Improved Waste Management and Resource Efficiencies

Last Updated: 2024.12.27
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Fast Retailing strives to minimize its environmental impact by reducing resource use, and by reusing and recycling waste generated by our own business activities and across the supply chain.

Policies for Improving Waste Management and Resource Efficiencies

Waste is a valuable resource that can be reused when managed properly. Our goal is to reduce the amount of waste generated from our business activities, including the disposal of products that our customers no longer need. We promote reuse and appropriate management of waste in other ways, engaging proactively in resource recycling. In order to achieve a circular economy and maximize resource efficiency, we also work towards reducing resource usage and promote reuse and recycling. The most important way to improve the efficient use of resources is to make sure that our customers use the apparel they purchase from us for as long as possible. We are committed to using resources efficiently by providing our customers with high-quality long-lasting apparel.

Targets

Fast Retailing is working to demonstrate a new industry that deals not only with clothing as products, but which also manages the clothing manufacturing process, sales methods, and post-sale clothing projects. We are pursuing the tandem goals of contributing to a sustainable society and growing our business, bringing a new type of clothing to the world.

We also emphasize care for the environment in all processes when creating LifeWear, from manufacturing to transport and sales, sharply reducing waste to establish a production process with minimal environmental impact aiming to improve resource efficiency and achieve zero waste. Our priority is to reduce waste through reduce, switch, reuse and recycle materials such as plastic bags, cardboard, hangers, etc. using during shipping, and product packaging. Further, Fast Retailing will develop new reduce, reuse and recycle services and technologies through initiatives such as RE. UNIQLO to continuously utilize LifeWear.

Pursuing a business model to eliminate waste

Fast Retailing strives to create simple clothing that is high in quality and functionality, and that customers can and will want to use for a long time.
We analyze customer opinions and reflect that feedback in product development. We are also steadily increasing the accuracy of our estimated production quantities and optimizing our logistics. We believe these efforts - part of our "Ariake Project" - will help us eliminate waste in production and sales stages of our business.
The clothes we create are based on the ongoing needs of our customers, and we are committed to not destroying or discarding unsold inventory. Accordingly, we take measures such as clearing stock through markdowns or carrying products over to the next season.
Our efforts don't stop at the time of sale. We also collect, reuse and recycle products used by our customers. In addition, we are advancing new ways to use materials with greater efficiency, incorporating recycled materials into product planning and in our sourcing of raw materials.

Initiatives on Creating LifeWear

Product planning

Fast Retailing pursues timeless design and durability in LifeWear apparel. We plan, produce, and sell these products with the goal of having our customers wear them over a long period of time. In this way, Fast Retailing helps uses resources more efficiently.

Materials procurement and manufacturing

Fast Retailing is advancing ways to use materials with greater efficiency. We are doing this by incorporating recycled materials in the product planning process and in our sourcing of raw materials. We aim to increase proportion of recycled materials to approximately 50% by the fiscal year ending August 2030.
In the 2024 products, the proportion of materials with low GHG emissions such as recycled materials has risen to 18.2%; indicating steady progress towards reaching this target. Switching from synthetic fibers to recycled materials is easier due to the advanced recycling technology. We are currently in transition to switch to use recycled materials, especially polyester. For the 2024 products, the proportion of polyester derived from recycled sources out of all polyester used has risen to 47.4%. For natural materials such as cotton and wool, we are working with external partners in R&D to develop recycled materials that can achieve the same quality and comfort as products using natural materials.
In the production process, we are also researching new technologies that reduce waste and reuse textile waste.

Related Links

• Clothing made from recycled materials

Logistics, Stores, Offices and E-Commerce

・Initiatives for appropriate use of plastic
In July 2019, Fast Retailing adopted a group policy to eliminate the use of unnecessary plastic throughout its supply chain and, where plastic is necessary, switch to recycled plastic or alternative materials. Fast Retailing is taking initiatives of reducing quantities of plastic materials used for product packaging and shipping or switching to recycled plastic or alternative materials.

• Product packaging: We have introduced paper-type packages (HEATTECH, AIRism, etc.) and are switching to in-store materials (packages and hangers) made from recycled plastic.
• Plastic bags for packaging: Some of the products that were individually packaged when transported are now packaged together and transported in lots of multiple products. In addition, in order to facilitate collection, sorting and recycling at production factories, we are gradually switching to single-material plastic bags for packaging. Since 2023, we have been recycling plastic bags for packaging at some of our warehouses, and the recycling rate is improving year by year. In addition, at some of our overseas stores, the plastic bags we collect are being recycled into plastic chairs, garden supplies, paving materials, etc..

・Initiatives for appropriate use of paper
We have established our Fast Retailing Group Policy on Responsible Paper Procurement to promote the use of paper from more sustainably sourced materials, from the perspective of sustainable use of forest-derived materials and preserve biodiversity. As of the end of December 2023, we have switched to more sustainably sourced materials of paper procured in Japan to the extent possible. We understand that some regions have difficulties procuring more sustainably sourced products in accordance with the policy, but we will continue to promote this initiative overseas. In accordance with this policy, we have also switched the paper used for shopping bags and other items to paper from more sustainably sourced materials.

Related Links

• Fast Retailing Group Policy on Responsible Paper Procurement (166KB)

・Initiatives to reduce the use of cardboard

UNIQLO and GU in Japan are working to reuse as much of the cardboard used in the transportation of products from factories to warehouses as possible and are also promoting the use of folding containers that can be used repeatedly instead of cardboard.

Initiatives on Continuously Utilizing LifeWear-Towards a circular economy

Fast Retailing is promoting initiatives to help move towards a circular economy by continuing to make the most of clothes, and is engaged in activities such as REDUCE (providing repair and remake services for clothes), REUSE (donating clothes and selling second-hand clothes), and RECYCLE (developing products using recycled materials), while also proposing the joy of wearing clothes for a long time and reducing the environmental impact.

For details of these initiatives, please see the related links below.

Related Links

• Initiatives on Continuously Utilizing LifeWear

Waste

Own operations

*1 Includes combustibles and mixed wastes
*2 Percentage of the waste plastics sold as valuables. The scope of calculated is only for stores where actual results can be identified.
*3 Percentage of the waste plastics sold as valuables.
*4 The waste scope or the data calculation has been revised to improve accuracy

Supply chain

*1 Partially estimated and calculated based on figures reported by each factory to the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), an industry environmental impact assessment standard tool for factories

*2 Data collected has been reviewed and retroactively revised to improve accuracy.

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