Sustainability

Oxfam's Ethical and Environmental Strategy for retail sets out our aspiration to be a driving force in the area of sustainability, continually improving our ethical and environmental impact.

Oxfam GB’s Retail Ethical and Environmental Strategy includes 5 objectives and key targets around waste, energy, and our Sourced by Oxfam range.

The Strategy Objectives are:

1. Integrate policies and values into how we do business
2. Continually improve ethical and environmental management, e.g., waste and energy
3. Seek out opportunities for innovation e.g., closed loop
4. Support Sourced by Oxfam to become leaders in sustainable shopping
5. Maximise income opportunities that arise from consumer interest in sustainable shopping

Progress on targets is included in our annual report and supplementary Ethical and Environmental Report.

The environmental impact of textiles consumption in the UK remains very high, with carbon and water footprints at 32.9 million tonnes of CO2e and 4.98 million m3 of water.

According to WRAP, in 2021 around 727.7 kilotonnes of textiles were discarded to landfill or incineration, with 546.4 kilotonnes disposed of in household residual waste bins, equating to about 4.2% of general waste.

Oxfam encourages people to make the most out of their old clothes by reusing, selling, or recycling them. This not only generates funds to end poverty but also helps protect the planet by reducing clothing waste.

Donated clothing which we aren't able to sell in our shops is collected by third-party recycling companies, who aim to keep as many of the items as possible in use for their originally intended purpose. This includes exporting goods that might be unsuitable for the UK market but popular in other countries where they are more likely to be reused or repurposed.

We do not want textiles to be dumped in lower-income countries. However, we recognise that in some countries textile exports can be beneficial, and that people rely on them for their livelihoods. Everything collected by Oxfam or the third-party recycling companies we work with is sorted before being exported to ensure any waste is removed.

Some of the clothing that is no longer wearable is made into items such as mattress filling and car soundproofing.

We assess all of the third-party companies, and they must commit to adhering to our Textile Export Policy. Our Textile Export Policy was created to ensure donated textiles are exported in a way that minimises the impact on human rights, local economies, and the environment.

As a minimum, all third parties must remove any waste before export. The companies should also sort the textiles or clothing to ensure that it is of a suitable standard for local markets before selling it on.

It’s an imperfect and complicated system and we are doing what we can to make improvements. Our aim is always to find other ways of processing unsold clothes to reduce the potential impacts on people and planet, while honouring our commercial responsibility to the donors of the clothes.

Oxfam is a founding member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) an organisation of Companies, Trade Unions and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who work together to improve human rights in global supply chains.

We are also actively engaged in initiatives aimed at promoting more sustainable and circular approaches to clothing in the UK fashion and textile industry, such as WRAP’s UK Textiles Pact.

This year, Oxfam and the ETI brought together brands, retailers, and stakeholders from across the apparel and textile sector for ReDress: Fashioning a Fairer Future – a focused discussion at the intersection of circular fashion and human rights.

Through global expert panels, collaborative mapping and deep discussion, the aim was to strengthen our understanding of emerging circular supply chains: who is involved, what they do, where it takes place – and crucially, how to ensure decent work.

Choosing second hand contributes to a sustainable fashion industry that doesn’t cost the earth.

• The water footprint of clothing used in the UK annually is a whopping 8 billion cubic metres
• In 2021, 727.7 kilotonnes of textiles were discarded to landfill or incineration in the UK
• Only 1% of recycled clothes are turned into new garments

Wearing second hand clothing encourages reusing and recycling, saving our planet from harmful emissions and reducing reliance on raw materials.

By shopping more consciously, we can show that we want a more sustainable fashion industry.

Money that Oxfam raises through the sale of second hand clothes helps to fund Oxfam’s work tackling the injustices that fuel poverty around the world.

This includes supporting communities hardest hit by the climate crisis.

These funds enable Oxfam to work with partners and communities around the world to…

• Respond fast when emergencies hit, supporting people to uphold their rights and be resilient to future crises.
• Speak up against the injustices that fuel poverty and inequality, such as undervaluing and mistreating informal workers like those in fashion supply chains.
• Support activists around the world fighting the injustice of climate change.
• Campaign for sustainable economic policies that can halt rising temperatures, promote fair trade, and create an economy that encourages people to make conscious choices by opting for second-hand clothes over fast fashion.