LPP expands used clothing donation scheme

Polish clothing company LPP, which operates brands including Reserve, is expanding its used clothing collection programme to foreign markets.

LPP began accepting donated used clothes from any brand in 2018. Initially, only selected Reserved showrooms were part of the scheme and was gradually expanded to cover further brands and locations in Poland. Last year, the initiative covered the whole stationary sales network in Poland where LPP collaborated with St. Brother Albert aid society to donate clothing in good condition to homeless people.

The retail group has expanded the initiative to the UK, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. In the UK, LPP will be working with the Yellow Octopus Group, while in the Czech Republic, it will be teaming up with ‘Ubrania Do Oddania’ (Clothes to Donate) and Ekocharita in Slovakia.

The move is to align the company with the new European Union directive, announced in July 2023, which obligates the Member States to establish extended producer responsibility, including regulations concerning selective collection and proper segregation of textile waste.

Dorota Jankowska-Tomków, procurement and ESG director at LPP, said in a statement: “Bearing in mind the ongoing process of implementing the directive for the markets in which we operate, we wanted to adapt the rules for the operation of our collections to the local regulations. Therefore, despite previous announcements concerning their launch in our foreign network in 2023, we decided to wait for the response of individual countries to the planned regulations.

“We can see, however, that it is also a demanding process at the state level, and a grass-roots initiative on the part of business is still required. As a responsible producer, we launched our own collections abroad, in three countries to start with, but we will gradually expand the scope of the action to new markets.”

As part of the collection process in LPP showrooms, customers can donate clothes, footwear and accessories of any brand. Depending on the condition of the products collected, they are reused, upcycled or recycled. Products that are suitable for use are refreshed by the partners and given a second life. A portion of the profit from each kilogram of collected clothes is donated to charities, including those in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In addition, the Polish manufacturer also intends to recycle the collected polyester clothes using a textile-to-textile technology through a partnership with a Polish start-up, Use Waste, to produce yarn from polyester textile waste. The project has left the laboratory phase, and further work on the textile-to-textile technology is underway, added LPP.