'Primark effect' prompts government drive to cut clothes sent to landfill

'Primark effect' prompts government drive to cut clothes sent to landfill
Shopaholics
are being urged to take cast offs to charity shops in a Government
drive to reduce the so-called "Primark effect", which has seen the
amount of unwanted clothes being dumped in landfill soar by 30 per
cent.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 5:02PM GMT 20 Feb 2009

The trend for cheap "throwaway" fashion means textiles are the
fastest growing sector in household waste. Every year consumers in the UK
buy two million tonnes of clothes of which 1.2m tonnes ends up in landfill.
Just 300,000 is reused or recycled while the rest ends up in the back of the "national
wardrobe".

A recent investigation by MPs found the proportion of textile waste dumped at
one council site had risen from seven per cent to 30 per cent in due to the "Primark
effect".

Speaking at the launch of London Fashion week, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, the
sustainability minister, said consumers spend £38 million a year on clothes
but most of it goes to landfill.

He said: "At the moment only 16 per cent of the clothes we discard in
this country are recycled the rest end up in landfill and that produces
greenhouse gases so we have to change that around."

He urged consumers to think about sustainability when buying clothes and to
dispose of them at second hand shops or through recycling.

"Wherever you buy your clothes, however they have been produced you can
try and make sure they are recycled either by going to a charity shop or
going to a recycling depot," he added.

The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, launched at a fashion show for sustainable
fashion, is a partnership between the Government and 300 of the biggest high
street shops, manufacturers and designers in the country to make clothing
more sustainable and urge consumers to buy and dispose of clothes in an
ethical fashion.

A spokesman for Primark said the firm was not signed up to the Sustainability
Road Map but had its own sustainability agenda including signing up to a
fair trading initiative and energy efficiency measures.

Available -  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/4734946/Primark-effect-prompt...