Circularity in the spotlight for Fristads

The Swedish clothing manufacturer Fristads is widening the scope on sustainability by putting circularity in the spotlight.

The Swedish clothing manufacturer Fristads is widening the scope on sustainability by putting circularity in the spotlight. For the third year in a row the company chooses not to participate in the sales initiative Black Friday, instead stepping up their efforts to extend the products’ life through repairs and recycling.

“Today, too many garments are discarded before they have been used to their full potential, this is something we experience in the workwear industry as well. By finding ways to extend the products’ life, by repairing or repurposing them – we believe we can contribute to reducing our industry’s impact on the environment,” says Anne Nilsson, Director of Marketing and Sustainability at Fristads.

Besides supporting customers with concrete tips on how to take care of their workwear to make them last as long as possible, Fristads also offers smaller repairs connected to the claims process. Of all claims made during 2022, 39 percent of the garments were repaired and returned to the customer instead of being replaced with a new product.

“The clothing industry globally today accounts for four to eight percent of the total climate-affecting emissions and the largest share of those emissions emanate from the manufacturing phase. An important climate measure is therefore not to produce more clothing than necessary and to make sure that products that have been produced are used as long as possible,” says Anne Nilsson.

Global blueprint for circular clothing production
In September Fristads presented their new global recycling infrastructure, including a certified recycling process in the Netherlands. The global recycling infrastructure is the brainchild of Fristads’ Benelux office, which has been in the forefront of developing successful circular solutions together with some of their large customers. Now, the Dutch model will serve as a blueprint for implementing and scaling up recycling on all Fristads’ markets.

“We have been working on reducing the environmental impact of our production for years, but we also recognise the need for innovative solutions to close the loop after the garment is at end-of-life. Our new recycling process will help solve that piece of the puzzle and ensures that we keep our edge when it comes to leading the workwear industry on sustainability,” said Anne Nilsson, Director of Marketing and Sustainability at Fristads.

Through the new recycling process, Fristads will minimise waste, reduce the use of virgin materials and help close the loop on their production. It also makes Fristads well positioned to meet the requirements of the forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation for clothing.