Primark customers can now recycle any brand of clothes, textiles, shoes and bags at stores across the UK.

Primark, which has stores in Gloucester and Cheltenham, will have Primark In-Store Recycling Scheme collection boxes at all of its 190 UK stores, as reported by Retail Gazette.

None of the donated items will go to landfill. Instead, they will be reused, recycled or repurposed, with profits from the scheme going to UNICEF to support education programmes for vulnerable children around the world.

The recycling scheme was set up in response to a call from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) for people to protect charity shops from an influx of donations expected following lockdown. It's thought more than a third of people had a clear-out of unwanted clothing while stuck at home.

Primark and its recycling partner, Yellow Octopus, plan for as many donations as possible to be worn again, with the remainder being repurposed into products like insulation, mattress fillers and toy stuffing.

The chain said the recycling scheme is the latest step in its Primark Cares initiative, which also includes the expansion of its Sustainable Cotton Programme and investment in sustainable fibres across all product ranges.