Low-price retailers Kmart and Target have teamed up with Australian university RMIT to launch a landmark study to better understand the causes of fashion waste.
With support of the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, both retailers have partnered with the School of Fashion and Textiles and the Graduate School of Business and Law at Australian university RMIT to drive the nationwide study.
The research - titled ‘Consumer Clothing Use & Disposal Behaviours’ - is intended to better inform responsive policy making and directly impact the way Australians dispose of their unwanted clothing. It is led by RMIT Professor Alice Payne in the School of Fashion and Textiles.
Links to a survey will be accessible from the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation’s ‘Have Your Say’ web page, as well as being promoted through Kmart and Target’s customer engagement channels.
Kmart Group managing director Ian Bailey said textile waste needed to be tackled through collaboration and partnership across all stakeholders.
“We know people want to do the right thing when it comes to clothing they no longer need or use,” Bailey said. “This study will help provide answers for why discarded textiles end up in the bin, so we can work together on the right solutions that work for our customers.
“With over 90 per cent of Australians shopping with Kmart and Target, leveraging our customer footprint to gather the essential insights to inform smart, practical solutions is the kind of direct action needed to get after this issue at pace and at scale.”
The study will commence in May with an early release of a preliminary survey that will be issued by both the Queensland Government and RMIT. The survey findings will then be incorporated and released in the second half of 2024.
According to Sustainability Victoria, only 7 per cent of discarded textiles in Australia are recycled, with an estimated 50 per cent of household clothing or textile waste being placed in the ‘red bin’. This is believed to be one of the single biggest contributors of textile waste ending up in landfill.
Payne said understanding how people acquire, use and dispose of their clothing is key to developing the right initiatives to support sustainable change.
Through their co-sponsorship of this Australian-first consumer research, the Queensland Government is expected to take on the learnings to drive forward the state’s waste recovery and recycling targets.
Minister for the Environment, the Great Barrier Reef, Science and Innovation, Leanne Linard, said the study aligned with the Queensland Government’s vision of a zero-waste society.
“This research provides an opportunity to inform and influence actions that continue our transition to a circular economy for textiles in Queensland,” Linard said.
“Extending the lifespan of clothing and the materials they are made from means we can reduce environmental impacts and demand on natural resources, contributing to a more sustainable future.
“With 50 per cent of post-consumer textiles, including wearable clothing, finding their way into waste bins, our goal is to combat this waste of textile resources by better understanding consumer behaviour and attitudes to inform further support for extending the lifespan of clothing.”