26/04/2012

'Shopping' Scheme Launched By M&S

Britain’s biggest retailer, Marks & Spencer, is launching a campaign to stop one in four items of clothing bought in the UK ending up in the bin.

In what it has dubbed “shwopping” the retailer wants customers to hand over an old or unwanted garment whenever they buy a new one.

It wants to kick-start a "buy one, give one" culture which could allow unwanted items to be resold, reused or recycled by its charity partner Oxfam.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK consumers throw away 2m tonnes of clothing a year, with half going straight to landfill.

But the move has sparked fears that smaller charity shops could miss out on donations, while there are question marks over the logistics of the retailer becoming a dumping ground for large quantities of unwanted clothing.

(H)


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