Until now, clothes recycling concentrated on the unwanted. But now we can add the unwearable to the list in order to save a “staggering” amount  textiles continuing to end up in landfill or incinerator.

In a trial scheme between M&S and Oxfam, Britons are now being invited to donate “unwearable but too-good-too waste clothing” that are stained, ripped and misshapen clothing.

Unwearable clothes from any label can be returned in a prepaid postal donation bag left with a courier.

Citing research, the pair claim a third of consumers don’t know what to do with items of clothing that can no longer be worn with a similar number admitting to putting such items in their household waste bin.

Katharine Beacham, M&S’s head of materials, sustainability and packaging, said the scheme made it possible for someone to clear out all their unloved clothing in one go.

“Whether it is wearable or unwearable, we want it all,” she added.

The postal trial will run alongside their existing scheme for wearable items and is being paid for out of a new £I million accelerator fund linked to the retailer’s ethical project Plan A.

Via a simple online postal donation service, bags can be ordered on the Oxfam website, and individuals are asked to enclose unwearable items in a separate sack. ‘Unwearable’ items include damaged clothing that are torn, stained, faded, or stretched.

Consumers can also use the service to donate soft furnishings such as bed linen, towels, cushions, tablecloths and tea towels, although people are asked not to include soiled or contaminated clothing that cannot be recycled.

The unwearable items will be responsibly recycled by a UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) project. It is working on a blueprint for an advanced textile sorting and pre-processing (ATSP) centre that would be capable of turning clothing unsuitable for resale into new garments, “resulting in a completely circular system”.