Does resale really reduce carbon emissions?

Resale does little to reduce the carbon footprint of fast fashion brands, although it can have a meaningful impact for premium apparel and outdoor brands, a new study finds.

Why resale matters 

Parts of the fashion industry, in the spotlight for the levels of carbon emissions and waste generated, are attempting to address environmental problems by encouraging resale. 

But for fast fashion brands, “it’s misplaced effort”. That’s according to Andy Reuben, co-founder of the branded re-commerce solution Trove and an author of the new report, ‘Where Are Circular Models Effective Sustainability Strategies for Fashion Brands?’.

“What they’re basically doing is moving around items that hold none of their value, which is a marketing program,” he told CNBC. 

The carbon reductions for such brands are less than 1% but move up the scale for premium apparel and outdoor brands, with resale able to reduce emissions by around 15%.

Takeaways 

• All brands can decarbonize their products through supply chain interventions – updating designs to eliminate production waste, sourcing more recycled materials, installing lower energy machinery. 
• Resale is a more viable option for durable products that retain their value. Brands can also optimize parameters such as resale price, sell-through, and trade-in values. 
• Maintaining operational control in managed resale gives brands a direct means to capture Scope 3 emissions reductions. 

Key quote

“Brands have to demonstrate meaningful investment into shifting their model. When they’re kind of skirting around the edges, by doing either a branded peer-to-peer site or working closely with a marketplace, they’re not actually shifting their model. They’re continuing to do the things that got their carbon emissions” – Gayle Tait, CEO at Trove.

Methodology

For the report, Trove, a supplier of “branded recommerce solutions”, modeled the carbon footprint of 38 products across five apparel brand archetypes (premium, outdoor, mid-tier, athleisure and fast fashion) to understand the impacts of decarbonization and circular strategies.

Sourced from Trove, CNBC