Pure Waste - Our Impact

Our impact

Switching to Pure Waste is a big step towards sustainability.

See the H2O and CO₂ environmental footprint of our products and compare how much less water and carbon dioxide emission we produce when compared to similar products made of virgin materials.

If you multiply this by the number of people in your organisation, you’ll be amazed at how much water you can save...

Our Impact: 99% less H2O, 50% less CO₂

When compared to a similar product made of virgin materials

Download the report

See our footprint and calculate your savings

T-shirt

Long sleeve T-shirt

Sweatshirt

Button down shirt

Hoodie

Pique shirt

Sweatpants

Kid's T-Shirt

Kid's Sweatshirt

Kid's Hoodie

Kid's Sweatpants

Tote bag

Dress

Mask

Twill jersey zip jacket

See your total amounts

The environmental footprint of these products are:

litres of water

kg of CO₂ emissions

Congratulations!

by choosing Pure Waste you managed to reduce the footprint by:

That’s equal to the basic daily
water requirements of

This equals to average CO₂ emissions of driving an average size passenger car in Finland

litres of water

kg of CO₂ emissions

people

Copy impacts as a link

100% recycled fabrics and garments

Find out how we use cotton that would otherwise go to waste, saving water and energy and reducing CO₂ emissions in the process.

Read the Impact Report

Our Impact: 99% less H2O, 50% less CO₂

When compared to a similar product made of virgin materials

Download the report

100% recycled fabrics and garments

Find out how we use cotton that would otherwise go to waste, saving water and energy and reducing CO₂ emissions in the process.

Read the Impact Report

Our Impact:
99% less H2O, 50% less CO₂

When compared to a similar product
made of virgin materials

Download the report

The problem

The fashion industry is facing a serious sustainability challenge in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, non-renewable resources and water.

See our solution

The solution

We are committed to using only 100% recycled fabrics in our clothing, and we also work hard to minimise packaging and reduce post-consumer waste.

Read the Impact Report

The problem

We want to help the fashion industry to be more sustainable. But we will all have to work together to overcome some big challenges...

In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles totalled

{{ akViewModel["6:4_0"].vmValue }}
billion tonnes

That’s more than all international flights and shipping combined

Textile production also uses a lot of resources. Globally:

{{ akViewModel["6:17_0"].vmValue }}
billion m3

of water is used every year
for textile production

That’s equal to the Basic daily water requirements of

{{ akViewModel["6:20_0"].vmValue }} people

In addition:

{{ akViewModel["6:25_0"].vmValue }}
million tonnes

of non-renewable resources are used every year for textile production

That’s equal to

barrels of petroleum oil

And yet, some pieces of clothing are discarded after as little as

7-10 uses

and less than 1% of the material used in clothing
is recycled into new clothing.

The Post Waste era

Don’t throw that t-shirt away!

The average Finn throws away

of textile waste every year

See how much of that could be recycled instead; if

of Finns recycled all of their used textiles, they would rescue a total of

That’s equal to the weight of

elephants

From 2025 onwards, EU regulations will not permit post-consumer textiles to be put into the trash.

The clothes we wear can no longer be wasted. Instead, they should be worn out, collected and recycled. Used clothes are a valuable raw material – not rubbish.

So let’s stop wasting our textiles today. At Pure Waste, we’re doing our part with Post Waste.

Our Post Waste collection is made entirely from waste:

polyester recycled from plastic bottles

post-consumer cotton

cotton cuttings from factories

The Post Waste collection shows that the move towards a true circular economy for textiles is already happening on a commercial scale.

We want to play our part in the development of an infrastructure for recycling textile waste into new clothes in Finland. Our goal is to treat post-consumer textile waste locally, right where it’s collected.

#postwasteera

UN SDGs

We're working towards a more sustainable future for all by supporting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint for achieving a more sustainable future for all of us. They address a number of the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity and peace and justice. The goals are interconnected, and in order to ensure that no one is left behind it’s important that we achieve each and every one of them by 2030.

Our goals

Currently, we are working to improve all aspects of our operations to reduce our carbon footprint.

Our short-term goal is to calculate the carbon footprint of our production and products and find ways to become carbon neutral. We’re setting up a monitoring and reporting system for tracking the progress of our goals.

Pure Waste is continuously developing new fabrics and improving our existing ones. We also want to educate people about recycling and sustainable clothing.

We are currently working with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 6, 8 and 12. In the future we also plan to address goal 13, which is "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Responsible packaging

We're committed to using sustainable packaging solutions that minimise our environmental impact.

of our web store shipments
use reusable RePack packages

If RePack packages are used over 20 times, the packaging results in 80% less CO₂ emissions and 96% less waste when compared to single-use packaging.

Why we use RePack

RePack is a reusable and returnable packaging service.

We chose RePack packaging because it achieves a neutral carbon footprint after just two reuses. Shipping with RePack is free - we cover the expenses to ensure we have the most sustainable packaging possible.

In 2019:

of our shipments used reusable RePack packages

of packaging for our web store sales was supplied by RePack

saving

of CO₂ emissions

and preventing

of waste

Help spread the word

Working together, we can help make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Share this impact report

You're always welcome to drop by our concept store in Helsinki or go to your local retailer.

Pure Waste Concept Store
Yrjönkatu 34
00100 Helsinki
Finland

Official website of Pure Waste – 100% recycled textiles:

www.purewaste.com

If you have an idea to support us on our journey to a more sustainable future, please contact us:

info@purewaste.com

The recycling process

‘Pure Waste’ is our promise to produce clothing using only materials that would otherwise go to waste.

We use

In other words, our clothing and accessories are made of recycled textile scrap from the clothing manufacturing process.

Our entire production process is GRS certified, ensuring that we remain committed to using only recycled materials.

recycled materials

How it works

First, we sort the waste
by colour

Next, we re-fibre it and spin it into new yarn

The yarn is then turned into
fabric for textile production

This allows us to produce high-quality, ‘good as new’ fabrics without needing to dye them or produce any new cotton.

At the moment, we’re unable to use our own cutting waste; however, we plan to tackle this challenge in the future with the help of chemical recycling.

At present, our cutting waste is passed onto other textile recyclers.

Here’s an idea of how much water our approach can save:

{{ akViewModel["13:82_0"].vmValue }}
litres of water

Since 2013 we have saved

That’s equal to

Olympic-sized swimming pools

Ethical employment

Employment in the fashion industry can, and should, be fair. The way we do business and how we treat people are important to us at Pure Waste.

We are

compliant with local laws and
international regulations

and we will always have

under-age workers

We try to ensure that these standards are not only fulfilled, but also improved upon.

Our employees

typically work 9 hours per day, which includes a lunch break and two tea breaks

have a work contract

are on a payroll and paid monthly

In addition

women make up more than 50% of our workforce

our salaries are higher than the regional average

we also cover social expenses and some food

transportation to and from work is provided, as is accommodation when necessary

overtime is voluntary – and paid

We hold BSCI and SEDEX certification, demonstrating our commitment to fair working conditions.

Garment care

At present, clothing is underused – meaning it’s thrown away long before it’s worn out.

The number of times an average piece of clothing is used has decreased by 36% in the past 15 years.

Globally, the amount of lost value every year from clothes that are discarded before they’re worn out is

{{ akViewModel["48:102_0"].vmValue }} billion USD

One thing we can all do to help make fashion more sustainable is to use our clothing for as long as possible. Here’s how you can make your clothes last:

Remove large stains and strong odours before machine washing

Use a microfibre washing bag to contain loose man-made fibres

Hang to dry, steam to refresh

Don’t cut off care labels

Take care of your washing machine

Machine wash less

Switch to ecological detergents and fabric softeners

Use lower washing temperatures

Taking care of your clothing has a big impact:

of total emissions from clothing occur through use – mainly from washing and ironing

Machine wash less

Generally, we machine wash our daily clothes too often. Unless you sweat a lot during the day, or your clothes get dirty daily, there is no reason to machine wash your clothes after every use. Normally, you can simply freshen them up by taking them out to air. Using an undergarment (for example a tank top) protects clothes from sweat. The only clothes we should wash often are underwear, undershirts and socks.

Remember to take care of your clothes: iron or steam them, remove pilling, fix small holes and secure loose buttons. It makes a huge difference.

Goal 6

Cotton is one of the fibres most used by the textiles and clothing industry. Despite being a comfortable and natural fibre, its cultivation causes severe stress on the environment. The crop needs a lot of water but it is often grown in areas where there is not enough rainfall, meaning that cotton fields need to be irrigated.

We are addressing water scarcity by using recycled cotton in our products and collecting rainwater at the factory site. Together with other factories and the neighbouring school, we have also provided safe drinking water for the community by building a water pipeline. Our goal related to this specific SDG is to spread the word and educate people about responsible water use.

Goal 8

Our economic growth is based on garments made out of 100% recycled fibres, an innovative and resource-efficient product. We also aim to create an attractive workplace for all who work with us. We pay close attention to gender equality and fair wages, and we offer safe and secure working conditions.

Goal 12

Responsible consumption and production
We aim to reduce waste generation by using pre-consumer textile waste as a raw material. Our process also minimises the use of chemicals. One of our main goals as a brand is to promote environmental awareness and sustainable lifestyles by supporting consumers to make better decisions.

Remove large stains and strong odours before machine washing

If your clothes pick up a stain, take care of it as soon as possible – mineral water is useful when you’re not at home. At home, most stains can be removed by pre-treating with an olive oil-based Marseille soap (vegan) or gall soap. For sweat and other strong odours, we recommend soaking for a few hours in a bucket filled with white vinegar and lukewarm water (1 part vinegar to 4 parts water). This way, washing clothes in a machine isn’t necessary after every single use.

Switch to ecological detergents and fabric softeners

Contrary to what you might believe, using too much detergent and fabric softener won’t make your laundry cleaner. However, adding 1-2 large spoonfuls of baking soda to each laundry load will help the detergent work more effectively, so you can use less. If using liquid detergents, make sure they are free of zeolites and artificial scents. The most ecological and easy-to-use fabric softener is actually white vinegar. Use vinegar just like a regular fabric softener – and don’t worry, the scent will fade as the clothes dry.

Use lower washing temperatures

When machine washing Pure Waste clothes, we recommend using a 40-degree cycle (or lower). This helps to conserve energy, as the water doesn’t need to be overheated. When using an eco program, you can put the clothes in a washing bag to protect them from the mechanical abrasion of the longer cycle. It’s more efficient to fill the machine rather than washing half loads.

Use a microfibre washing bag to contain loose man-made fibres

Synthetic fibres release microfibres into waterways with every wash. These microscopic particles are too small to get filtered at water treatment plants, meaning that some of them end up in nature. When your clothes need to be washed, put them in a microfibre washing bag to catch any loose fibres.

Hang to dry, steam to refresh

Clothes are best kept on hangers rather than being folded. And they can also be dried on hangers – thicker hangers help to keep the clothes in shape. Hung clothes often don’t need ironing after they dry. If you do want to iron your clothes, steaming is a safe and fast option that is also excellent for freshening up clothes after a few uses. Knitwear should always be folded so that they won’t stretch.

Don’t cut off care labels

Cutting off the care labels and fibre information from clothes is a bad idea, so try to keep them unless you need to remove them because your skin is super sensitive. Clothing collectors and recyclers need the fibre consistency information on the clothes to sort the textiles correctly. If it’s not there, there’s a chance that the clothes won’t end up getting recycled.

Take care of your washing machine

Always leave your washing machine’s door and detergent compartments open after the wash so that they can dry. Clean up any detergent residue from the bowls and empty the lint filters at least once a month. Using white vinegar helps to prevent bacterial growth and reduce odours. We recommend using non-zeolite detergents. If you mostly use low temperatures to wash your clothes, you should run a hotter cycle (60-95 degrees) once in a while. Clean your machine once or twice a year with 100g of citric acid – place the powder in the machine's detergent compartment and run a hot 95-degree cycle through an empty machine. Before machine washing again, run a short hot cycle with some detergent.

Responsible factories

Textile production can have a lot of undesirable effects on a region. We’re showing that it’s possible to minimise our impact while also bringing benefits to local communities.

We located our cut, make, trim (CMT) factory in the Coimbatore area of southern India.

of the energy used in our factory
comes from wind power

Waste from bio toilets is recycled for cultivation and used to produce cooking gas for our workers.

recycled plastic bottles were used to make the fence around the factory

There is a well and a water pipe supplying the factory, which also benefits people living in the area.

Our waste is sorted and recycled thoroughly.

No chemicals are released into waterways.

The government of the Tiruppur region has strict regulations for wastewater treatment, which our factory in the area respects fully.

Encouraging recycling

We’re doing our part to take care of pre-consumer waste, but we still need your help with post-consumer waste – meaning what happens to your clothes when you’re done with them.

Every second:

of clothes are sent to landfill or incinerated

What you can do instead of discarding your old clothes

Can you donate or sell them?

The first thing we recommend is to avoid throwing away clothes that you no longer use. If something is still in decent shape, why not repair it, donate it or try to sell it second hand?

If not, recycle it!

When a piece of clothing is too worn to pass on, it should be recycled.

Pure Waste’s recycling plan

After you’re done with it, you can return your old Pure Waste clothing to us, either by mail or by taking it back to the store.

We’ll then recycle it so it can be reused for other textile purposes.

We’re doing this because we believe that companies should take responsibility for their products across the whole lifecycle, making sure that materials are used as fully as possible.

All Pure Waste clothing can be returned to us – and we'll recycle it so it can be reused for other textile purposes.

After you’re done with it, you can return your old Pure Waste clothing to us, either by mail or by taking it back to the store.

Central navigation

UN SDGs

Help spread the word

Impact calculator

Read our sustainability report (pdf)

The problem

Responsible factories

Ethical employment

The recycling process

Encouraging recycling

Garment care

The Post Waste era

Responsible packaging

Responsible factories

Responsible packaging

The problem

Encouraging recycling

Help spread the word

The recycling process

The problem

The fashion industry is facing a serious sustainability challenge in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, non-renewable resources and water.

See our solution

The solution

We are committed to using only 100% recycled fabrics in our clothing, and we also work hard to minimise packaging and reduce post-consumer waste.

Read the Impact Report

Central navigation

The problem

The recycling process

Ethical employment

Responsible factories

Encouraging recycling

Garment care

The Post Waste era

Responsible packaging

Read our sustainability report (pdf)

UN SDGs

Help spread the word

Impact calculator

The problem

We want to help the fashion industry to be more sustainable. But we will all have to work together to overcome some big challenges...

In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles totalled

{{ akViewModel["764:3_0"].vmValue }}
billion tonnes

That’s more than all international flights and shipping combined

Textile production also uses a lot of resources. Globally:

{{ akViewModel["764:14_0"].vmValue }}
billion m3

of water is used every year
for textile production

That’s equal to the Basic daily water requirements of

{{ akViewModel["764:17_0"].vmValue }}
people

In addition:

{{ akViewModel["764:24_0"].vmValue }}
million tonnes

of non-renewable resources are used every year for textile production

That’s equal to

barrels of petroleum oil

And yet, some pieces of clothing are discarded after as little as

7-10 uses

and less than 1% of the material used in clothing is recycled into new clothing.

The recycling process

‘Pure Waste’ is our promise to produce clothing using only materials that would otherwise go to waste.

We use

recycled materials

In other words, our clothing and accessories are made of recycled textile scrap from the clothing manufacturing process.

Our entire production process is GRS certified, ensuring that we remain committed to using only recycled materials.

How it works

First, we sort the waste
by colour

Next, we re-fibre it and spin it into new yarn

The yarn is then turned into
fabric for textile production

This allows us to produce high-quality, ‘good as new’ fabrics without needing to dye them or produce any new cotton.

At the moment, we’re unable to use our own cutting waste; however, we plan to tackle this challenge in the future with the help of chemical recycling.

At present, our cutting waste is passed onto other textile recyclers.

Here’s an idea of how much water our approach can save:

Since 2013 we have saved

{{ akViewModel["764:124_0"].vmValue }}
litres of water

That’s equal to

Olympic-sized swimming pools

Ethical employment

‘Pure Waste’ is our promise to produce clothing using only materials that would otherwise go to waste.

We are

compliant with local laws and
international regulations

and we will always have

under-age workers

We try to ensure that these standards are not only fulfilled, but also improved upon.

Our employees

typically work 9 hours per day, which includes a lunch break and two tea breaks

have a work contract

are on a payroll and paid monthly

In addition

women make up more than 50% of our workforce

our salaries are higher than the regional average

we also cover social expenses and some food

transportation to and from work is provided, as is accommodation when necessary

overtime is voluntary – and paid

We hold BSCI and SEDEX certification, demonstrating our commitment to fair working conditions.

Responsible factories

Textile production can have a lot of undesirable effects on a region. We’re showing that it’s possible to minimise our impact while also bringing benefits to local communities.

We located our cut, make, trim (CMT) factory in the Coimbatore area of southern India.

of the energy used in our factory
comes from wind power

Waste from bio toilets is recycled for cultivation and used to produce cooking gas for our workers.

recycled plastic bottles were used to make the fence around the factory

Encouraging recycling

We’re doing our part to take care of pre-consumer waste, but we still need your help with post-consumer waste – meaning what happens to your clothes when you’re done with them.

Every second:

of clothes are sent to landfill or incinerated

What you can do instead of discarding your old clothes

All Pure Waste clothing can be returned to us – and we'll recycle it so it can be reused for other textile purposes.

After you’re done with it, you can return your old Pure Waste clothing to us, either by mail or by taking it back to the store.

Garment care

At present, clothing is underused – meaning it’s thrown away long before it’s worn out.

{{ akViewModel["766:145_0"].vmValue }} billion USD

One thing we can all do to help make fashion more sustainable is to use our clothing for as long as possible. Here’s how you can make your clothes last:

Remove large stains and strong odours before machine washing

Switch to ecological detergents and fabric softeners

Use lower washing temperatures

Use a microfibre washing bag to contain loose man-made fibres

Hang to dry, steam to refresh

Take care of your washing machine

Machine wash less

Don’t cut off care labels

Taking care of your clothing has a big impact:

of total emissions from clothing occur through use – mainly from washing and ironing

The Post Waste era

Don’t throw that t-shirt away!

The average Finn throws away

of textile waste every year

See how much of that could be recycled instead; if

of Finns recycled all of their used textiles, they would rescue a total of

That’s equal to the weight of

elephants

Our Post Waste collection is made entirely from waste:

post-consumer cotton

cotton cuttings from factories

polyester recycled from plastic bottles

UN SDGs

We're working towards a more sustainable future for all by supporting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Our goals

Responsible packaging

We're committed to using sustainable packaging solutions that minimise our environmental impact.

of our web store shipments
use reusable RePack packages

If RePack packages are used over 20 times, the packaging results in 80% less CO₂ emissions and 96% less waste when compared to single-use packaging.

Why we use RePack

In 2019:

of our shipments used reusable RePack packages

of packaging for our web store sales was supplied by RePack

saving

of CO₂ emissions

and preventing

of waste

Help spread the word

Working together, we can help make the fashion industry more sustainable.

Share this impact report

Copy impacts as a link

Our impact

Switching to Pure Waste as a supplier is big a step towards achieving sustainability.

See our footprint and calculate your savings

See your total amounts

The environmental footprint of these products are:

litres of fresh water

kg of CO₂ emissions

Congratulations!

by choosing Pure Waste you managed to reduce the footprint with:

litres of fresh water

That’s equal to the basic
daily water requirements of

people

kg of CO₂ emissions

This equals to average CO₂ emissions of driving an average size passenger car in Finland

Our Impact:
99% less H2O, 50% less CO₂

When compared to a similar product
made of virgin materials

Download the report

T-shirt

Long sleeve T-shirt

Sweatshirt

Button down shirt

Hoodie

Pique shirt

Kid's Sweatpants

Tote bag

Dress

Mask

Twill jersey zip jacket

Sweatpants

Kid's T-Shirt

Kid's Sweatshirt

Kid's Hoodie

Central navigation

Home

The problem

The recycling process

Ethical employment

Responsible factories

Encouraging recycling

Garment care

The Post Waste era

UN SDGs

Responsible packaging

Help spread the word

Impact calculator

Pure Waste shop

Headline of source here!

Source: Statistics Finland - Total number of household -dwelling units in Finland.

Explore source

Headline of source here!

Source: Statistics Finland - Total number of household -dwelling units in Finland.

Explore source

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operating system

geolocation

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