MANGO promotes circular economy strategy by giving clothes a second life

In collaboration with I:CO, a subsidiary of Soex Group, Mango will manage locally collected garments in their Committed Box containers, where the company’s clients deposit garments they no longer wear to give them a second life. The agreement with I:CO covers the markets of Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Turkey.

I: CO is responsible for collecting and sorting the clothes deposited in Mango Committed Box containers according to the second age: reuse (wearable clothes are dispensed into the used channel); Reuse (if it cannot be reused, it is used for other types of activities) or recycled (clothing can be made into textile fibers for industrial use).

The objective of the agreement with I:CO is to manage textile waste collected in each country through a local partner. To date, the waste collected in Mango stores is managed from Spain. This agreement with a local partner allows Mango to process it locally, reducing CO2 emissions and improving returns logistics.

In Spain, all items collected and processed are donated to the Koopera Recovery and Recycling Center, which is part of Moda Re, a group of social initiative cooperatives and non-profit employment organizations promoted by Caritas.

In parallel with the agreement signed with I:CO, Mango is currently in talks with other potential local partners to manage waste locally in each country where the Committed Box project is being implemented. Customers can deposit textiles and shoes, regardless of brand, into custom crate containers.

Committed Box was set up in 2015 as a pilot project where clothing recycling bins were placed in stores in major Spanish cities. Today, custom crate containers can be found in all Mango stores in 15 countries (Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom) and in select stores in Croatia.

In 2021, the project was expanded to five new countries: Austria, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland and Russia, with a total of 105 new containers. All franchise stores in these six countries collect used clothing, whether it has a container or not. At the end of 2021, 759 stores in the Mango Network had dedicated box containers.

In 2019, Committed Box Project joined Mango’s Customer Loyalty Program, Mango Likes You. As part of the Mango Likes You program, customers who recycle their used clothing at Committed Boxes will get likes on their account, which they can redeem for movie tickets and discounts, or donate to social work projects.

The Committed Box project aims to align Mango’s activities with the Sustainable Development Goals for Responsible Consumption (SDG 12) and is also part of the company’s sustainability strategy.

Beatriz Baio, director of sustainability at Mango, notes that moving forward with the circular economy strategy is one of the pillars of the company’s sustainability goals.

“For this reason, we are expanding our Committed Box project through agreements like this, and by working with local partners we can contribute at the local level in each country where the project is being implemented.”

Just Style spoke to Bayo and Mango President of Sourcing Andres Fernandez in an exclusive interview last year, where they discussed how transparency, collaboration and trust are key to a greener future and rebuilding better from the Covid-19 pandemic.