US-based start-up, The Renewal Workshop is transforming returned clothes into re-sellable items to benefit the planet and help manufacturers hit sustainability goals.
“Using renewed clothing saves the apparel industry water, carbon and waste. For every nine months that a renewed article of clothing is used, instead of buying it new, the amount of carbon used to manufacture a new product is reduced by 27 per cent, water by 33 per cent, and waste by 22 per cent,” said Nicole Bassett, Co-CEO, The Renewal Workshop.
The company renews outdoor garments like raincoats and jackets, as well casual shirts, pants and dresses received in bulk from the company’s brand partners. It inspects, grades, repairs, cleans (using a waterless system), co-labels the clothing and ship with minimal packaging. Each piece is certified to the quality standards of the original brand and resold online with 30 per cent discount. The company partners with apparel companies committed to sustainability, including the brands prAna, Ibex, Toad&Co, Mountain Khakis, and Indigenous, and more.
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It may be mentioned here that the new collaborative project between The Renewal Workshop, Oregon BEST and the Oregon Manufacturers Extension Partnership (OMEP), which includes cleantech support, manufacturing expertise and an entrepreneurial vision, helped the company design and set up a 7,500-square-feet lean manufacturing facility at an industrial park in the Columbia River Gorge. The total cost of the project was US $ 22,500.
“Both Oregon BEST and OMEP contributed expertise, insights and key support that were critical in helping us design and build out our facility in a way that functions perfectly,” commented Nicole.
