SATCoL publishes Social and Environmental Impact Report

The Salvation Army has a long history of helping the most vulnerable people in our society. It also has a long track-record in reuse and recycling – repurposing items for the benefit of others and making the most of our planet’s precious resources. Today, The Salvation Army is at the forefront of positive social and environmental impact.

The trading arm of the charity, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL), plays a leading role in textile reuse and recycling. Our nationwide network of shops and clothing banks, as well as a growing number of services such as Take Back Schemes and IT Reuse services, enables individuals, communities and organisations to engage in reuse and recycling of clothing and other items.

Today, we have over 8,000 clothing banks, over 240 high street shops and new donation centre+ concept stores, and 4 modern Processing Centres across the UK.

Transformative textile recycling

It is estimated that, globally, less than 1% of clothes contain recycled clothing content¹. SATCoL is leading the way in creating a circular textiles economy where more unwearable items can be recycled back into the supply chain. We have made significant investments in technology and are working with partners to provide solutions for textile recycling. In 2021 we installed Fibersort^TM, a technology which automatically sorts garments by their fibre type. Located at our purpose-built processing centre in Kettering, the technology is a first in the UK. Last year, Fibersort sorted over 500,000 worn-out items. In 2023, we announced our new joint venture with corporate wear specialists Project Plan B. The venture, known as Project Re:claim^TM, is the world’s first textile polyester recycling technology that will take worn (post-consumer) garments and recycle them back into reusable materials at commercial scale.

SATCoL’s Social and Environmental Impact Report shares the story of how, with the support of members of the public and our corporate partners, we help others, and help protect our planet.

> Download the report here: https://salvationarmytrading.org.uk/how-we-help/impact/

¹ A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org)