Re.Uniqlo Initiative – Moving Towards Circular Fashion through Collection and Recycling Schemes

The fashion industry is notorious for generating massive amounts of textile waste, with garments often ending up in landfills or incinerated after minimal use. This "throwaway culture" puts pressure on the environment by depleting natural resources and contributing to pollution. Additionally, the production of new clothing requires significant amounts of energy, water, and raw materials, further straining planetary boundaries. As a large-scale fashion retailer, Uniqlo needed to move toward more sustainable business practices.

Uniqlo has implemented a recycling programme called ‘Re.Uniqlo’ in partnership with the Japanese environmental organisation, EcoLogic. Customers can bring their used Uniqlo clothing to select stores in Japan for recycling into new textiles or other products.

Uniqlo also uses recycled materials in some of its products and has committed to increasing the use of sustainable materials in its supply chain.

If Uniqlo were not implementing its Re.Uniqlo recycling programme and increasing its use of sustainable materials, the brand would aggravate planetary boundaries such as climate change.

Indeed, textile waste in landfills generates greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane, as materials decompose. By failing to recycle used garments, Uniqlo would contribute to higher emissions from landfills and from the energy-intensive process of manufacturing new textiles from virgin materials, intensifying global warming.

With this initiative, Uniqlo engages consumers by accompanying them to reduce a portion of textile waste. By diverting a significant number of used garments from landfills, the company ensures that they are either repurposed into new products or recycled into textiles.