Fristads launches repair as a service

The Swedish workwear manufacturer Fristads now takes another important step towards becoming a more sustainable supplier by launching an extended repair service for selected customers. The ambition is to develop the service further during 2024 to be able to scale it up for more customers after that.

“We have been working on reducing the environmental impact of our production for years, but we also recognise the need for innovative solutions to prolong the products’ life. By offering repair as a service to our customers we can ensure our products are used to their full potential before being recycled,” said Anne Nilsson, Director of Marketing and Sustainability at Fristads.

Pilot projects for repair as a service have been initiated on several of Fristads’ markets, in collaboration with selected customers in Sweden and the Benelux region. In the initial phase the plan is to identify the requirements and logistics of the repair service, with the aim to be able to develop a service which can be offered to customers on all markets going forward. 

“Minimising our environmental impact and helping our customers to make more environmentally conscious choices are two very important aspects of Fristads’ sustainability efforts. By broadening our scope of sustainability to include service for repairing our customers’ products, we can contribute to reducing the demand for new products, at the same time as we are finding new ways of doing business, said Petra Öberg Gustafsson, CEO at Fristads.

Extending the products’ life through repairs
Fristads already offers smaller repairs connected to the claims process. In fact, of all claims made during 2023, 27 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. Offering our customers repair as a service is one way for us to ensure we keep our edge when it comes to leading the workwear industry on sustainability,” said Anne Nilsson, Director of Marketing and Sustainability at Fristads.