Following a successful pilot, Sainsbury's is expanding its collaboration with UK clothes charity 'Newlife' to all supermarkets. Since the partnership's inception in 2019, the shop has donated 65.5 tonnes of unsold clothes returns and damaged goods to charity.

Sainsbury's Tu apparel collection will be recycled or resold by Newlife to assist fund its charitable activities and meet Sainsbury's obligations under its sustainability plan, Plan for Better, under the new rollout.

The money raised by reselling items in one of Newlife's nine stores throughout the UK will go towards sensory play equipment loans, disability equipment grants, and emergency equipment loans for families.

Sales from charity shops also help to fund Newlife's Nurse-run nationwide Helpline, which gives compassionate assistance to families with handicapped and terminally ill children.

All Sainsbury's clothes returns and damaged items that cannot be resold by Newlife will be broken down into raw materials and recycled or utilized for a number of reasons, including automobile insulation and dog bed filling.

Stephen Johnson, Director of Technical & Ethical at Sainsbury’s said that Sainsbury's is dedicated to taking steps to safeguard the environment and to assist their local communities. They're excited to be expanding their collaboration with Newlife throughout all of their stores, and they're really proud of what they've accomplished together so far. Not only does their collaboration support the charity's critical job of benefiting so many children across the UK, but it also helps the, deliver on their promise to support local communities while also saving resources and reducing waste.