Sainsbury’s go green with recycled clothing

The supermarket chain has announced that it’s found a new way to deal with that pesky plastic packaging we all complain about – by turning it into clothing that it will sell back to us!

 Apparently, in the next twelve months, we can expect to see clothes on their shelves made from recycled plastic that has been thrown away by shops or returned to recycling bins, including: soft drink bottles, fruit and vegetable packaging, and even meat trays.  The plastic waste will be made into shirts, T-shirts, trousers and skirts which will then be sold at around 250 large Sainsbury’s stores, at a price comparable to the Tu fashion range that is Sainsbury’s in-house line. The clothes will be manufactured in Europe to save on transport emissions and costs, and in addition, Sainsbury’s has committed to having only Fair Trade cotton clothing in the next two years. 

It’s an interesting approach – but several commentators from the sustainability world have already suggested that Sainsbury’s would do better to reduce packaging in the first place, and some consumers have raised their eyebrows at the idea of being asked to pay for clothing made from packaging recycled through Sainsbury’s, as it does seem a bit like paying twice for the same thing!

Recycling bins courtesy of soylentgreen23