Making it easier to reuse and recycle unwanted textiles

When Manrags first launched it aimed to provide quality socks for men. A couple of years ago, the company's founder and CEO, Michael Elias, reflected on his own sock draw and realised there was nowhere for his socks to go at the end of their life but the bin. He realised what that meant for their customers all over the world and came to the realisation that, essentially, his business was producing waste.

Upparel designs its products with circular economy principles in mind and ensures textile resources stay in the economy as long as possible through reuse and, where reuse isn’t possible, recycling initiatives. It offers high-quality essential items such as socks and underwear and is seeking to continually improve how its items are manufactured. 

Upparel’s textile recycling service allows customers to box up unwanted textiles and return them to the team at Upparel who sort the items to find the most appropriate destination for them. The company has a promise that no items it receives will be sent to landfill.

65 per cent of the items received are new or still appropriate for wear. These items are donated to their partners: Save the Children, Sacred Heart Mission, Ready Set Australia and St Kilda Mums, to name a few. The remaining 35 per cent is assessed to be upcycled into new items or recycled into new materials.

For every product it produces, Upparel diverts ten items from landfill. In the past 12 months, the company has diverted over a million items of clothing from landfill and prevented 500,000kg of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. Upparel has also seen a 220% increase in revenue since implementing more circular practices.