Catalyzing Circular Change

At For Days, we’ve spent 4 years building circular product design and a take back program to eliminate fashion waste and create a better tomorrow. For you. For us. For the planet

The problem

  • More clothing is in circulation than ever, and today, clothing is not designed to last and ultimately ends up in landfills or incinerators
    • 85%: the amount of ALL textiles that end up in landfills 
    • 5%: how much used clothing is resold in the United States
    • 1: every second the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned 
    • 200: how many years it takes to biodegrade synthetic and chemical-treated clothing
  • There’s good news. Almost every single item can be kept out of landfills if we’re thoughtful and proactive

 

Our mission

  • At For Days, our mission is to end fashion waste and catalyze industry change

 

Our solution 
  • Envision a future where all products are recycled, reused, and regenerated. Everything remains in use and circulated as long as possible - that’s circularity
    • The old way (linear economy): Take, Make, Waste
    • The new way (circular economy): Create, Circulate, Regenerate 
  • We can reinvent the system. Let’s create better days

 

Our principles
  • Design for circularity 
    • Waste and pollution are design flaws. Full stop. At For Days, we design our products to be regenerated. 100% of our products can be broken down, turned back into fiber and yarn, knit into new fabric, and put back into the world as new products (a T-shirt can become a T-shirt again)
  • Catalyze industry change
    • We don’t want to replace the retail market with For Days products. Shocking? Our eyes are on a bigger prize. We want to lead the fashion industry to adopt circular design and recycling practices. It’s time for all brands to understand and take responsibility for what happens to their products once they leave their shelves and the impact they have on people and the environment
    • We’ve built an expert network of recyclers to accept used clothing from any brand and give it a new life. We started with our Take Back Bag - the first product of its kind to take back products from any brand and keep them out of landfills. Our next step is to work with brands and retailers to facilitate industry-wide adoption of circularity

 

Our process

  • Step 1: Collect used product through Take Back initiatives, including the Take Back Bag for non For-Days items
  • Step 2: Sort and grade. Specialists look at every item and sort them into 1 of 250 grades to accurately determine each item’s next best life. The key grading categories are: fiber-to-fiber recycling, resale, and downcycling 
    • Insider info: many sorters use 30 grades, which is less precise and unfortunately results in a lot of items ending up in the wrong place and then thrown out. 
  • Step 3: Upcycle items of known material into new fabrics. All For Days’ product can be fiber-to-fiber recycled. We work with a network of best-in-class recyclers, including Recover and Hallotex, to upcycle our old items 
  • Step 4: Partner with responsible global resellers. From an ecological standpoint, it is always best to reuse clothing. What this looks like: farmers in the Philippines who need low cost items to cover themselves against the sun. What this doesn’t look like: thousands of pounds of clothing dumped in a Chilean desert
  • Step 5: Downcycle items of unknown materials into lesser quality items such as insulation or carpeting - much better than the trash. Over 50% of Take Back Bag items are downcycled since they come from many different brands and materials. Leigh Fibers and Phoenix Fibers are two of our expert downcycling partners
  • Step 6: Continue taking back more items, sorting, grading, and regenerating them to keep them in use and out of landfills as long as possible

 

Our progress
  • Collected 170k garments through our Take Back programs
  • Recycled 4 tons of For Days Products into new fabric. New 100% recycled collection from these materials coming soon.
  • Created complex network of mechanical recycling, downcycling, and piloting innovations with chemical recycling partners
  • Developed a customer experience to shop sustainably, recycle responsibly, and earn Closet Cash credit to keep closing the loop
  • We’re always looking ahead on new ways to improve our processes. The change to a circular future is about progress, not perfection

  
Our reading recs
  • Want to become a circularity expert, too? Start here:
    • The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is dedicated to accelerating the circular economy
    • I:CO is a international circular solutions provider for the collection, certified sorting, reuse and recycling of discarded clothing and shoes