What Makes The Reskinned Takeback Scheme Different?

What is a Takeback Scheme

Just in case it’s the first time you’re hearing about this, here’s the low down:

A takeback scheme is a scheme set up for brands to collect their products when customers are finished with them.

It allows brands to take responsibility for their waste, making sure everything they create is recycled or disposed of in the best possible way.

It’s a great way to make sure the clothes you no longer want or need can be rehomed or recycled responsibly, without having to work out how exactly to do that yourself. Because trust us, there’s a lot that goes into it.

Brands can create their own takeback schemes (and often do), with varying degrees of success.

Some, like Patagonia’s, have their environmental initiatives deeply embedded in the process. But others (we won’t name names, but a quick Google search will do it for us) can be created in a hurry, and don’t have the correct infrastructure to manage their own waste.

This spells bad news for the planet, with piles of clothes from popular brands being dumped in their thousands all over the world, ruining the natural landscape with microplastics and toxic chemicals.

You can read all about the impact of clothing waste on our oceans here, if you like.

What makes the Reskinned takeback scheme different?

We wanted to make sure that brands could handle their takeback schemes, and create a system they could trust to find the best solutions for their unique products.

You know for yourself that when shopping there are a million different factors that go into what you want to buy - the shape, the fabric, the quality, the price.

Well there are just as many factors that go into working out what to do with something when it reaches the end of its time with you too.

Our takeback scheme makes sure every item ends up in the best possible solution. Our 40+ years of recycling experience in the UK means that we have trusted partners and processes for every different product.

Find out more about what brands you can send us, and what we do with them here.

Nothing goes to landfill

We’ll start with the big one, because it’s the thing that makes the real difference.

In sad reality, a high percentage of clothes you send to takeback schemes and charity shops end up being thrown in landfill.

Here at Reskinned we don’t believe anything should go to landfill, no matter what condition it’s in. Even the most worn shoes and clothes are still made from valuable resources that can and should be recycled and reused, creating circularity and preserving new resources being needlessly wasted.

With our takeback scheme, everything is checked in-house

Every single item that passes through our doors has a traceable journey, meaning we decide exactly where each piece will end up based on the quality and condition it’s in.

Our team in London inspect each item we receive one by one, and pick the best route based on a whole host of criteria.

We take into account the quality, condition, brand, style and shape, and any marks or stains, rips and tears. If something is still wearable, we’ll decide how to get it to the person who wants to wear it. That usually means putting it on our pre-loved platform for you to buy it at a discount price.

For any item that doesn’t have life left in it, we’ll use our recycling expertise to figure out what to do next.

We’ll tell you more about that later…

We repair the things that need it

Sometimes the things we get through the door here at Reskinned are in pretty good condition, but have minor faults that need repairing.

Most other takeback schemes don’t have the facilities to handle small repairs, and end up throwing perfectly good clothes away.

You know when you buy something, the strap breaks or you lose a button, and you realise you didn’t actually want to wear it enough to bother getting it fixed?

You’re not alone.

A percentage of the items we receive here at Reskinned HQ have minor faults that would probably stop someone buying them. Most of these are easy to fix, as long as you have the right person for the job, and the right tools.

We set up our in-house repair station so we always have specialists on hand to fix a broken seam, darn a jumper or sew on a missing button.

It keeps good clothes in the hands of good people for as long as possible, which is our ultimate goal.

Ozone cleansing is our speciality

We didn’t want to add extra environmental impact where it wasn’t needed, and the more clothes that we get sent, the more laundry needs done - which usually equates to waste water and chemicals being used.

Our Ozone cleansing machinery takes the water out of the equation, using special particle targeting to remove every single bit of bacteria and scent from our clothes. So they don’t smell like laundry detergent, they smell like… well, absolutely nothing, actually!

And environmentally, the impact is as low as it gets.

Our partners and experts know the ins and outs of recycling

Because fashion brands aren’t recycling experts, they have to rely on outside expertise to manage what’s best for their products at the end of their life.

When a brand embarks on their takeback journey, sometimes they end up trusting companies that offer a quick fix. That’s when mistakes are made, brands lose visibility, and their clothes end up in places they shouldn’t be, or disposed of wrongfully.

This is often a result of not knowing how to recycle something, or having the resources and connections available to make sure they can be recycled.

Recycling clothing is definitely not a straightforward task, and all different materials and components like buttons and zips need to be recycled differently.

Luckily we’re in the business of recycling. Reskinned was born in partnership with LMB Textiles, who have been recycling clothes and fabric since World War 1. Over a lot of years we’ve passed down the knowledge, and adapted as new materials become popularised.

That means our recycling partners are people we know and trust - they’re like family to us. We know exactly where our clothes go, what happens to them, and who’s in charge.

We’ve invested in the development of state-of-the-art machinery to make sure we always get it right. Our MATOA machines can scan any fabric and tell us what it’s made from.

This allows us to work out which recycling route is best for each and every takeback, so fashion can stay as circular as possible.

The goal is to take things as close to their original source fibres as possible, so they can be used again and again.

It's a challenging and complicated task, and we wouldn't do it if we weren't fully committed to doing it the right way.

We’re Building a Community

We’re not content with just providing a service. We want to go beyond that.

We choose to invest our time and energy into building a community of like-minded people who are ready to see and be part of the much needed change in the fashion industry.

Our goal is to share our knowledge about the process, and empower you to make the best decisions for yourself and the planet, and make it easy for you to take action.

Things need to change, but we can’t make that change alone.

We’re proud of our incredible community of brands and customers. If you’re here reading this, which it feels like you might be, then that means you too.

So give yourself a pat on the back. Go on.

You can find out about the brands we work with in our takeback scheme here, and shop our pre-loved gems here. Enjoy!