Confidence for Australian Governments on Clothing Reuse Exports

With the completion of the second phase of the Clothing Reuse Export Accreditation Scheme, Australia now has data on the quality of clothing reuse exports from accredited organisations in the Charitable Reuse Australia network:

Of all clothing items exported 94% are either reused in their original form overseas, or used as rags, cleaning cloths and/or upcycled:

• 72% is wearable used clothing exported for resale/reuse in original form. Sorting is done either domestically onshore by op shops and/or is sorted overseas by commercial exporters on stock collected independently.
• 22% is non-wearable used clothing exported for conversion into cleaning cloths, rags or upcycling. Most rags/cleaning cloths are reimported back into Australia for retail sale domestically, including at big box retailers.
• 6% is gross contamination and waste that is removed and sent to disposal in Australia before export.

Australian governments and consumers can be confident in the quality of Australian charitable clothing reuse exports, which has three factors setting it apart as a global leader in quality and efficacy:

• Australian op shops are renowned for the quality and efficacy of their domestic sorting of clothing donations, conducted by 5,200+ staff and 33,000+ FTE volunteers who catch any clothing waste domestically, to ensure it is not inadvertently exported overseas. Australia is unique, together with the UK in having a strong local charity sector to sort onshore before export. Australian op shop sorting is second to none globally with our large and effective charity sector that has been operating successfully in reuse for over 140 years, and now with 3,000+ shops.
• Of the 310,000 tonnes of clothing items donated to op shops every year, 86% is used and 14% is waste. That’s a total of 43,400 tonnes of clothing waste that is unusable and not able to be commercially recycled domestically, going to Australian landfill every year.
• This onshore sorting ensures Australian charitable clothing reuse exports are of the highest quality, with waste caught before export, to underpin a responsible, environmentally conscious trade.
• Another key USP of Australian clothing reuse exports is the climate similarities with overseas exports markets, with our lighter fabrics and prints proving ideal for markets like Kenya and the Pacific, where an excess of winter garments might otherwise be wasted.
• This higher spring/summer percentage from Australian fashion ensures more exported garments are fit for purpose, and waste is reduced.

Quality clothing reuse exports continue to find active reuse markets overseas, providing affordable clothing to those with lower incomes and prioritising reuse to extend the wearable life of garments. At the same time, the trade generates environmental and social benefits both domestically and overseas.

Domestically, the trade generates around $50 million for social welfare at home with charities getting paid about 50 cents per kilo on export prices. The trade also diverts 100,000 tonnes of wearable/usable clothing for reuse that would otherwise go to landfill in Australia. The only reason these wearable garments can’t be sold domestically is because Australian consumers have a preference (and the purchasing power) to choose and buy newer preloved garments.

Overseas, it creates millions of jobs and helps alleviate poverty and encourage gender equality with many of these jobs going to women involved in resale markets and repair.

The Clothing Reuse Export Accreditation Scheme is now entering its third phase, with overseas audits and foreign end market verification planned for next year. Extending the supply chain visibility, Tier 2 buyers will also be verified at this stage, providing an audit assessment of the material usage figures identified in the second phase. The third phase will also include a robust Modern Slavery element including a key Worker Voice outreach, where we will seek to engage workers directly, through our collaboration with other non-profit organisations both domestically and overseas.

Beyond that, we are working on a rolling 3-year development plan that will ensure that the Clothing Reuse Export Accreditation Scheme is the most ambitious, robust and effective one of its kind globally.