Waste as a resource

100% of our key waste streams from our head offices and owned and operated logistics centers will be recycled or reused.

We will drive forward post-consumer waste and circular infrastructure solutions, engaging in collaborative initiatives to turn waste into valuable resources.

We will have tested and implemented circular business models in selected key markets with relevant partners.

We will facilitate the development of certified and/or branded fibres and materials at market scale through innovation and industry collaborations.

We will source 50% of our polyester from recycled polyester or other certified and/or branded alternatives.

We are convinced that the fashion industry must move towards a circular model if we are to achieve balance and prosperity. This will require replacing the traditional linear model of take-make-waste with circular solutions that safeguard the world’s finite resources and eliminate waste.

In our materials and fashion products, with our own waste streams in offices and stores, in our plastic and paper-based packaging, and in our general business models

We do this through several different approaches.

To support the development of alternatives to polyester, we have joined Fashion for Good’s Full Circle Textiles Project for polyester.

The project aims to scale promising chemical recycling options for polyester, as chemical recycling has the potential to make textile-to-textile recycling a reality for polyester, which would significantly reduce the amount of polyester that ends up in landfill.

Our Innovation Lab has joined the innovative ReSuit project – led by Danish Technological Institute. With ReSuit, we are working with various stakeholders to help establish a more sustainable textile industry in Denmark and facilitate the recycling of all textile waste.

ReSuit is investigating how the textile industry can get better at designing sustainably and what technologies are best suited to recycling post-consumer textile waste.

Invest FWD has invested in Ambercycle, an American company specialising in polyester recycling. They have developed a pioneering process for used polyester textiles that separates and purifies post-consumer textile waste at the molecular level to produce regenerated materials that can be crafted into new garments. This investment represents our ongoing focus to reduce the impact of our material use through more and better recycling. BESTSELLER will continue to evaluate, test and adopt innovative solutions within textile recycling, while our brands will work to increase their sourcing of recycled fibres.

We’re piloting two major circularity projects, and one of them supports utilisation of its own textile cutting scraps, creating a valuable closed-loop system in a fully transparent supply chain. To develop the desirable new recycled yarns, BESTSELLER collaborates with CYCLO – a Bangladeshi recycled cotton fibre firm on a mission to responsibly recycle the hundreds of tonnes of cotton fabric discarded daily as cutting waste.

Product Waste Management: It is important to distinguish between damaged products that can’t be sold due to consumer safety considerations and post-consumer products (products that have been sold and used by the consumer). Damaged products make up an infinitely small percentage of the goods we produce. Get an overview of BESTSELLER's current set-up regarding damaged products and claims & excess products.

Using recycled materials enables us to decouple from virgin resources and we see recycling as an essential element of a sustainable reality. Recycling diverts waste from landfill and gives it a second life. It reduces our consumption of water, energy and chemicals that are used to make virgin materials, and it reduces our CO2 emissions. As our second most important fibre in terms of volume, and due to the way its produced, polyester is particularly relevant when it comes to recycling. We have set a goal that by 2025, we will source 50 percent of our polyester from recycled polyester or other more sustainable alternatives.

Office FWD, Stores FWD, Logistic Location FWD – these are our internal programmes to reduce electricity consumption but also operations to help reduce, reuse and recycle resources. Our programmes include an increased focus on waste, as we are working towards our ambition that 100 percent of key waste streams (e.g. pallets, wood waste and cardboard) from our head offices and own and operated logistics centres will be recycled or reused by 2025. For example, we have begun installing waste sorting systems in our offices to separate items such as paper, plastic, metal and food. We have outlined a Circular & Digital Business Model for BESTSELLER, which we are working hard to create through the adoption and development of innovative solutions that connect nature, technology and fashion.

The future of fashion is circular. This is the clear ambition of the EU, showcased through the Circular Economy Action Plan and the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. The proposed legislation includes initiatives on product design, waste management, new business models and regulated green claims.

While much of the proposals are already incorporated into our Fashion FWD strategy, the legislation stresses the importance of strategy progress and speed. To comply with any future legislation, we’re strengthening our focus on data and data streams, traceability and transparency measures and legal legislative insight.

We’re also preparing our products for the circular future envisioned by the EU. Therefore, we have developed our Circular Design Guide. The guide is an internal document for all designers and product developers across brands on how to design out waste and make circularity a top priority – but made publicly available to inspire others.