Latest news with #wastereduction
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
From landfill to luxury: how a designer uses scraps from Hermès and Chanel to make leather goods
After more than a decade as a fashion designer, Dana Cohen was disillusioned. Excessive waste was rampant in every part of the industry – from surplus samples, to manufacturing scraps, to retail stores with 'a disheveled mountain of garments that nobody wanted', she said. 'I was like, 'I just don't want to be a part of it any more.'' Then Cohen, who had designed for brands including Banana Republic, Club Monaco and J Crew, had a chance encounter with a manufacturer that changed her course. Drishti Lifestyle, based in India, had a container full of leather scraps it didn't want to discard. Together they experimented, and made some wallets and a handbag, all of which sold out. That was the very start of Cohen's sustainable leather accessories company – and her mission to make a dent in the industry's immense waste problem. Launched in November 2019, Hyer Goods sells bags, wallets and other accessories made entirely from deadstocks: leftover scraps that would otherwise end up in landfills. Specifically, it uses luxury leather leftovers, retrieved from designer heavyweights like Hermès, Chanel, and Valentino. Deadstocks are sourced both directly from Italian factories – such as a tannery in the outskirts of Naples, Russo di Casandrino – and via 'people on the ground' in Italy who have longstanding relationships with those brands. The scraps are then transported to family-run factories in Italy's Marche region, on the Adriatic coast: a mother-daughter-run factory produces the bags, and down the road, a father-son-run factory assembles the wallets. 'We literally load the scraps from the bags in a little car and drive it to the wallet factory,' Cohen said. Designer brands typically only use the very highest grades of leather, so Hyer takes the 'off-cuts' that are still above par, but may have blemishes like tick bites or stretch marks, and cuts around them. Given the reliance on whatever is available, the Hyer collection is inherently small-batch, and a single line of bags might comprise a mix of different leathers. 'We have never made 500 pieces of anything,' Cohen said. The unpredictable supply can be hard. 'It's not for the faint of heart,' Cohen said. But she estimates this model has kept approximately 7,000 pounds of leather in circulation – and out of landfills – over the last six years of operation. It's a start in healing an industry that sends about 92m tonnes of textiles to landfills every year, producing between 4% and 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. 'I appreciate any company that's really trying to work towards the circular economy,' said Ann Cantrell, associate professor of fashion business management at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), 'which is trying to keep things in the loop as long as we can and not go to landfill.' She said Hyer Goods's model followed the 'triple bottom line': operating not only for profitability, but also for improving conditions for people and for the planet. If more businesses operate with such models, they can 'continue to challenge the status quo' around issues like the overuse of virgin materials, she said. Leather is particularly troublesome for its connection to cattle ranching, which is linked to deforestation, mass water use and the emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Tanning also uses toxic chemicals that can contaminate waterways. On the other hand, leather is an extremely durable product, sometimes lasting decades. 'So from that perspective, it is a sustainable material,' said Cantrell. Sustainability is nuanced. 'There's no perfectly sustainable material,' said Elizabeth Cline, an author and expert on fast fashion and sustainability. But Cline said repurposing genuine leather is better than producing so-called vegan leather, or faux leather, which is made of plastics, even when it also contains some plant-based materials like cork or apple peels. 'You're eliminating the animal welfare issue, but creating new environmental problems,' she said. The reality is that high-end consumers are still buying genuine leather. While Hyer's average customer is the sustainable-minded person looking for greener alternatives, Cohen said she is starting to see more luxury-driven customers. Hyer's bestselling Ring Bag, made from lambskin Nappa, a premium leather known for its softness, typically sells for $465 – nothing to sneeze at but still a far cry from luxury brands that retail for several thousand dollars. Cohen launched Hyer Goods just months before the pandemic. People weren't buying fancy handbags during lockdowns so she briefly pivoted to sewing masks with leftover fabrics – even curtains – that she crowdsourced on social media. Consulting followers for opinions has continued to be a strategy. 'I think people really like being a part of the process,' she says. 'Not only is it a great way to connect with community, but it's a really good way to make smart decisions.' Soon, the bags gained the attention of influential figures like Katie Couric and the internet chef Alison Roman. When Roman recommended the bags to her followers: 'That was one of the best days for us, ever,' Cohen said. Major brands like Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Madewell now sell Hyer Goods bags, and in 2024, Cohen opened a brick-and-mortar store in New York's West Village after winning a grant from the non-profit ChaShaMa, which supports women and minority artists by providing them with subsidized real estate spaces. Beginning April, the Trump administration imposed 10% tariffs on goods from Italy, leaving Cohen little choice but to raise prices. The price bumps initially led to a 'huge dip' in sales, she said. Volumes seem back to normal now, though that's hard to parse out due to seasonal shifts. 'I'm not sure if the customer has gotten used to it, but I certainly haven't,' she said. (In July, Trump announced additional tariffs on European goods, which European trade officials said would make continuing US-EU trade ''almost impossible'.) Cohen said she had no plans to move operations to the US; many factories that she had considered weren't capable of details like edge painting (to protect leather edges from fraying), which would sacrifice quality. 'The craftsmanship that you can get in Italy just doesn't compare,' she said. ''Made in USA was just not an option.' Cohen, who has five part-time employees, said she'd like to expand products into belts and shoes, start sourcing deadstock Italian cottons, and open a second store, perhaps in Brooklyn. She'd like to be fully circular, including hardware like zippers, which are not made from scraps. But economic volatility – and simply the nature of a bootstrapped business that depends on a fluctuating supply – have delayed some of those plans. 'Any dreams I had, I've put on hold,' she said. 'Right now it's just: how can we stay afloat?' But nothing has changed her mission, which comes before any growth ambitions, she said. 'My goal was never to be a behemoth organization,' Cohen said. 'I just want to have a nice, small business for people who care.'
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
From landfill to luxury: how a designer uses scraps from Hermes and Chanel to make leather goods
After more than a decade as a fashion designer, Dana Cohen was disillusioned. Excessive waste was rampant in every part of the industry – from surplus samples, to manufacturing scraps, to retail stores with 'a disheveled mountain of garments that nobody wanted', she said. 'I was like, 'I just don't want to be a part of it any more.'' Then Cohen, who had designed for brands including Banana Republic, Club Monaco and J Crew, had a chance encounter with a manufacturer that changed her course. Drishti Lifestyle, based in India, had a container full of leather scraps it didn't want to discard. Together they experimented, and made some wallets and a handbag, all of which sold out. That was the very start of Cohen's sustainable leather accessories company – and her mission to make a dent in the industry's immense waste problem. Launched in November 2019, Hyer Goods sells bags, wallets and other accessories made entirely from deadstocks: leftover scraps that would otherwise end up in landfills. Specifically, it uses luxury leather leftovers, retrieved from designer heavyweights like Hermes, Chanel, and Valentino. Deadstocks are sourced both directly from Italian factories – such as a tannery in the outskirts of Naples, Russo di Casandrino – and via 'people on the ground' in Italy who have longstanding relationships with those brands. The scraps are then transported to family-run factories in Italy's Marche region, on the Adriatic coast: a mother-daughter-run factory produces the bags, and down the road, a father-son-run-factory assembles the wallets. 'We literally load the scraps from the bags in a little car and drive it to the wallet factory,' Cohen said. Designer brands typically only use the very highest grades of leather, so Hyer takes the 'off-cuts' that are still above par, but may have blemishes like tick bites or stretch marks, and cuts around them. Given the reliance on whatever is available, the Hyer collection is inherently small-batch, and a single line of bags might comprise a mix of different leathers. 'We have never made 500 pieces of anything,' Cohen said. The unpredictable supply can be hard. 'It's not for the faint of heart,' Cohen said. But she estimates this model has kept approximately 7,000 pounds of leather in circulation – and out of landfills – over the last six years of operation. It's a start in healing an industry that sends some 92m tonnes of textiles to landfills every year, producing between 4% and 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. 'I appreciate any company that's really trying to work towards the circular economy,' said Ann Cantrell, associate professor of fashion business management at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), 'which is trying to keep things in the loop as long as we can and not go to landfill.' She said Hyer Goods's model follows the 'triple bottom line': operating not only for profitability, but also for improving conditions for people and for the planet. If more businesses operate with such models, they can 'continue to challenge the status quo' around issues like the overuse of virgin materials, she said. Leather is particularly troublesome for its connection to cattle ranching, which is linked to deforestation, mass water use, and the emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Tanning also uses toxic chemicals that can contaminate waterways. On the other hand, leather is an extremely durable product, sometimes lasting decades. 'So from that perspective, it is a sustainable material,' said Cantrell. Sustainability is nuanced. 'There's no perfectly sustainable material,' said Elizabeth Cline, an author and expert on fast fashion and sustainability. But Cline said repurposing genuine leather is better than producing so-called vegan leather, or faux leather, which is made of plastics, even when it also contains some plant-based materials like cork or apple peels. 'You're eliminating the animal welfare issue, but creating new environmental problems,' she said. The reality is that high-end consumers are still buying genuine leather. While Hyer's average customer is the sustainable-minded person looking for greener alternatives, Cohen said she is starting to see more luxury-driven customers. Hyer's bestselling Ring Bag, made from lambskin Nappa, a premium leather known for its softness, typically sells for $465 – nothing to sneeze at but still a far cry from luxury brands that retail for several thousand dollars. Cohen launched Hyer Goods just months before the pandemic. People weren't buying fancy handbags during lockdowns so she briefly pivoted to sewing masks with leftover fabrics – even curtains – that she crowdsourced on social media. Consulting followers for opinions has continued to be a strategy. 'I think people really like being a part of the process,' she says. 'Not only is it a great way to connect with community, but it's a really good way to make smart decisions.' Soon, the bags gained the attention of influential figures like Katie Couric and internet chef Alison Roman. When Roman recommended the bags to her followers: 'That was one of the best days for us, ever,' Cohen said. Major brands like Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Madewell now sell Hyer Goods bags, and in 2024, Cohen opened a brick-and-mortar store in New York's West Village after winning a grant from the nonprofit ChaShaMa, which supports women and minority artists by providing them with subsidized real estate spaces. Beginning April, the Trump administration imposed 10% tariffs on goods from Italy, leaving Cohen little choice but to raise prices. The price bumps initially led to a 'huge dip' in sales, she said. Volumes seem back to normal now, though that's hard to parse out due to seasonal shifts. 'I'm not sure if the customer has gotten used to it, but I certainly haven't,' she said. (In July, Trump announced additional tariffs on European goods, which European trade officials said would make continuing US-EU trade ''almost impossible'.) Cohen said she has no plans to move operations to the US; many factories that she had considered weren't capable of details like edge painting (to protect leather edges from fraying), which would sacrifice quality. 'The craftsmanship that you can get in Italy just doesn't compare,' she said. ''Made in USA was just not an option.' Cohen, who has five part-time employees, said she'd like to expand products into belts and shoes, start sourcing deadstock Italian cottons, and open a second store, perhaps in Brooklyn. She'd like to be fully circular, including hardware like zippers, which are not made from scraps. But economic volatility – and simply the nature of a bootstrapped business that depends on a fluctuating supply – have delayed some of those plans. 'Any dreams I had, I've put on hold,' she said. 'Right now it's just: how can we stay afloat?' But nothing has changed her mission, which comes before any growth ambitions, she said. 'My goal was never to be a behemoth organization,' Cohen said. 'I just want to have a nice, small business for people who care.'
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Clothing most reused item in 2024, CSO data reveals
More than a third of Irish households bought clothing from a second-hand shop last year, according to the Central Statistics Office . Second-hand clothing was more popular with women than men, with 38 per cent of women making purchases in a second-hand shop or marketplace last year, compared with 25 per cent of men. A quarter of households reported receiving clothing as a private gift or through a donation or clothes swap. Second-hand small electronic items were less popular, with 16 per cent of households buying or receiving them as a gift during this period. READ MORE The CSO report shows that most Irish households continue to recycle, with just 1 per cent saying they did not recycle any of their waste last year, which was in keeping with the findings of the previous household waste study in 2021. Each person in Ireland produced an average of 342kg of household waste in 2022, according to Environmental Protection Agency data, an increase of 28kg (8.9 per cent) from 2018. The EPA says the most effective way to reduce waste generation in households is by cutting consumption and reusing and repairing existing items. Wheelie bin collection services remain the most common way of disposing of household waste, with about 80 per cent of respondents saying they used such a service for recyclable and nonrecyclable items last year. Recycling centres were used more frequently in rural than in urban areas. In terms of food waste, 13 per cent of households composted it at home, a decrease of 3 per cent since 2021, with the majority putting it in the organic (brown) waste bin for collection. Some 22 per cent said they put food waste in their general refuse bin, while 9 per cent reported feeding it to animals. Tadhg O'Shaughnessy, a statistician in the CSO's Sustainability and Circular Economy Division, said 62 per cent of households 'did not report any irritating noise pollution'. However, he said for households who did experience irritation, 'the main source of noise pollution was from road traffic', with the issue affecting 18 per cent of respondents. People aged 17-34 were much more likely to have experienced noise pollution, with 30 per cent reporting irritating traffic noise as an issue. Tests for radon, a radioactive gas that causes lung cancer, were carried out by 11 per cent of households last year, with rates of testing higher in the west than in Dublin. Some 9 per cent of households tested were considered to be above the reference level for radon.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pilot reuse program to begin at Kapaʻa Transfer Station
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Honolulu Department of Environmental Services is partnering with Re-use Hawaiʻi and Goodwill Hawaiʻi to create a new reusable materials drop-off site at the Kapaʻa Transfer Station beginning May 31. The partnership is in alignment with the city's long-term sustainability and waste reduction strategies. The new site is set to be in a pilot phase for approximately six months on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wife of Maui doctor withdraws request for restraining order Items such as clothing, textiles household goods, small appliances, mirrors, furniture and more will be accepted at the Kapaʻa Transfer Station during the weekend hours. 'This reuse pilot is part of our department's commitment to resource recovery and landfill diversion,' Environmental Services Director Roger Babcock said. 'We're proud to partner with respected organizations like Re-use Hawaiʻi and Goodwill Hawaiʻi, who will ensure the materials collected are put to good use in our community.'The collection and distribution of donated items will be managed by Re-use Hawaiʻi and Goodwill Hawaiʻi, with the donations repurposed, resold or redistributed to support the local community and environment. 'The pilot project represents an exciting collaboration that makes it easier for residents to choose to recover resources,' Re-use Hawaiʻi Executive Director Quinn Vittum said. 'By partnering with Goodwill Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu, we're expanding access to donation options for the community right at the point of disposal. Together, we're helping to keep valuable resources out of the landfill and support the circular economy.' For more information regarding the donations, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
New York plastics bill runs into caucus cost concerns
ALBANY, New York — Some lawmakers are heeding the affordability drumbeat from business groups opposed to an aggressive waste reduction measure. A few Democratic lawmakers, mainly members of the influential Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, have signed on in recent weeks to competing 'extended producer responsibility' legislation backed by the plastics industry and other business interests. Environmental advocates are concerned this imperils their preferred measure with strict limits on toxic chemicals and mandated reductions in plastics and packaging materials. Advertisement 'There's a question around affordability,' said Michaelle Solages, who chairs the caucus.
