SHEIN is making progress towards its goal of building a waste-less future with two of its facilities receiving the Zero Waste to Landfill Management System (ZWTL MS 2022) certification.
As part of the certification process, both facilities underwent assessment in 2023 by TÜV Rheinland, an independent third-party audit partner, and were certified in February 2024 to have achieved a waste diversion rate of over 99%. To achieve certification, facilities must undergo an assessment of their waste management performance which involves an analysis of the type of waste produced at each facility, the volume of on-site waste generated, and the organisation’s ability to reuse, regenerate or recycle waste.
These certifications are part of the waste-recycling projects that were initiated across 14 of SHEIN’s facilities in 2023. As a result of the projects carried out across these 14 facilities, over 86% of industrial waste generated was recycled or thermal recovered, as at the end of December 2023. This was equivalent to over 32,800 metric tons of industrial waste, consisting of plastic, paper-related and other materials.
In 2023, SHEIN also implemented an industrial waste management policy across all facilities that it directly operates, including distribution warehouses, fabric centres and SHEIN’s Centre of Innovation for Garment Manufacturing (CIGM). This requires all facilities to classify, recycle, weigh and record classification of industrial waste, maintain records of downstream recycling operations and treat all non-recyclable industrial waste for energy recovery or non-hazardous output.
SHEIN has been investing in various waste management projects over the last few years as part of its broader long-term approach towards waste-reduction across its supply chain and remains focused on finding solutions that work for its business and customers and exploring new ways to deal with waste. This approach is guided by the company’s commitment to enable a circular future and help move the wider fashion and textiles industry toward full circularity.
