As the world’s second largest consumer of textiles per year[1], Vanish and UPPAREL are on a mission to divert 200 tonnes of clothes from ending up in landfill in Australia[2]
In its second year of partnership with UPPAREL, leaders in textile upcycling in Australia and New Zealand, and in conjunction with Woolworths, Vanish commits to diverting one million clothing items from landfill – the equivalent of 200 tonnes of clothes or 25,000 washing machine loads of clothes[3] – to help #MakeTextileWasteVanish.
Clothing and textile waste continues to be a growing issue in Australia with the average Australian purchasing 27kg of new clothing annually and then discarding 23kg[4]. While more than 2.6 million Australians (13%) think only 5kg of their clothes end up in the landfill[5], the reality is that 6000kg is discarded every 10 minutes[6]. According to the 2022 ‘Stain on the Nation’ report, commissioned by Vanish Australia, almost 8.5 million Aussies (33%) would throw away an item of clothing once it had been stained, with only 45% of Australians willing to mend an item of clothing that has been damaged[7].
This year, Vanish continues its mission to help #MakeTextileWasteVanish by educating Australians on the role they can play in helping to reduce textile waste through simple behaviour changes, like taking better care of their clothes. By using Vanish, Australians “can double the life of their clothes and re-wear garments for longer which in-turn helps keep them out of landfill.”
Customers can purchase any pack of Vanish Gold Multi Power between 4 October and 1 November 2023 at Woolworths to receive a free UPPAREL pick up worth $35 and help divert million clothing items from landfill.
To further demonstrate the impact of textile waste in Australia, Vanish hosted an interactive activation at Westfield Bondi Junction where a supersized washing machine highlighted key statistics around the issue of textile waste in Australia. Westfield shoppers were able to twist a lever and reveal the facts which lit up above the machine in neon pink.
Reckitt Marketing Director ANZ Hygiene Florence Paoli says that as Australia’s “number one” Stain Removal brand*, “Vanish has an important role to play in educating Australians on how they can extend the life of their clothes and ultimately, help reduce their textile waste.
“As we enter our second year of partnership, we are proud to continue our support of UPPAREL while educating Australians on the impact of textile waste,” she said.
“Textile waste remains a growing issue, and we encourage Australians to get involved by re-wearing their wardrobe, extending the life of their clothes and when they can no longer be worn, donating their unwanted clothes to UPPAREL.”
UPPAREL founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Elias says that while progress is being made, “Australia still has a long way to go as a nation to reduce our textile waste.”
“Australia is currently ranked second in the world for global textile consumption per person, so we still have a great deal of work to do to reduce our impact. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with such an iconic brand to not only reduce the amount of textile waste ending up in landfill, but also greenhouse emissions and the energy used to create and dispose of unwanted clothing,” Mr Elias said.
[1] Clayton UTZ, December 2021.’Australia’s textile waste problem’, claytonutz.com/knowledge/2021/december/australias-textile-waste-problem-and-how-the-key-players-are-responding.
[2] Based on 8kg maximum load washing machine at full capacity with shirts of standard weight.
[3] Based on 8kg maximum load washing machine at full capacity with shirts of standard weight.
[4] House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources, December 2020. Page 113. parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportrep/024400/toc_pdf/FromRubbishtoResourcesBuildingaCircularEconomy.pdf;fileType=application/pdf.
[5] Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2021, ‘Figure based on 13% of survey respondents who think that only 5kg of their clothes end up in landfill, against the latest adult population figures,’ abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/jun-2021.
[6] ABC War on Waste 2018.
[7] Vanish Australia ‘Stain on the Nation’ report 2022.
*Best-selling total Prewash (excluding bleach & sanitiser) brand in Australian Grocery (Nielsen MAT to 12/09/2023).
