grown out of it. If it has retained its fit and its features, and is still so nice and neat that you want to give or sell it on, then it is of good quality. Then we have succeeded.Our goal is to have three children in each garment. This means that we want our garments to be inherited in at least three stages. And after just over 40 years, we have come a long way. For example, allows 66 % of our customers smaller siblings inherit our clothes , 50 % give them on to relatives or friends, and 44 % sell it on *. So, when the garment is finally too small, let a younger sibling, cousin or friend's children inherit it. Or sell it further.
* Source: Polarn O. Pyret's customer survey February 2019.
Did you know that we are one of the bestselling second-hand kidswear brands in Sweden & the UK? There are popular reselling groups on social media platforms here in the UK!Recycle garments
From an environmental point of view, it is best to reuse garments. But what to do when the garment has finally done its thing?
When a garment is no longer recyclable, it is important that it be left for recycling and not landed in the regular garbage. Different municipalities today have different solutions for end-of-life textiles, where most have some sort of collection at recycling centers.
Textiles can be recycled, but there are very few garments that can be recycled into a new garment as there is no fully developed process for recycling the actual fiber in the textiles. What makes the question extra difficult is that today's garments often consist of several different materials, such as cotton and polyester, plastic buttons and metal in zippers. On the other hand, textiles can, for example, be filled with toys and pillows by handing out worn clothing to clothing recycling stations.
We want to be part of the development and therefore participate in the Swedish Trade Industry Textiles For Recycling (T4RI). T4RI works for good systems for the collection, sorting, recycling and recycling of textile products that make it easy for you as a consumer to do the right thing.