Zhang Na tries to prolong the lifespan of used clothes by redesigning them into fashion. Provided By Reclothing Bank

Government action

In 2011, the Shanghai municipal government initiated a project to tackle this issue, providing various communities with 2,000 recycling boxes for unwanted clothes. These boxes collected 1,100 tons of second-hand clothing last year.

"People produce trash day after day, and regardless of whether it's handled by incineration or landfilling, it will hurt the environment where all of us live. Through recycling practices, we can make our own contributions to improve our environment," says Yang Yinghong, who serves as chairman of Shanghai Yuanyuan Industrial Co Ltd, one of the three enterprises involved in the launch of this government project.

Last year, 21.32 tons of warm clothing that were still in good condition were sent to help people in China's poorer regions, while volunteers helped to take apart and reweave another 1.15 tons of sweaters before sending them to needy students in less developed regions.

"Since 2012, our volunteers have woven more than 5,000 sweaters from used clothes for students of Hope Primary Schools in Anhui, Guizhou, Shaanxi provinces, Guangxi Zhuang and Tibet autonomous regions," Yang says.

Summer clothes, which account for 12.8 percent of the total received, are usually exported following a series of disinfection processes, she says. The majority of the collected clothes will be sent to related enterprises for further recycling - for instance, garments could be shredded to create household products such as cleaning cloths and mops.