Textile & Garment Recycling Program – Kuwaii

Textile & Garment Recycling Program

Launched as a celebration of Fashion Revolution Week.

On average, Australians purchase 27kg of new textiles each year and then discard 23kg into landfill­—leading to 501,000 tonnes of textiles being dumped into landfill annually. Synthetic fibres (which make up to 60% of most commercially produced garments) are non-biodegradable and sit in landfill for hundreds of years, adding to the greenhouse gases that are driving the climate to change.
This current linear system of ‘take, make and dispose’ encourages over consumption and is putting a huge strain on our planet. At this accelerated pace, Australians are on track to produce enough textiles waste to cover the whole surface of the country by 2030. It’s time to make a serious change and Kuwaii is committed to doing our bit.

Program Objective: To be 100% responsible and accountable for the clothing products we produce, for their entire life cycle; from conception, production, wear and then end of life.

Goal: To ensure no Kuwaii textile products (including wastage from the production process nor the garment itself) ever hits landfill.

We have a two-pronged approach to this program:

1. Kuwaii Garment Recycling Program
Kuwaii is committing to accepting any Kuwaii piece: no matter how old, and giving it new life. We are happy to accept any item of Kuwaii – whether it is a piece of clothing or a shoe. For each item of Kuwaii you return, we will give you $20 off your next Kuwaii purchase to spend on the spot.

a. Repair: Garments in need of minor patching or repairs will be carefully mended. We keep an archive of past fabrics so that we are usually able to match fabrics for patches. These garments will then be prepared for re-sale or donation, depending on their condition.

b. Re-wear: Garments that are deemed still wearable will be prepared for re-selling to prolong their useful life.

c. Re-Use: Garments that are deemed unwearable or unrepairable will be made into other products such as cleaning cloths or rags

How our Garment Return program works:

In-Store: Customers can bring their donation to any of our retail stores and drop it off to our friendly staff. They will fill out the physical form in-store, which will then accompany the item back to H.O. to be processed. The store staff will issue your credit, to be redeemed on the spot.

Online: Customers print off and fill in the donation form here, and post it back with their item to our Head Office. If you do not have access to a printer, you can also email the form through to contact@kuwaii.com.au. Once the return has been processed, the voucher will be generated and emailed to them at their provided email address. Vouchers expire in 1 week.

*Important note: Garments must be freshly laundered to be accepted into our recycling program.

2. Kuwaii Textile Recycling Program
We are committed to ensuring that none of our textile waste from the production process hits landfill, by managing and recycling the textile waste that we generate.

What is textile recycling? Commercial textile recycling involves breaking down fabrics into a form where they can be spun back into new yarn.

We gather all of the textile offcuts and waste from our production processes: both within our studio and at our clothing makers. Once the offcuts are gathered, we sort them by hand and remove any pieces that are large enough to be used: these we turn into smaller accessories such as scrunchies, eye-masks, face masks or hats. Some fabric we are able to donate to craft groups, community groups, schools and kindergartens. Anything too small to be given another life is sent on to our textile recycling partners, where it is recycled into new fibres, or other products.
The cost for this program is built into the cost of our clothing, and we are very proud to say that not a single scrap of Kuwaii textiles hits landfill.