You’re handed your hundredth shirt of the week, a T shirt emblazoned with hen party slogans, even a brand-new low-cost blouse you know your shoppers won’t want. How do you get value from them and retain supporter trust?
If our customer is in Accrington we’ll ask only for their money. If our end customer is in Accra (Ghana) we’ll ask a bit more.
A few of us charity retailers comparing notes back in 2018 shared concerns about textile merchants. At the shady end of the industry poor safety standards, unpaid taxes, unsorted goods illegally exported, even modern slavery. At the other end professional businesses being undercut. Nothing to make a clear distinction between them. No reason for the middle ground to improve standards. So we agreed to act together.
Since TRUST launched 5 years ago we’ve audited over 30 companies and thousands of charity shops have signed up to only selling to certified traders. What does that mean?
An independent professional auditor scrutinises policies and procedures, visits the site, interviews staff to confirm safe and fair working conditions, responsible onward processing. Our new Gold Standard goes further on quality control, waste segregation and environmental management.
So far this is about UK traders, but we know our donors care about what happens in end markets in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan and elsewhere. Like our shops they do the best with what they get but have to keep refreshing their stock, meaning unsold surplus, plus sorting mistakes and damaged goods adding up to waste.
So we’re improving feedback mechanisms and visibility of waste solutions in places like Accra:
Kanta Keepers collection service funded by Or Foundation
A Buy Back centre for unsold stock launched by the GUCDA importer association and Landfills2Landmarks
Cremexchange’s Traceability software to build a clearer picture of the journey our clothing takes beyond the sort room
The very real prospect that all clothing sold in the UK will soon attract a levy towards responsible end treatment means that high standards and transparency matters more and more. It’s called Extended Producer Responsibility and extending our responsibility is exactly what TRUST is about.
Re-use is a complicated business and the current trading environment isn’t easy. This is about looking to the future with greater confidence in one segment of the supply chain.
As for those surplus donations. Chances are if they aren’t falling apart or heavily contaminated there is a legitimate re-use market for them. Even that hen party T shirt if it’s not too obscene!
If you aren’t already signed up drop an email to info@trustmerchants.org.uk
