Who accepts pre-loved clothing? Get discounts at H&M, M&S, Schuh and more

If you want your unwanted clothes to avoid the landfill, some retailers offer vouchers and discounts for pre-loved clothing. We reveal how these schemes work and what you can expect.

Why it’s vital to recycle clothing

Every year in the UK, around 350,000 tonnes of used but wearable clothing goes to landfill, which is worth a whopping £140 million, according to Clothes Aid.

If you’re planning to clean out your closet, you can do good and get money off future purchases by using one of the many schemes by high street retailers, including H&M, John Lewis and M&S.

Any items donated to participating retailers, which are listed below in alphabetical order, are usually resold, reused or recycled.

This guide focuses on retailers that offer a voucher or discount for your donation, but some retailers like TK Maxx will also accept unwanted clothes with no thank-you gift.

We’ll now run through how these schemes work and what you can get.

Recycling: the countries which are best and worst

George – 10% voucher

You can donate clothes from any brand in any condition to an Asda store although you’ll need to find your nearest drop-off point and a QR code to print online.

The QR code is scanned when you hand your parcel in, which must have at least 10 items in, and you’ll be emailed an online voucher offering 10% off full-price clothing, footwear and accessories.

The voucher is valid for 30 days from issue.

There are restrictions on how big the parcel can be – details can be found here.

H&M – £5 voucher

H&M’s Garment Collecting programme, which launched in 2013, encourages recycling by offering a £5 H&M voucher for any unwanted clothes or textiles.

All you need to do is hand in any unwanted clothes (by any brand or in any condition) to an H&M store to get a £5 voucher for your next purchase in-store or online, but you need to spend at least £25.

The retailer sorts donated clothing into those that can be marketed as second-hand clothing, or they are turned into other products such as cleaning cloths or recycled.

Monki alongside & Other Stories, which are both owned by H&M, also offer a 10% voucher when you bring any unwanted clothes into a store.

You can also return empty beauty containers from & Other Stories to get a 10% voucher. 

Repair or replace: how to extend the life of your appliances

John Lewis – £5 off £20 spend

If you bring in five items of clothing that can be resold or recycled, John Lewis will give you £5 off your next fashion or homeware purchase on the same day, providing you spend at least £20.

This scheme is exclusive to My John Lewis members, which is a free scheme you can sign up for, but this offer is only running until 20 July 2023.

John Lewis accepts most clothing including shirts, trousers, dresses and even some childrenswear, which must be checked by staff before being put in a FashionCycle bin when buying any fashion or homeware items.

M&S – free treat or £5 voucher

Between 2008 and 2021, over 35 million items were donated in M&S and Oxfam shops, which is worth around £35 million for Oxfam.

If you’re an M&S Sparks customer, you can get a free treat via its ‘Shwop’ scheme.

You put any unwanted clothes, including shoes and handbags, into one of the Shwop boxes in a clothing store and scan the QR code at the top of the box to find out what free treat you can claim in the app. There might be a time limit to claim any free treats.

Any clothes will be given to Oxfam, who will either resell, reuse or recycle the items.

Alternatively, if you donate clothes to an Oxfam shop, you’ll get a £5 M&S voucher off a £35 spend on clothing, home or beauty products – as long as your donation includes one item of M&S labelled clothing or soft furnishings.

You have to use the voucher in the calendar month of issue, and it cannot be used on sales and clearance items, but you may be able to use the voucher with other offers.

Zero waste shopping: is it more expensive?

New Look – 15% off your next purchase

New Look has a partnership with over 200 Hospice UK stores where any donated clothes will be rewarded with a 15% discount code on full-price items in New Look stores.

You simply donate any pre-loved clothing and accessories to your local Hospice UK store and scan a QR code at the till before filling out a form to get your 15% discount.

Any clothes must be in good, resaleable condition and your discount is valid for 12 months.

reGAIN – get exclusive discounts

You can donate unwanted clothes to charity, where it is resold or recycled, via the reGAIN app to get exclusive discount coupons for your next purchases at boohoo, Superdry and more.

All you need to do is pack at least 10 items, create a shipping label with the app and either drop the package off at a charity shop for free or send it from one of over 25,000 drop-off points (although you’ll need to cover the shipping cost).

According to the site, you’ll get 10 days of access to an exclusive discount within 30 minutes of sending or dropping off your donation.

Doing good on a budget: 6 free ways to give to charity

River Island – £5 voucher

River Island offers a £5 gift voucher when you send back at least three items, which you can use on a minimum £40 order in-store or online.

You can only return up to 10kg of clothing and vouchers are valid for one month.

Schuh - £5 voucher

If you have any old, worn shoes lying around, you can take advantage of the Sell Your Soles scheme, where you’ll get a £5 Schuh voucher for each pair you donate, which will be recycled.

You can redeem your voucher in-store or online for full-price items over £25 and each voucher is valid for three months.

‘I halved the weekly food bill for my family – and now save £200 a month’

Sweaty Betty – up to £40 off e-voucher

If you have any Sweaty Betty activewear or clothing you no longer want, you can send it in where it’ll either be reused, upcycled or recycled.

You can process a return via the Sweaty Betty site and send off any clothes to get an e-voucher valid for nine months.

Once any items are verified, you’ll get an e-voucher, which can be used online when you spend at least £75 on full-price items.

To find out how much you can get via this scheme, check out this link.