plastic waste in the clothing industry

[PineappleDanish]

I volunteer in a charity shop and we regularly get stock from some large high street retailers - one premium, one mid range, one supermarket.

Each item we get is individually wrapped in those thin plastic sleeves like you get with dry cleaning. EVERY ONE. Every t-shirt, every scarf. Most have their own hangers

Retailers are banging on about how they are scrapping bags and becoming more eco. But the sheer amount of plastic sleeves which are being ripped and chucked every day is shocking. They can't be reused. You have to rip them to remove the item inside. Useless as a carrier bag. The only use we've found is as stuffing for handbags. But 95% goes in the bin.

This must be a huge issue in chains across the country. And probably stores don't care because it all happens in hte stock room where there's no customers to call them out on it.

AIBU to think wrapping every sodding t-shirt in its own plastic sleeve is just nuts?

I work in clothing retail. I totally agree it is nuts, but it's there to protect the garments.

Our stock is delivered in cardboard boxes. If stuff wasn't in plastic, the rain would get through and damage the stock. It also avoids stock getting dirty in the stock rooms.

How else do you propose the clothing is protected? If clothing gets damaged in transit (ie stained or torn) we have to faulty it and it can't be sold.

It does seem like something that could be done with reusable bags (zip like a suit carrier and sent back to the manufacturer).

I’m surprised hangers aren’t already reused to be honest.

I get the protection thing. But they could line the box with one layer of plastic, or put 36 tshirts in one plastic sack rather than 36 tshirts each in their own sleeve.

We managed for years without wrapping everything in plastic.

I get the protection thing. But they could line the box with one layer of plastic, or put 36 tshirts in one plastic sack rather than 36 tshirts each in their own sleeve.

That doesn't work with stockrooms and stocktaking though (at least, not where I am). Everything has to be hung and scanned individually - you can't just have hundreds of t-shirts dumped in boxes. Things have to be kept neatly (so stuff doesn't get caught and creased), in size order, and in colour order.

We also dispatch online orders direct from the shop, and customers expect things in brand new condition.

I get what you're saying that it wastes a lot of plastic, but all the plastic we use is fully recyclable. And I imagine if people bought clothes that were caught, dirty or stained because they were just dumped in boxes, they wouldn't be very impressed!

all the plastic we use is fully recyclable

How? IN the supermarket's own 'carrier bag recycling' bin? I don't know of any others I could go to.

I don't work in a supermarket but ours just gets put in the local business recycling bin.