E-mart Riding High on Brisk Demand for Eco-friendly Clothes

Models shows off clothes made of recycled waste at an E-mart outlet in Seoul on Sept. 15, 2020, in this photo provided by the retail franchise.

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid growing interest in environmental protection, eco-friendly clothes made of recyclable materials are enjoying rising popularity.

E-mart Inc., South Korea’s largest hypermarket chain, announced on Wednesday that its in-house clothing brand DAIZ saw first-half sales of recycled clothes rise by 260 percent year on year.

“The robust sales growth is attributable to the increase in the number of consumers who pay more attention to the impact of their purchases on the environment,” the company said.

Against this backdrop, DAIZ plans to join hands with the South Korean Headquarters of the non-profit environmental protection organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to release four different types of autumn and winter sports garments that will be made of recycled yarn and PET bottles.

In particular, a lightweight padded jacket, one of DAIZ’s flagship offerings, will be made using six recycled PET bottles for the insulation.

Given that DAIZ plans to market a total of 20,000 lightweight padded jackets, the move is expected to contribute to recycling a total of 120,000 discarded PET bottles.

Including the above-mentioned four sportswear garments, DAIZ will make the tags for 15 articles of clothing using paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The FSC certification is given only to products that can be produced on a sustainable basis.

Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)