When you buy a bra from us, we want it to support you for as long as possible, but when it’s no longer doing the job you can recycle it knowing it’s not going to landfill! All of our UK shops have a bra recycling bin so you can bring us your old bras or even ditch the one you came in wearing when you have a fitting with us. Our bra recycling is managed by SOEX who are not only able to recycle bras, but recycle all of our used textiles too. Our own brand bras are designed and tested at our office in Leamington Spa, so we have lots of scrap pieces of material to recycle and have regular collections from SOEX. Find out more information about our in-store bra recycling scheme here and discover how you can recycle your bras in our shops!

In 2019 we donated 1,792kg of textiles from across our shops and head office, in 2020 that shot up to 6,342 kg!

Whilst it is the focus of companies working within the textile industry (producers, retailers and recyclers) to reduce carbon impact by 50% and water use by 30% by 2030, SOEX has already reached carbon neutral efficiency – check out SOEX directly to find out more about their innovations in recycling textile waste!

From our packaging the cardboard boxes, tissue paper and main swing tags can all be recycled but the stickers on the swing tags and tissue paper need to be taken off before recycling. We plan to make sure that all our packaging can be recycled, so we are currently looking at changing the card of the bags that we use in all our shops. However, as we are making this change we want to make sure that we use the current stock of these bags so that we do not waste them before changing over to the new packaging. On the new packaging we will ensure we have a recycle symbol on the packaging to make sure that our customers are aware they can recycle it.

We work with Mitie Facilities Management to manage all our facilities across the Bravissimo business, from our head office to our shops and our warehouse too. They provide maintenance for all our appliances like: air conditioning, heating and electrics. Mitie have launched a new industry-leading ‘Plan Zero’ commitment, in which pledges that they will reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025. They plan to achieve this by eliminating carbon emissions from power and transport, eradicating non-sustainable waste and enhance inefficient building spaces to meet the highest environmental standards. You can find out more about Mitie’s carbon commitments here.

Keeping our buildings clean has always been a number one priority for us. We work with Eco Clean to maintain the hygiene and welfare facilities for our teams. Eco Clean have partnered with One Tree Planted and as well as donating a tree for every new and current client, they will plant a tree annually in our name too!

To reduce our water usage at head office, all toilet systems in the building are fitted with duel flush rather than single flush systems. These duel flush systems use less water when flushing and are considered more environmentally friendly in comparison, as they can reduce our water consumption over time. Who knew we’d be telling you about our toilet systems one day?!

Our head office building is over 20 years old and this impacts the energy that we use. We are working on reducing our environmental impacts here by replacing regular light fixtures in our offices with LED lighting. This change means that we can reduce our overall consumption and carbon emissions - we’re at 35% LED (at the time of writing this – September 2021) and the project is ongoing!

We own our own warehouse in Leamington Spa, and all of our stock is held here. We are aware that 80% of our consumption at the warehouse is from the lighting of the building, so we are working with our suppliers Mitie to look at implementing 100% LED lighting across the entire building. This will hugely support the reduction of our consumption, and the goal to complete this change is the end of 2022.

All general waste produced at our head office goes to a local, midlands-based recycling plant, Fortress, where all waste is recycled to be used as resource rather than go into landfill! Fortress is a carbon neutral, innovative and ethical waste recycling company, led by a Chartered Environmentalist; they are committed to reaching the goal of zero waste of resources. They strive for innovation, from becoming the first UK based company to introduce weighing technology across their entire fleet, to investing in the most advanced and latest recycling plant equipment. To check out more about Fortress and all the work they are doing to meet their goal of zero waste of resources, check out their website!

93% of the packaging that comes into the warehouse is recycled. Both cardboard and plastic is bailed and then sent for recycling through our waste management company CHC. They aren’t just another skip company or a broker, they work with their customers from the outset to plan and manage the whole process, ensuring we have all the support we need to make the right decision for Bravissimo.