El Corte Inglés reduces emissions, collects over 630 tonnes of textile waste in department stores

Madrid – Spanish department store company El Corte Inglés continued to make solid progress towards its goal of becoming a “Net Zero” company by 2050 during the 2025 financial year. This goal has been approached through a general reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions. The company also continued to enhance the role of its department stores as the beginning and end of a circular model for the textile and fashion industry.

This comes as FashionUnited recently highlighted how Re-Viste, the collective extended producer responsibility (EPR) system for the textile and footwear industries to which El Corte Inglés belongs, is implementing various agreements and initiatives. These aim to promote public awareness and participation in the collection and recovery of textile waste. In line with this, El Corte Inglés has decided to showcase its own measures for fostering a circular economy. During its last fiscal year of 2025, a series of actions were carried out across its different areas of activity. This was particularly notable within its food divisions and in relation to the collection of textile waste.

In this regard, El Corte Inglés highlights how the company, during its last financial year ending February 28, 2026, continued “advancing in its commitment to the environment and the circular economy through”; among other actions, “the progressive incorporation of ecodesign criteria throughout the entire life cycle of its products, from the manufacturing phase to their subsequent recycling or recovery”. These guidelines align with its objectives to “make efficient use of raw materials”, “adapt to the environmental frameworks of the European Green Deal”, and “provide responsible and accessible consumption options for its customers”. Among other achievements, these efforts led the company to reach “the milestone of having 100 percent of the packaging in its food areas” designed “to be recyclable, reusable or compostable”.

A +10 percent increase in textile waste collection

Focusing specifically on how the company is contributing to the fashion industry's transition towards a circular economy model, the El Corte Inglés 2025 Non-Financial Information Report, published last week, details these efforts. According to the report, the company strengthened the role of its department stores as the start and end point of this new model during its last fiscal year. This position was supported by its customers, who used the collection bins installed inside El Corte Inglés department stores to give a new life to over 635 tonnes of textile waste.

Breaking down this figure, during 2025, the various bins installed inside El Corte Inglés department stores collected a total of 635,718 kilograms of clothing. This is the first time the figure has surpassed 600 tonnes. The volume was mainly generated in Spain, where 630,916 kilograms of clothing and textiles were collected from the 73 collection bins—one more than in 2024. These bins are installed inside its department stores as part of the group's collaboration with the Moda Re- initiative; a social cooperative specialising in the treatment and management of textile waste, promoted by Cáritas Española.

Regarding the destination of this textile waste, which increased by approximately +9 percent year-over-year, the percentage of textiles directly reintroduced into the sector fell from 57 percent to 54 percent. In contrast to this drop, textiles sent for recycling to obtain new textile fibres increased from 32.6 percent to 35 percent; and those sent for “energy recovery” due to their inability to be upcycled also rose, from 10.4 percent to 12 percent.

In addition to the tonnes collected in its Spanish stores, El Corte Inglés launched a pilot project for textile waste collection in its Portuguese department stores during its last fiscal year. This circular economy initiative is being developed in collaboration with the University of Minho and the company To-Be-Green. Through this project, 4,802 kilograms of textiles have been collected at its Lisbon and Porto stores. This amount, added to the collection in Spain, brings the total clothing and textiles collected by El Corte Inglés in its stores during the last fiscal year to 635,718 kilograms. This represents a +10.25 percent increase compared to the 576,621 kilograms collected in 2024.

General decrease in greenhouse gas emissions

Beyond these actions supporting the development of a circular economy model, El Corte Inglés's main sustainability goal is to become a “Net Zero” company by 2050. To achieve this, the department store group and parent company of the Sfera fashion chain has a Net Zero Transition Plan for decarbonisation. This roadmap is part of its 2025-2030 Sustainability Master Plan, which was approved by its board of directors in January of last year.

Progressing on the milestones and objectives set by El Corte Inglés for the short, medium, and long term, the group completed the 2025 financial year with a general decrease in its greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, a year-over-year drop was reported in Scope 1 emissions, which account for 2.2 percent of the group's total emissions, down to 74,811 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (-9.2 percent); Scope 2 emissions, representing 3.2 percent of the company's emissions, fell to 366 tonnes (-97 percent); and Scope 3 emissions, which make up 94.6 percent of El Corte Inglés's total emissions, decreased to 3,248,376 tonnes (-1.9 percent).