The best place for well-kept, used clothes is the wardrobe of a new, happy owner, says Emmy’s CEO Juha. Clothes that remain unsold at Emmy are sent to charity and recycling. But where do they go and through whom – that will be revealed in this article.
Clothing recycling, transparency in the recycling chain, and the final destination of used clothes have been hot topics in recent weeks.
The discussion was started by an article in Helsingin Sanomat on August 26, after which the topic has been covered in several blog and expert posts as well as debated on discussion forums.
The place for used clothes is not the landfill, but donating them to charity is not always without problems either.
According to the article in Hesari, some donated clothes end up being sold in Eastern Europe or Africa through large wholesalers. The market for used clothes from Western countries is, for example in Africa, a huge business, which is feared to undermine the local clothing industry.
However, not all used clothes find new owners, even overseas. In that case, they risk ending up as waste – in countries where waste management and incineration are still in their infancy.
A good piece of clothing finds a new owner nearby
As the CEO of Emmy, I have become quite familiar with the problems in this field.
My own view on the whole subject is that usable clothes should primarily circulate locally. Either as donations to relatives, friends, and neighbors, or through normal commercial transactions.
This way, both the waste problem and market distortion in Africa or elsewhere can be minimized.
A functioning aftermarket also encourages people to buy high-quality clothes that last from one user to another.
The above is actually the starting point for all of Emmy’s operations. We aim to make selling used clothes easier than by any other means, and thus create a functioning aftermarket.
Judging by the enthusiasm of our users, we have succeeded to some extent. So far, we have had just under 10,000 customers, and about 150,000 pieces of clothing have changed hands through our service. The volume has tripled over the past year, and growth continues to be strong. In the spring, we had a significant funding round, so all kinds of new and exciting things are coming soon!
Emmy has no need to hide anything
In connection with the topic, Helsingin Sanomat journalist Maria Manner wondered in her column on August 26 why many organizations involved in clothing collection refuse to disclose in detail where the used clothes go after leaving their hands.
We find this puzzling as well, since at least at Emmy, we have no need to withhold information about the further processing of unsold clothes.
Over 70% of all items received by Emmy are sold, meaning they find a new good home. The rest go roughly to three places:
A small portion of the original owners want their unsold clothes back. Less than 5% of all items we receive are returned this way.
Broken or otherwise unusable items are sent to Tekstiiliring (less than 10% of everything). The items sent to Tekstiiliring are unusable, and to our understanding, are processed further as fiber for other uses. So they do not end up in landfills or distort the clothing market elsewhere.
The rest, that is, usable but unsold items, are delivered to Karjalan Apu Ry and Hope Ry, our charity partners. Karjalan Apu takes the clothes directly to Karelia and donates them to various institutions, such as hospitals and schools. Hope Ry, on the other hand, helps low-income or crisis-affected families with children in Finland.
At least as far as we are concerned, transparency is in order, and we are proud of it.
Thanks to you, Emmy’s customers, the products for sale at Emmy are in such good condition and of such high quality that they find new owners already in our home country. So thank you, both sellers and buyers! The larger your group, the better the aftermarket for well-kept used clothes works.
Juha Mattsson
CEO, Emmy
Read the article on Hs.fi: Finns are buying and discarding clothes more and more – What should be done with used clothes when they are no longer wanted, not even in Africa?
Maria Manner’s column: Why do charity organizations keep the movement of clothes secret?