M&S announces recycled clothing labels

British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has revealed that

it will use recycled polyester to make over 300 million clothing labels a year.

The M&S care labels will adorn the new message – ‘Recycle with Oxfam’ – in an attempt to encourage customers to use the M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange which rewards customers who donate their clothing in Oxfam stores with a £5 money-off voucher to use at M&S. Since the scheme launched in January 2008, over £3 million has been raised for Oxfam.

Two million garments a year have been recycled through the scheme but M&S promises to rival this figure - through its eco strategy Plan A - by helping customers to recycle 20 million items of clothing a year by 2015.

Plan A is the retailer’s eco and ethical programme which aims to make M&S the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015. Launched in 2007 and extended in March 2010, it takes a holistic approach to sustainability focusing on involving customers, involving all areas of the business and tackling issues such as climate change, waste, raw materials, health and being a fair partner.

The new labels will start to appear in M&S stores early next year.