JD Sports teams up footwear resale company

JD Sports, a British clothing manufacturer, has teamed up with Sole Responsibility, a footwear resale company, to help reduce the number of sneakers that end up in landfills by giving them a second life.

Huddersfield-based Sole Responsibility describes itself as a circular economy company that buys branded subprime, returned, and otherwise, unwanted footwear and clothes meant for disposal and resells it to customers via an eBay channel.

JD Sports sees it as an opportunity to reduce its environmental impact by outsourcing the end-of-life management of the shoes it sells.

In 2015, Simon Payne and his wife Helen formed Sole Responsibility, a family-run company. There are nine people working for the organization.

Simon Payne said that more and more retailers are seeing the value of collaborating with a sustainability partner like them. They currently have an official partnership with JD Sports, which is assisting them in providing a viable option for the retailer’s second or returned stock, which would otherwise end up in the landfill.

He adds that they want to collaborate with the fashion and retail industries in the coming years to make environmentally conscious shopping a focus for customers. They want people to know that shopping can be done in a better way.