The Northface Launches a Bold Clothing Recycling Initiative

The North Face has launched an industry leading pilot recycling program for clothes. According to EPA estimates, more than 21 billion pounds of clothes linen and other textiles were thrown away in 2010, almost all of which (85 percent) ended up in landfills. According to the UN Americans throw away more than 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per person per year.

The Northface recycling program is called “Clothes the Loop,” it provides customers in ten participating North Face stores with bins where they can drop off apparel hats and footwear from any brand.

Items collected are then sent to an I:Collect (I:Co) which either resells them or recycles them. Money generated by the program will be donated to the Conservation Alliance, which funds community-based campaigns to protect
outdoor areas.

Customers who donate used apparel earn discounts that can used towards the purchase of
The North Face products.

In addition to their public recycling efforts, the North Face is also reducing its own waste production.. Since 2008, the company has reduced the waste its headquarters sends to landfill by
35 percent and achieved an almost 17-fold increase in recycling.