The Chinese fashion group Shin grew rapidly in Europe and the USA in recent years. The range of cheap clothes, the fast
Shein has entered into an agreement with The Or Foundation. The aid organization based in the USA and Ghana is committed to justice and sustainability in the clothing industry.
The Chinese fast-fashion giant has decided to set up an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fund and is cooperating with The Or, Or co-founder Liz Ricketts said at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Shein will pay $50 million over the next five years to an EPR fund that supports communities suffering from the effects of textile waste. The Shein Fund will help advance the development and implementation of environmental and social sustainability strategies that focus on clothing that enters the global second-hand trade and often ends up as waste, according to a joint statement on Wednesday .
Shein fights against a bad image
Fashion trends were well received by customers. Recently, the secretive group has come under increasing criticism for possible plagiarism
and questions arose about how sustainable the company is. Shein works with initiatives like the fund and a new one
sustainable line against the image.
“Shein has set an ambitious goal and we are thrilled to partner with the Or Foundation, the first recipient of the groundbreaking Shein Fund, for the next step in our journey,” said Adam Whinston, Global Head of ESG at Shein . “Managing second-hand waste is an important part of the fashion ecosystem that is often overlooked. We have an opportunity to make a difference in this area and we look forward to working with the Or Foundation on this first project of its kind.”
With the concept of extended producer responsibility, companies support the process that the product goes through when the customer has sorted it out – i.e. further processing or disposal – in financial or physical form.
15 million garments per week
Ghana was the world’s largest importer of second-hand clothing in 2020, with a combined value of $182 million, according to Ricketts. 15 million pieces of clothing per week end up in the Kantamanto market – the market in Accra is the largest site for resale by residents. 40 percent of these pieces, which are mainly shipped from the USA and Europe, are not used and are disposed of. This puts a strain on the local communities.
“Until we align EPRs with reality, we need brands that care and support communities like Kantamanto. There is one brand that has decided to do that,” Ricketts said at the Copenhagen conference.
The Or receives $5 million from the Shein Fund for each of the next three years and uses it to expand an educational program for young women who carry bales of second-hand clothing on their heads and suffer from the heavy burden. It also aims to establish community businesses that turn textile waste into new products, pilot fiber recycling projects with Ghanaian textile manufacturers, and make the Kantamanto market a safe and dignified place to work.
Established in 2011, The Or Foundation operates as a charity in the United States and Ghana.