Salvation Army trading arm wins fashion retail award

The Salvation Army Trading company (SATCoL) based in Kettering, was recognised at last week’s Drapers Awards in London, winning the ‘Disruptor Award’ for driving nationwide change in textile reuse and recycling. 

The panel of judges noted how the company, through investing in ground-breaking and innovative technology, is actively doing something that retailers find very difficult to tackle themselves: textile reuse and recycling. Judges were struck by how SATCoL is disrupting the market, supported by a clear plan and strong purpose. 

As the largest charity-owned textiles collector in the UK, each year SATCoL puts over 250 million items to good uses, including over 62,000 tonnes of textiles.

SATCoL’s advanced Fibersort system enables accurate sorting and grading of non-wearable clothing and textiles by fibre type, blend and colour for recycling back into the textiles supply chain. In June 2023, SATCoL launched Project Re:claim in partnership with corporate wear specialist brand Project Plan B as part of the next step towards SATCoL’s ambition to create the UK’s first fibre farm - and to support their aims to scale up textile-to-textile recycling of all types of materials. 

Kirk Bradley, Head of Corporate Partnerships at SATCoL said: 

“This is the first time we have won a Drapers Award and we are delighted to be recognised for all the great work we are doing in the fashion industry to reduce textile waste. As the trading arm of The Salvation Army, SATCoL helps to raise vital funds for the charity through our reuse and recycling schemes. The Disruptor Award is particularly an honour as it shows that we are truly creating waves with our retail partnerships. The judges were able to see our clear plan and strong purpose to provide solutions for organisations and divert more items away from landfill.”