CONCLUSION
Children are the future and with this comes global responsibility. Both consumers, retailers and
manufactures have the power to make change within UK in terms of how they recycle on a daily
basis. It is clear that high street fashion retailers are focusing on making changes in the way they
produce and recycle clothing, but withhold little impact on the way they reduce, reuse and recycle
plastic and cardboard waste. Many retailers have been found to say one thing and do another.
CURRENT RETAILERS RECYCLING
The aim of this dissertation was to discover which high street retailers were successfully recycling
plastic and cardboard waste. It has been acknowledged that key High Street Fashion Companies
have introduced recycling methods within their everyday production throughout plastic, cardboard and clothing reduction, reuse and recycling. All retailers, Levi’s, M&S, H&M, and John
Lewis have identified how recycled materials have been embedded into their packaging and their
reuse of hangers in retailer H&M. Levi’s business mission statement is based very much on becoming more sustainable, and through this they became a member of the Sustainable Forest Product
Procurement Policy, whereby only recycled paper and wood would be used within their company. H&M embedded recycling procedures into all stores to encourage employees to make simple
changes on a daily basis with key products such as plastic, cardboard, paper and hangers. This way
they could reduce, reuse and recycle everything where possible. M&S encouraging and providing
advice onto how they can recycle any packaging waste sent to them on purchase. And finally John
Lewis collaborating with Smurfit Kappa to collect, reprocess and reuse cardboard boxes within
the company and on delivery to consumers. These four companies have all shown how these new
strategies can be influential towards other high street companies, making minor changes can long
term create more surprising statistics in the future.
But with H&M’s poor publicity previously, and the discovery of their clothing being found in
manufacturing facilities whereby death had been caused after fatal accidents, can we be so sure
that H&M are actually recycling? Without these companies showing their transparency, it leaves
consumers and researchers unaware of what procedures are set in place to reduce, reuse, recycle,
replace. For example the unnecessary use of materials and the packaging of clothing using both
plastics and cardboard on delivery days into store, and imported and exported deliveries. Stated
by Katie Bruton (2015) and Kate Stott (2015) it is ideal that consumers and fashion companies are
reusing and recycling but preferably it is ideal that plastic and cardboard usage is reduced initially
as long term this will have a greater effect.
Because each city has its own council policies when it comes to waste collection, high street chains
may be effected as to which council region they fall under. Some councils offer the disposal of recycling and waste, but others may reject this service, leaving it to companies such as Biffa, a national
private waste company to cover business and household pick up, when councils do not cover the
region. Food chain retailers as opposed to this point have shown significant reduction in their use
of packaging and support towards the 5p charge on plastic bags. A key example of this being Tesco, after the creation of the plastic bags now made from recycled plastic, therefore working alongside the new legislation to develop new ideas and help create new solutions. Could this process
be implemented into high street stores? Whereas other consumers such as River Island quickly
changed their plastic bags to paper bags as soon as the 5p charge came into place. Yes this makes
it easier for retailers and consumers when out shopping, but the recycling issue has now been put
onto another material, instead of resolving the situation in the first place, retailers are just avoiding
the legislation and going for the easier option.
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