End-of-life for branded merch
Most branded garments end up in landfill within 5 years of being given out. The branding makes them awkward to donate (people do not want a tee with someone else's logo) and the cotton-polyester blends are hard for textile recyclers to process.
We work to reduce that, but the truth is end-of-life is the hardest part of the merch supply chain to fix. This article covers what is real, what is realistic, and what is greenwash.
What is realistic today
- Cotton-only garments (100 percent organic cotton tees, totes) can be recycled by mechanical recyclers in the UK. The cotton is shredded and re-spun into low-grade yarn for industrial cloth or insulation. The branding does not have to be removed; it shreds along with the fabric. Cost: free at most council textile-recycling banks.
- Cotton-polyester blends (most hoodies and sweatshirts) are harder. Mechanical recycling produces a fibre too short to re-spin. Chemical recycling is emerging (Renewcell, Worn Again) but not at scale in the UK. For now: textile banks accept blends but they typically downcycle into industrial wiping cloth or are exported.
- Polyester-only items (fleeces, gilets) recycle into new polyester yarn through chemical recycling at a few UK facilities.
Norma's take-back programme (small scale)
We run a take-back programme on tees and hoodies produced for B2B workspaces with 50+ units in a single order. The workspace can ship the garments back (we provide a pre-paid bulk-return label) at end of programme; we route them to a UK mechanical recycler who downcycles into industrial cloth or insulation.
- Eligibility: B2B workspaces, 50+ units from a single original order.
- Cost: free up to 100 units per year per workspace. Above that, a per-kg fee covers the shipping.
- Where the items go: mechanical recyclers in the UK Midlands. We share the destination on request.
This is not closed-loop recycling. The fibre does not come back as new tees. It does keep the garment out of landfill.
What you can do
If you receive a branded garment you do not wear:
- Take it to a council textile bank. Most council clothes banks accept branded items. The garment is sorted and either re-sold for industrial wiping cloth (cotton) or exported (most other fibres).
- Cut and re-purpose. Tees and hoodies make good cleaning rags or workshop cloths.
- Pass to a friend. Branding aside, a good 220 gsm tee has plenty of wear left.
What we will not say
- We will not say "this product is fully recyclable" unless it goes back through a closed-loop programme.
- We will not say "carbon neutral" without an underlying offsetting source and methodology.
- We will not claim a product is sustainable because it has a single recycled component.
Where a claim does not hold up against a third-party standard, we leave the claim off the page.
Future work
We are tracking three things:
- Renewcell-style chemical recycling at UK scale. Once it lands at 1,000-tonne capacity, we can route blends to closed-loop.
- Mono-material hoodies. 100 percent cotton hoodies (no polyester for stretch) recycle the same as tees. We are testing two SKUs for 2027.
- Repair, not replace. A simple repair offer (free patching on Norma garments returned within 2 years) is in scope for 2027.