UNIQLO has launched a garment collection pilot at four flagship stores in mainland China, partnering with textile recycling platform Feimayi to test a new circular-economy model for unwanted clothing.
The program, which began June 5, invites customers to return used garments from any Fast Retailing Group brand to participating UNIQLO locations for recycling, rather than limiting collection to UNIQLO-branded items alone. The pilot runs at the UNIQLO Huaihai Middle Road Global Flagship Store and UNIQLO Nanjing West Road Global Flagship Store in Shanghai, the UNIQLO Pinghetang City Flagship Store in Changsha, and the UNIQLO Grandview Plaza Store in Guangzhou.
Under the partnership, Feimayi handles garment collection and sorting, while UNIQLO leads the development of downstream recycling and regeneration processes. The companies said the arrangement is designed to give customers a trusted destination for pre-owned clothing while UNIQLO explores how collected garments can be processed into new materials or products. By treating each returned item individually, the retailer said it aims to build customer confidence in the program as a responsible outlet for clothing that would otherwise be discarded.
The China pilot extends a circularity push that UNIQLO has been scaling globally under its Re.UNIQLO framework, which centers on reducing, reusing and recycling garments to limit textile waste. Fast Retailing, UNIQLOโs parent company, has operated in-store collection since 2006 and reported gathering roughly 9.5 million garments in the fiscal year ended August 2025, much of it redirected to refugee aid programs run with the UN Refugee Agency. The retailer has also expanded repair and remake services through its Re.UNIQLO Studio concept, now present in dozens of stores across more than 20 countries, offering button replacements, seam repairs and customization options such as embroidery.
UNIQLO has separately tested collection partnerships outside China, including a US program with Waste Management and moving company Piece of Cake that lets customers set aside unwanted clothing during a household move for pickup and sorting. That effort, which started in New York before expanding to Los Angeles and Dallas, reflects a broader industry push to close gaps in textile recovery infrastructure as discarded clothing volumes continue to climb worldwide. Industry estimates put global textile waste at roughly 92 million tons a year, a figure that has pushed apparel retailers to experiment with new collection touchpoints beyond traditional in-store bins.
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The Feimayi tie-up marks UNIQLOโs first publicized recycling collaboration of this kind in mainland China and signals growing interest from international apparel brands in local recycling infrastructure as the countryโs textile circularity sector matures. Chinaโs functional apparel and sportswear markets have expanded rapidly in recent years, and industry watchers see the countryโs scale as a key testing ground for collection-to-regeneration models that could later inform UNIQLOโs approach in other markets, including its European and North American operations.
UNIQLO has not disclosed a timeline for evaluating the pilot or specified what recycled materials may ultimately result from the collaboration. The retailer has previously developed proprietary recycling processes for down and feather products, regenerating them into new clothing items, and has signaled interest in extending similar approaches to other garment categories collected through its growing network of partnerships.
The pilot also arrives as Chinese regulators and industry groups intensify scrutiny of textile waste and supply chain sustainability, adding pressure on both domestic and international brands operating in the country to demonstrate credible recycling pathways. For UNIQLO, the Feimayi partnership offers a way to localize its circularity strategy while relying on a domestic operator already positioned within Chinaโs textile recycling value chain.
Should the pilot expand beyond the initial four stores, it would mark a significant scale-up of UNIQLOโs recycling footprint in one of its largest markets, where the company operates hundreds of stores. The company said it remains focused on refining its garment-by-garment evaluation process before considering wider rollout.