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So they burn luxury brands such as Burberry Clothing that has plenty of value in millions of euros
"The red days are horrible. Suddenly, one is afraid and does not know why. When I feel that way, the only thing that helps me is to climb a taxi and go to Tiffany's. Nothing bad can happen there. If I will find a placeThat I made me feel like Tiffany's, so I would buy furniture and give the cat a name, "said Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) Apaul Varjack (George Peppard).What Golightly did not know in breakfast with diamonds is that fashion is such a volatile business that products that cost thousands of euros end up turned into briznas, an incinerator, hundreds of degrees in combustion.
The British firm Burberry knows it, known worldwide for its 'tongs' of paintings, which destroyed in the last year all the products that it failed to sell in season, among which are clothes, accessories or cosmetic valued at 32 million euros of, according to the annual report of the fiscal year of the company in 2018. An insignificant figure compared to the 100 million euros that would have incinerated in the last five years.Exclusivity is not available to anyone.
The objective of these luxurious brands is to prevent their designs from being stolen or sold at a lower price in the black market.A fact that, however, contrasts with the sustainability policies promoted by first -line business groups.
You are and powder you will become
“Burberry is very careful when trying to minimize the amount of leftover stocks we produce.In cases where it is necessary to get rid of the products, we do it responsible and always looking for a way to reduce and reassess our waste, ”says a company spokesman.However, according to the British newspaper The Times, last year more than a third of the destroyed products - most beauty - burned in an incinerator oven specially created for it, something that mostly worries environmental organizations. "We suspect that the burning of waste is being produced in its own production centers, without any environmental or sanitary control, which is very serious, ”explains Carlos Arrivas, director of Waste of the NGO Ecologists in Action.
For its part, the American brand of Coty Coty, with whom Burberry reached an agreement last year to distribute its products, has also joined the initiative. Only in the last year of the year have burned 11.19 million euros in perfumes. "The energy generated by this burning is stored, so the process does not pollute," explains Burberry. An affirmation that contradicts the scientific verifications of environmental experts: “It is totally impossible. Waste burning is a highly polluting activity. They are burning cosmetics of complex composition and that not only produce a negative impact in terms of the effect caused by greenhouse gases but are also composed of taleatos or DHT, which are hormonal disruptors. On the other hand, in terms of clothing incineration, the greatest danger lies in polymers, which, like PVCs, when incinerating they give off highly dangerous cancer substances for human beings, ”explains Arrivas.
Waste warehouse
In addition to those mentioned, other high -standing brands such as Hermes would also have joined the textile affliction.Specifically, in January, Saint Ouen incinerators in the French region of Seine-Saint-Denis would have become the last stop for hundreds of products of the French firm."The growing amount of surplus indicates that there is an overproduction, and instead of stopping the machine, they incinerate clothing and products," says the BBC Lu Yen Roloff, representative of the NGO Greenpeace.But is it an exclusive practice of luxury brands?
Las Fast Fashion también han sucumbido a las llamas. Marcas como H&M, que llevan a cabo estrategias de marketing basadas en el reciclaje de prendas en desuso, incineran por otro lado el excedente o stock de sus almacenes. Concretamente hasta la ciudad sueca de Vasteras, el gigante textil estaría enviando prendas de ropa y accesorios para ser quemados en una estación generadora de electricidad. “Mientras que los que trabajan en la industria saben que la incineración a veces es, por desgracia, una práctica normal, el público solo puede confiar en los rumores sobre cómo se destruyen los artículos de ropa no vendidos o dañados. Es un secreto bastante bien guardado. El reciclaje a gran escala todavía no está a la altura y las marcas y los minoristas se esfuerzan por proteger su muy apreciada propiedad intelectual y su imagen”, explica la doctora, Christina Dean, en su libro What happens to clothing that goes unsold?.
However, the public clerk facing luxury brands is seasoned by the alleged sustainability policies that collide with the incineration of their expensive garments. Specifically Burberry reflects in its annual report five ambitious initiatives within the program creating tomorrow. Heritage that aims to reduce the polluting impact on the environment by 2022. Among the initiatives, the firm intends to involve artisanal manufacturing communities or reduce the amount of energy and water they spend to produce their luxurious garments. “It is absurd to carry out this type of strategies - Arriva explains - when the products are recycling in its hand. For example, reconvert textiles in thread to generate new designs or donate surpluses. If they are as philanthropist as they are called, these garments can have a better destination. The saddest thing is that thousands of products are burning for commercial reasons, simply because they are not able to sell them. Designs that could be reused by other people who really need them. ”
The value of luxury brands
The latest Report of Brandz ™, the Marketing consultant of the WPP Kantar Millward Brown group, specifies that the value of luxury brands has multiplied by seven in the last year until reaching 115,000 million euros.Among the most valued brands are Louis Vuitton, with a brand value of 35,610 million euros;Hermes, with 24,316 million euros;and Gucci, with 19,269 million euros.Specifically in Spain, the luxury market moves about 9,200 million euros a year experiencing a 9 percent growth in this year compared to the previous year.
