Valuing our clothes report
The report highlights opportunities across the supply chain to reduce the resource impacts of clothing supply, use and disposal.
The report found that by making changes to the way clothing is supplied, used and disposed in the UK some £3billion per year could be cut from the cost of resources used in making and cleaning clothes.
It identifies a number of opportunities for the clothing sector to gain business advantage, while at the same time reducing carbon emissions and resource use and waste.
The report was produced by WRAP and includes evidence from a consumer behaviour survey of 7,950 UK adults.
Key findings of the consumer research
The research found that:
- The average UK household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes – but around 30% of clothing in the average wardrobe has not been worn for at least a year, most commonly because it no longer fits;
- Two-thirds of UK consumers buy or receive pre-owned (or second-hand) clothes, and there is a willingness to wear more, especially if a better range were available;
- An estimated £140 million worth (350,000 tonnes) of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year.
