Resources

The 2024 Textiles Market Situation Report updates on the present state of the UK textiles market.

Are people open to the idea of ecolabels?

This report looks at the role that eco-labelling could play in providing citizens with information on the durability, recyclability, and repairability of products, inclusive of home textiles, furniture, and electrical appliances. The research also explores people’s receptivity to using ecolabels, and ultimately, their potential for influencing the products we decide to purchase. 

In September 2022, WRAP commissioned online consumer research into the current attitudes and behaviours of UK citizens in relation to home textiles, including what’s influencing consumers to make a home textiles purchase, through what routes are they buying and disposing of home textile items and what are their in-use habits in relation to those items. 

In autumn 2021, WRAP commissioned two large scale pieces of online consumer research on the life expectancy of different items of clothing in UK wardrobes and the UK’s appetite for adopting new models of clothing acquisition – some of which discard the notion of owning clothes all together.

The Resource Action Fund (RAF) was an £18 million fund, provided by Defra to support resource efficiency projects, with the goal of diverting, reducing, and better managing waste. The funding supported organisations in England which aimed to reduce waste and make better use of materials.

WRAP works with governments, businesses and citizens to create a world in which resources are used sustainably. Read our April 2020-21 annual review to learn more about our mission to accelerate the move to a sustainable, resource-efficient economy.

Our plan for achieving Net Zero.

This report unveils new insights on how resource efficiency and resource sufficiency can cut greenhouse gas emissions. Developed in collaboration with CREDS researchers at the University of Leeds, it offers a clear, practical roadmap which delivers quick wins.

Increasing the utilisation of clothing is a daunting challenge in a world of ‘fast fashion’ and accelerating consumption. Many companies have responded to market demand and competition by reinforcing and enabling ‘fast fashion’ trends. 

But simply selling more new clothes to meet demand in high consuming and fast-growing economies is unsustainable. It puts more pressure on natural and human resources that are already over exploited. It will mean even greater negative impacts on the environment and society. 

M&S and Oxfam launched the Clothes Exchange Campaign in 2008, which was rebranded as Shwopping in 2012, to make it easier for customers to give their unwanted clothes a second life.