Clothing retail partnerships helping to sustain the planet
As part of its mission to reduce waste, SATCoL – the trading arm of The Salvation Army – operates a Corporate Donations scheme, enabling brands to donate excess, returned and faulty stock.
The items suitable for resale are distributed to The Salvation Army’s 240 retail outlets across the UK to help raise vital funds for charity.
So how does it work? All donations to the Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) from corporate partners are collected by SATCoL, the UK’s largest charity-owned textile collector and delivered to its 25,000 sq ft processing centre in the East Midlands. Donations are sorted for processing including around 65,000 tonnes of textiles every year. Staff are fully trained to P.A.T. test all electrical goods and quality check all textiles which are organised into categories for distribution. Once tested or quality checked, products suitable for resale are distributed to The Salvation Army retail outlets across the UK.
Redesigning fashion
SATCoL is also helping to redesign fashion with an advanced sorting facility and innovative donation partnerships. The trading arm of the charity is helping to reduce demand by utilising end-of-life products and repurposing over 250 million donated items each year. SATCoL’s work is shaping the circular economy and helping to create some of the changes we would like to see.
In September 2021, SATCoL added a new automated Fibersort system to enable the accurate sorting and grading of non-wearable clothing and textiles by fibre type, blend and colour for recycling back into the textiles supply chain. This technology helps to maximise the generously received donations and create new opportunities for the fashion industry.
A new lease of life
“SATCoL is keen to work in partnership with retailers to divert items away from disposal and support the circular economy by receiving end-of-line stock, showroom samples, excess stock and customer returns,” said Kirk Bradley, Head of Corporate Partnerships at SATCoL. “Retailers can give these items a new lease of life whilst helping to raise vital funds for The Salvation Army to continue to support the great work they do across the country.”
The profits that SATCoL raises from its Corporate Donations scheme are donated to The Salvation Army, to support the most vulnerable in the community, including specialist support for the survivors and potential victims of modern slavery, shelter for those experiencing homelessness and so much more. In the last ten years alone, SATCoL has donated over £80 million to support The Salvation Army’s important work across the UK.
As you would expect from the trading arm of The Salvation Army, SATCoL takes the responsibility of repurposing its partners’ unwanted textiles, electrical goods, homeware, and other products very seriously with their priority to helping those in need. If your organisation is keen to look at ways that they can fulfil their corporate social responsibility in partnership with SATCoL, visit www.satcol.org to learn more.
