Food and clothing retailer Woolworths has launched a Denim Drop-Off programme, which will result in donated denim being collected at designated clothing bins located at Woolworths fashion shop till points in 20 stores nationally.

The retailer's Taking Care of Business (TCB) Remake Programme will transform the items into newly designed products and give pre-loved denims a new lease on life.

“Reducing waste to landfill and supporting circularity are key components of our Good Business Journey. Our customers can now join us and TCB in creating new life for their denim clothes instead of discarding them,” says Woolworths group head of sustainability Feroz Koor.

“To kickstart the initiative, we are giving customers with WRewards membership a 20%-off voucher for their next RE: Denim purchase with each drop-off,” he says.

TCB supports seamstresses who are starting up and growing their micro-manufacturing businesses. It plays a vital role in empowering seamstresses by providing them with the necessary skills and resources to run financially viable micro-manufacturing businesses.

The programme offers business, life and technical skills training as well as ongoing mentorship and access to stock to kick-start their businesses.

“Our seamstresses use donations of clothing, fabric, haberdashery, and cut samples from supply chain partners like Woolworths to create various garments from handbags to dresses and skirts to toys and cushions that they then sell to support their families,” says TCB Remake Programme head Heidi Smith.

“We currently work with 72 seamstresses and we will recruit 100 seamstresses in 2025. These seamstresses are from under-served communities and many do not have access to essential sewing machines and affordable fabric.

“Remake gives them the support they need to become financially and socially independent. On average, our Remake participants each have four-and-a-half dependants. Many of them are the primary breadwinners and support their direct and extended families,” she says.

Meanwhile, Woolworths’ RE: brand is eco-conscious and made according to socially equitable fashion practices.

It is fitting that circularity has now been added to its sustainability commitment, which already includes responsibly sourced cotton, ozone technology, laser finishing, third-party audits and transparency, says Koor.

The stores that will participate in the Woolies’ Denim Drop off initiative include Centurion Mall, Clearwater Mall, Cresta Centre, Eastgate Mall, Fourways Mall, Mall of Africa, Menlyn Park, Sandton City and The Grove, in Gauteng.

Others include Canal Walk, Cavendish Square, Garden Route Mall (George), Somerset West Mall and Tygervalley Shopping Centre, in the Western Cape; Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Midlands Mall and Westville Pavilion, in KwaZulu-Natal; Loch Logan Waterfront in Bloemfontein, in the Free State; Walmer Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape; and Ilanga Mall in Nelspruit, in Mpumalanga.