Shein launches USD50 million charitable fund to aid Or Foundation

Chinese fast-fashion giant, Shein, has launched a new USD50 million fund to promote recycling, with The Or Foundation, a U.S. and Ghana-based not-for-profit organization at the intersection of environmental justice, education, and fashion development, as its first award recipient.

Shein’s Extended Producer Responsibility Fund intends to solve the worldwide problem of textile waste, according to a news statement issued Wednesday by the Nanjing-based company. Over the following five years, the online clothes shop will contribute USD50 million to the fund.

For the next three years, Shein will donate USD5 million every year to the Or Foundation. The money will be used to expand the Mabilgu Apprenticeship Program for young women in Ghana, develop community enterprises to turn textile waste into new products, and guarantee that the world’s biggest secondhand clothes market, Accra’s Kantamanto Market, is a safe place to work.

According to the founder of the non-profit group Kantamanto, some of Shein’s items may wind up there. Liz Ricketts said that they’ve been calling on brands to pay the bill that’s due to the communities that have been managing their waste.

Adam Whinston, global head of environmental, social, and governance matters at Shein, said that an essential element of the fashion ecology that is frequently ignored is addressing secondhand garbage. They have a chance to make a difference in this field, and they’re excited to collaborate with The Or Foundation on this first-of-its-kind initiative.

Some of the funds will be distributed by the Or Foundation to its Ghanaian supporters. Shein will collaborate with the NGO to discover new award applicants in countries where textile waste is a problem.