Wise Up To Waste Logo
Wise Up to Waste Logo

Why waste less and save more?

Approximately 350 thousand tonnes of clothing, that’s £140 million worth of clothing, end up in UK landfill every year.

It can save you money

If clothes stay in active use for longer they can save you money.  Work by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has shown that in each UK home there is about £1,200 worth of clothes that are forgotten about.  So don't head out to the shops before you see what you've got lurking in your wardrobe!

It is bad for the planet

Not only is throwing away clothes a waste of money, it is also a waste of resources used to produce them in the first place, such as cotton, energy and water required to produce and transport them. Carbon emissions generated by clothing in the average household is equivalent to driving a car 6,000 miles. Clothes thrown away in your bin that end up in landfill can contribute to further climate change and create methane, a damaging greenhouse gas and a liquid called ‘leachate’, which if uncontrolled can lead to groundwater contamination.