Bert Van Son, CEO of Mud Jeans, presented us this start up from the Netherlands. The idea of the company is to encourage jeans costumers to buy a new one, use and then give it back after use. With this practice, Mud Jeans can be sure that all the materials will be recycled after use.
The company has a program for the costumers called “Lease a Jeans”. Who joins this program use the new pair of jeans until he or she is ready to change it for a new one. After a year, if you want to change, Mud Jeans collects it back, recycles the material and for 10 more euros you receive a new one. To participate on “Lease a Jeans” you have to pay a fee of 25 euros in the first month and a monthly fee of 7,5 euros. As soon as you pay the registering fee, you already receive a new pair of jeans.
Van Son showed a video explaining the recycling process of all the jeans that they have collected during a one-year period. This process is done in Valencia, Spain. After recycling, they produce a new pair of jeans that is made of 80% recycled material.
The company incentivizes costumers to share their experiences with nature and have promoted a day in which they had the opportunity to clean a beach. They also know their costumers pretty well: People with ages between 25 and 35 years old that eat organic food, like to explore nature and to travel, enjoy freedom and have kids.
“We introduced a pioneering lease model to ensure that we stay the owner of the raw materials and get them back at the end of the day.”
Juliana Marques, SB Barcelona 2016 Volunteer, IESE Business School
