Detailed case overviews
| Case labels | Description on CSC activities |
|---|---|
| Case1 | One of Europe's largest sorting and recycling business group with main operations in Germany and Benelux. Includes 3 collection-, 7 sorting- and 1 recycling organization, including one innovative recycling platform. Collection takes place through various channels such as door-to-door, in-store and via collection bins placed at locations such as charities, municipalities and real estates. Sorting is organized for reuse (into >300 articles), for recycling (into >25 articles) and for energy recovery. Each sorting organization sorts approximately 30–50 tons a day. Nearly 40% of the sorted items are exported while a small fraction is also sold via own vintage shops. Some of the sorting companies also purchase collected goods from other partners. Recycling includes both mechanical and experimental chemical recycling, with end products as wipers, recycled yarns and non-woven |
| Case2 | A non-profit association with over 50 years of experience in second-hand business and solidarity work. Its collection takes place via various channels, such as via collection bins placed at locations such as charities, municipalities, recycling stations and real estates, and also in-store. In total collection is about 3,300 tonnes annually. It owns six second-hand shops and together with several municipalities in south-west Sweden runs 12 buddy shops. It also has two sorting facilities and two warehouses. Fraction that is not sold in own store is exported - one which is mixed at 10 euro cents/kilo, and the other which is sorted at 50–60 euro cents/kilo |
| Case3 | Children's rights organization with a non-profit second-hand operation. Main operations include collection, sorting and resale of donated second-hand items. Collection takes place using own logistics operator from donators' homes, but also includes other collection channels such as in-store or via donation centres. Resale channel includes 60 stores (12 are self-owned) in Sweden, and online shop. Traditional format includes large stores having around half dedicated to sorting and inventory, and other half for retail. However, recently it has started centralizing its operations by developing 3 e-commerce hubs for warehousing and logistics for webshop and specific shops. The largest one located in west Sweden handles approximately 200 tonnes annually, of which about 7.5% are sold in own-stores or online while about 35% are resend to collection partner. Over 450 tonnes of used clothes are annually donated to its main collection partner |
| Case4 | Largest collector with over 3,000 containers in Norway, and a part of an international charitable organisation. Subsequently involved with all the operations related to the reuse part. Sorting volume is about five and three tonnes in respective sorting facilities, per day. Sorting in Norway is done only that is needed for selling in own stores, while the rest is exported by sister trading organization. About 10% of the incoming volume (into the sorting facilities) is sorted in Norway of which about 21% is Norwegian reuse quality. Of the rest 79%, the reuse quality is also exported while the textile waste is given to the waste management companies. Rest unsorted 90% that cannot be sold in Norway are loaded directly from the 15–20 loading places by its trading organization. The main export markets are: (i) the unsorted items mainly going to Eastern Europe/Baltics, (ii) sorted second grade (ABC grades) items going to Pakistan, and United Arab Emirates and (iii) in Iraq only for reselling in the local market |
| Case5 | Swedish clothing brand operating 155 stores in five Nordic countries. Its current circular initiatives and collaborations focus on product and production, and also circular design. It collaborates with aid organizations to handle used products returned by customers. It also operates online second-hand sales by partnering with a re-commerce platform. In addition, several other collaborations includes: selling leftover and vintage as per-kilo in other EU markets, renting at physical stores, upcycling/remanufacturing in collaboration with a global partner located in India and procuring recycled materials from textile recyclers for developing collections |
| Case6 | Swedish internationally operating clothing retailer with over 4,000 stores in 54 markets. Its circular activities include collaborating with an international sorter to engage with in-store take back program, and running various second-hand concepts of different scale, in different geographies and with different partnerships, along different circular loops, e.g. own resell brand, standalone brand with major stake, etc. Other circular initiatives include offering repairing care and remake options by collaborating with charity organizations |
| Case7 | International aid organization with second-hand business with about 2,500 boxes deployed in communities and at recycling stations, in collaboration with municipalities or private landowners, in central and south Sweden. Annually it collects about 13,000 tonnes, of which around 1,000 tonnes are sorted in one of its four sorting facilities. From this, suitable textiles go for sale in 10 of its own second-hand stores or for humanitarian efforts mainly in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The remaining unsorted textiles are exported to sorting companies in Eastern Europe, which are divided into different classes for reuse and recycling. It also collects from other organizations by entering into collaboration that want help with collection, packing and logistics |
| Case8 | Subsidiary of a global sorting and recycling company, it collects about 90,000 tonnes of used clothes annually. It runs as a garment collection program by partnering with fashion retailers and brands to facilitate in-store collection. Consumers bring in their used clothing or shoes directly to the participating stores and are given a reward incentive. Collection can be carried out using collection bins individually designed according to the partner's wishes. Normally used clothes are picked up from partner's distribution centres in full truckloads |
| Case9 | Upper class municipality in west Sweden, which has adopted several initiatives when it comes to handling textile waste streams. Currently it locates three recycle centres for collecting textile waste, where private entrepreneurs run collection operations, based on certain agreement. The agreement allows NPO to place bins in the municipality. The municipality also gathers waste statistics, to inform other actors about the waste volumes |
| Case10 | Sweden's oldest chain of second-hand stores and is owned by an international charity organization. Currently it organizes collection, sorting and reselling of used clothes. Different collection channels include unguarded boxes in municipality's’ recycling centres, via own stores and collecting at home, and by partnering with different clothing retailers. Annual collection is about 7,000 tonnes of which 10–20% are resold in Sweden. Currently it organizes three sorting facilities in Sweden. Clothes that cannot be sold via own store, and also unsorted items are traded via a trading organization to different parts of the world, such as to Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. It operates 32 second-hand retail stores including webshop |
| Case11 | Part of an international humanitarian organization, the second-hand clothing business is organized. In Sweden they have around 250 shops, each decentrally organizing collection, sorting and reselling activities. Collection also occurs in collaboration with fashion retailers, and real estate companies to collect in their laundry rooms. Clothes that cannot be sold in own store are sold to partnering large European integrated sorter-recyclers for exports. Overall, about 30–40% of what is collected is resold in own stores, and about 40% is sold for subsequent exports. A small fraction is resold via re-commerce platforms |
| Case12 | Swedish chemical recycler, which converts cellulosic-rich textiles into fibre pulp as raw material for viscose and lyocell. Recycling is conducted in a Swedish facility producing about 60,000 annual tonnes of pulp. The company has developed a patented dissolving mass using dry-wet processing and then drying again, and then sell it as dissolving pulp as a drop-in substitute for conventional wood pulp. Currently it works with about 50–50 post-industrial and post-consumer waste streams |
| Case13 | Automatic sorting facility using near-infrared technology for sorting large volume of used clothes into colour and material composition. It is a public-private joint venture, as the sorting machine is funded through public investment, while the facility is provided by a Swedish waste management organization. The plant has a yearly capacity of handling 24,000 tonnes, and current clients includes textile recyclers |
| Case14 | German sorting and recycling company. Collection is either conducted in cooperation with charities, through commercial and municipal collections and by engaging in take-back programs, via its daughter company. After collection the used clothes are consolidated in a local distribution centre in each country, before it is transported to one of the two sorting facilities located in Germany and in Dubai. Sorting takes place based on ∼45 different criteria, 16 different garment types and 3 different grades of quality, e.g. reuse or recycle, based on the EU waste hierarchy. Reselling is operated through different sales channels, such as for selling vintage second-hand or under the concept of “per-kilo”. The remaining items that cannot be sold through own second-hand channels are exported based on quality to different markets, such as Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia. If the garment is not reusable or wearable (about 56%), they will go to the recycling streams of different kinds (∼30–35%); cotton items are cut into rectangle pieces and sold as wipers. The second line is mechanical recycling if it's a blend. Customers of recycled fibres are automotive and the construction industries, and also for chemical recycling |
| Case15 | Swedish social enterprise, it organizes a second-hand business along with an upcycling concept. Main modes of collection is donation via stores, but also municipality collection. Some kerbside collection is also conducted through recycling stations. The collected volume comes to a central warehouse which then gets sorted manually, valued and price marked and finally sent off to the second-hand stores or for upcycling. About 40–42 tonnes of textiles are received weekly. Stores are of two types, the classic second-hand shops and then a couple of outlet shops where clothes are sold per kilos. Those which cannot be sold in the stores are exported in collaboration with a Norwegian organization. Second-hand items are recently sold online by partnering with re-commerce platform |
| Case16 | Swiss company engaged with collection, sorting, reselling and recycling of used clothes. It operates in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain and the USA. Annual collection is about 75,000 tonnes, and this is organized mainly through own collection channels via collection bins. Other collection channels are in collaboration with retail brands as take-back systems, and by offering online collection option directly to consumers via free-parcel shipment. Approximately one-third of the collected volume is processed at own facilities, of which ∼60% is reusable and ∼30% recyclable. Sorting takes place into 300+ product groups. The resale portfolio consists of different concepts such as vintage stores, online shops and thrift stores. For the wholesale part, the main markets are eastern Europe, but also includes Sub-Sahara, South America, Pakistan and India |
| Case17 | Social enterprise that manages the collection of clothing, textiles and shoes for reuse by having bins and collection boxes placed in collaboration with municipalities and real-estate companies at their recycling facilities. Annually it collects about 400–500 tonnes. Everything collected in the boxes are taken to the inventory in south Sweden, and from there transported to a partner who is one of Europe's largest sorters. No own sorting is made, except for taking out pillows and blankets which are donated to homeless shelters. As a social enterprise, its goal is to generate jobs for people who are far from the labour market |
| Case18 | Polish company with current operations consisting of collection, sorting, gradation and then reselling used clothes. Annual collection is about 95,000–100000 tonnes, mainly via 3,000+ boxes installed in Germany, Poland and Czech Republic. The transportation to its Polish sorting facility is organized by own fleet of 75 trucks. In-house sorting takes place in two different lines, one installed with more automation such as speech-recognition system. Annually about 300 million pieces are sorted, of which about 80–85% are resold, of which 30% is resold in EU, while the rest are traded abroad (Asia, Africa, South America). The company is also experimenting with new recycled material innovations |
| Case19 | Dutch company working with the entire recycling supply chain, from collection, sorting, recycling (own mechanical recycling) and creation of new textiles by spinning and weaving the recycled fibres. Collection takes place in collaboration with municipalities in Netherlands and Belgium, and in recent years also started partnering with fashion retailers. Sorting for reuse is conducted at own facility in Netherlands, but also in Morocco. Sorting is made into 10 fractions that includes reusable clothing and shoes, industrial wipes, non-wearables, blankets and waste; overall this accounts for 250+ product categories. The non-wearable fraction is mainly recycled into yarn then made into woven fabric at own facility. Overall reusable and recyclable ratio is about 50–50 |
| Case20 | Swedish sorting organization with a semi-automated pilot line for textile sorting since 2018. It operates both sorting for reuse and recycling purposes and handles about 2 tonnes on a weekly basis. It operates like a sorting R&D facility with collaborations with NPOs and brands in experimenting novel sorting solutions |
| Case labels | Description on CSC activities |
|---|---|
| Case1 | One of Europe's largest sorting and recycling business group with main operations in Germany and Benelux. Includes 3 collection-, 7 sorting- and 1 recycling organization, including one innovative recycling platform. Collection takes place through various channels such as door-to-door, in-store and via collection bins placed at locations such as charities, municipalities and real estates. Sorting is organized for reuse (into >300 articles), for recycling (into >25 articles) and for energy recovery. Each sorting organization sorts approximately 30–50 tons a day. Nearly 40% of the sorted items are exported while a small fraction is also sold via own vintage shops. Some of the sorting companies also purchase collected goods from other partners. Recycling includes both mechanical and experimental chemical recycling, with end products as wipers, recycled yarns and non-woven |
| Case2 | A non-profit association with over 50 years of experience in second-hand business and solidarity work. Its collection takes place via various channels, such as via collection bins placed at locations such as charities, municipalities, recycling stations and real estates, and also in-store. In total collection is about 3,300 tonnes annually. It owns six second-hand shops and together with several municipalities in south-west Sweden runs 12 buddy shops. It also has two sorting facilities and two warehouses. Fraction that is not sold in own store is exported - one which is mixed at 10 euro cents/kilo, and the other which is sorted at 50–60 euro cents/kilo |
| Case3 | Children's rights organization with a non-profit second-hand operation. Main operations include collection, sorting and resale of donated second-hand items. Collection takes place using own logistics operator from donators' homes, but also includes other collection channels such as in-store or via donation centres. Resale channel includes 60 stores (12 are self-owned) in Sweden, and online shop. Traditional format includes large stores having around half dedicated to sorting and inventory, and other half for retail. However, recently it has started centralizing its operations by developing 3 e-commerce hubs for warehousing and logistics for webshop and specific shops. The largest one located in west Sweden handles approximately 200 tonnes annually, of which about 7.5% are sold in own-stores or online while about 35% are resend to collection partner. Over 450 tonnes of used clothes are annually donated to its main collection partner |
| Case4 | Largest collector with over 3,000 containers in Norway, and a part of an international charitable organisation. Subsequently involved with all the operations related to the reuse part. Sorting volume is about five and three tonnes in respective sorting facilities, per day. Sorting in Norway is done only that is needed for selling in own stores, while the rest is exported by sister trading organization. About 10% of the incoming volume (into the sorting facilities) is sorted in Norway of which about 21% is Norwegian reuse quality. Of the rest 79%, the reuse quality is also exported while the textile waste is given to the waste management companies. Rest unsorted 90% that cannot be sold in Norway are loaded directly from the 15–20 loading places by its trading organization. The main export markets are: (i) the unsorted items mainly going to Eastern Europe/Baltics, (ii) sorted second grade (ABC grades) items going to Pakistan, and United Arab Emirates and (iii) in Iraq only for reselling in the local market |
| Case5 | Swedish clothing brand operating 155 stores in five Nordic countries. Its current circular initiatives and collaborations focus on product and production, and also circular design. It collaborates with aid organizations to handle used products returned by customers. It also operates online second-hand sales by partnering with a re-commerce platform. In addition, several other collaborations includes: selling leftover and vintage as per-kilo in other EU markets, renting at physical stores, upcycling/remanufacturing in collaboration with a global partner located in India and procuring recycled materials from textile recyclers for developing collections |
| Case6 | Swedish internationally operating clothing retailer with over 4,000 stores in 54 markets. Its circular activities include collaborating with an international sorter to engage with in-store take back program, and running various second-hand concepts of different scale, in different geographies and with different partnerships, along different circular loops, e.g. own resell brand, standalone brand with major stake, etc. Other circular initiatives include offering repairing care and remake options by collaborating with charity organizations |
| Case7 | International aid organization with second-hand business with about 2,500 boxes deployed in communities and at recycling stations, in collaboration with municipalities or private landowners, in central and south Sweden. Annually it collects about 13,000 tonnes, of which around 1,000 tonnes are sorted in one of its four sorting facilities. From this, suitable textiles go for sale in 10 of its own second-hand stores or for humanitarian efforts mainly in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The remaining unsorted textiles are exported to sorting companies in Eastern Europe, which are divided into different classes for reuse and recycling. It also collects from other organizations by entering into collaboration that want help with collection, packing and logistics |
| Case8 | Subsidiary of a global sorting and recycling company, it collects about 90,000 tonnes of used clothes annually. It runs as a garment collection program by partnering with fashion retailers and brands to facilitate in-store collection. Consumers bring in their used clothing or shoes directly to the participating stores and are given a reward incentive. Collection can be carried out using collection bins individually designed according to the partner's wishes. Normally used clothes are picked up from partner's distribution centres in full truckloads |
| Case9 | Upper class municipality in west Sweden, which has adopted several initiatives when it comes to handling textile waste streams. Currently it locates three recycle centres for collecting textile waste, where private entrepreneurs run collection operations, based on certain agreement. The agreement allows NPO to place bins in the municipality. The municipality also gathers waste statistics, to inform other actors about the waste volumes |
| Case10 | Sweden's oldest chain of second-hand stores and is owned by an international charity organization. Currently it organizes collection, sorting and reselling of used clothes. Different collection channels include unguarded boxes in municipality's’ recycling centres, via own stores and collecting at home, and by partnering with different clothing retailers. Annual collection is about 7,000 tonnes of which 10–20% are resold in Sweden. Currently it organizes three sorting facilities in Sweden. Clothes that cannot be sold via own store, and also unsorted items are traded via a trading organization to different parts of the world, such as to Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. It operates 32 second-hand retail stores including webshop |
| Case11 | Part of an international humanitarian organization, the second-hand clothing business is organized. In Sweden they have around 250 shops, each decentrally organizing collection, sorting and reselling activities. Collection also occurs in collaboration with fashion retailers, and real estate companies to collect in their laundry rooms. Clothes that cannot be sold in own store are sold to partnering large European integrated sorter-recyclers for exports. Overall, about 30–40% of what is collected is resold in own stores, and about 40% is sold for subsequent exports. A small fraction is resold via re-commerce platforms |
| Case12 | Swedish chemical recycler, which converts cellulosic-rich textiles into fibre pulp as raw material for viscose and lyocell. Recycling is conducted in a Swedish facility producing about 60,000 annual tonnes of pulp. The company has developed a patented dissolving mass using dry-wet processing and then drying again, and then sell it as dissolving pulp as a drop-in substitute for conventional wood pulp. Currently it works with about 50–50 post-industrial and post-consumer waste streams |
| Case13 | Automatic sorting facility using near-infrared technology for sorting large volume of used clothes into colour and material composition. It is a public-private joint venture, as the sorting machine is funded through public investment, while the facility is provided by a Swedish waste management organization. The plant has a yearly capacity of handling 24,000 tonnes, and current clients includes textile recyclers |
| Case14 | German sorting and recycling company. Collection is either conducted in cooperation with charities, through commercial and municipal collections and by engaging in take-back programs, via its daughter company. After collection the used clothes are consolidated in a local distribution centre in each country, before it is transported to one of the two sorting facilities located in Germany and in Dubai. Sorting takes place based on ∼45 different criteria, 16 different garment types and 3 different grades of quality, e.g. reuse or recycle, based on the EU waste hierarchy. Reselling is operated through different sales channels, such as for selling vintage second-hand or under the concept of “per-kilo”. The remaining items that cannot be sold through own second-hand channels are exported based on quality to different markets, such as Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia. If the garment is not reusable or wearable (about 56%), they will go to the recycling streams of different kinds (∼30–35%); cotton items are cut into rectangle pieces and sold as wipers. The second line is mechanical recycling if it's a blend. Customers of recycled fibres are automotive and the construction industries, and also for chemical recycling |
| Case15 | Swedish social enterprise, it organizes a second-hand business along with an upcycling concept. Main modes of collection is donation via stores, but also municipality collection. Some kerbside collection is also conducted through recycling stations. The collected volume comes to a central warehouse which then gets sorted manually, valued and price marked and finally sent off to the second-hand stores or for upcycling. About 40–42 tonnes of textiles are received weekly. Stores are of two types, the classic second-hand shops and then a couple of outlet shops where clothes are sold per kilos. Those which cannot be sold in the stores are exported in collaboration with a Norwegian organization. Second-hand items are recently sold online by partnering with re-commerce platform |
| Case16 | Swiss company engaged with collection, sorting, reselling and recycling of used clothes. It operates in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain and the USA. Annual collection is about 75,000 tonnes, and this is organized mainly through own collection channels via collection bins. Other collection channels are in collaboration with retail brands as take-back systems, and by offering online collection option directly to consumers via free-parcel shipment. Approximately one-third of the collected volume is processed at own facilities, of which ∼60% is reusable and ∼30% recyclable. Sorting takes place into 300+ product groups. The resale portfolio consists of different concepts such as vintage stores, online shops and thrift stores. For the wholesale part, the main markets are eastern Europe, but also includes Sub-Sahara, South America, Pakistan and India |
| Case17 | Social enterprise that manages the collection of clothing, textiles and shoes for reuse by having bins and collection boxes placed in collaboration with municipalities and real-estate companies at their recycling facilities. Annually it collects about 400–500 tonnes. Everything collected in the boxes are taken to the inventory in south Sweden, and from there transported to a partner who is one of Europe's largest sorters. No own sorting is made, except for taking out pillows and blankets which are donated to homeless shelters. As a social enterprise, its goal is to generate jobs for people who are far from the labour market |
| Case18 | Polish company with current operations consisting of collection, sorting, gradation and then reselling used clothes. Annual collection is about 95,000–100000 tonnes, mainly via 3,000+ boxes installed in Germany, Poland and Czech Republic. The transportation to its Polish sorting facility is organized by own fleet of 75 trucks. In-house sorting takes place in two different lines, one installed with more automation such as speech-recognition system. Annually about 300 million pieces are sorted, of which about 80–85% are resold, of which 30% is resold in EU, while the rest are traded abroad (Asia, Africa, South America). The company is also experimenting with new recycled material innovations |
| Case19 | Dutch company working with the entire recycling supply chain, from collection, sorting, recycling (own mechanical recycling) and creation of new textiles by spinning and weaving the recycled fibres. Collection takes place in collaboration with municipalities in Netherlands and Belgium, and in recent years also started partnering with fashion retailers. Sorting for reuse is conducted at own facility in Netherlands, but also in Morocco. Sorting is made into 10 fractions that includes reusable clothing and shoes, industrial wipes, non-wearables, blankets and waste; overall this accounts for 250+ product categories. The non-wearable fraction is mainly recycled into yarn then made into woven fabric at own facility. Overall reusable and recyclable ratio is about 50–50 |
| Case20 | Swedish sorting organization with a semi-automated pilot line for textile sorting since 2018. It operates both sorting for reuse and recycling purposes and handles about 2 tonnes on a weekly basis. It operates like a sorting R&D facility with collaborations with NPOs and brands in experimenting novel sorting solutions |
Source(s): Authors' own work
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