More than a million tonnes of textiles are dumped in Australian and New Zealand landfills every year. Finding ways to divert those textiles is part of our sustainability mission, and we’re happy to report that one of our newest initiatives recently passed a milestone.

On 8 September a container load of shredded textiles, sourced from used garments recovered from Deane customers, left Sydney for Mexico. There they will be converted into fibre and then yarn, and finally, new textiles.

The 3,800 kg shipment is a trial for a regular garment recycling service that Deane Product and Project Manager Christina Kwon hopes to introduce to all Australian and New Zealand customers. “It’s all about giving Deane clothing a second life and, like almost everything we do, it relies on co-operation between willing parties, including the customers who returned their used Deane clothing and our partner Textile Recyclers Australia,” she says. “The test consignment actually originated in New Zealand and we’re grateful to our logistics partner, Mondiale VGL, which shipped the garments from our Auckland warehouse to Sydney free-of-charge. They’re just as committed to the sustainability journey as we are.”