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Dutch jeans-leasing scheme strides ahead
11/12/2014

Mud Jeans, based in Rhenen, near Arnhem, provides a “Lease A Jeans” service through which customers can rent high-quality garments for a €20 deposit plus €5.95 per month. The lease agreement lasts for one year, after which the customer can keep the jeans, exchange them for another pair, or return them to the company for reuse and recycling.

During the lease period, the company provides an ongoing repair service. When garments reach the end of their useful lives and are returned, the denim fabric is reused if possible – or is shredded into fibres and rewoven into new yarn. The company also offers a “Lease A Hoodie” and a “Lease A Bag” schemes. The bags that can be rented are made from denim pieces from jeans returned at the end of their useful life.

The jeans that are leased to customers are designed to have reduced environmental impact. They are made in Italy from organic cotton and delivered in recycled packaging. The lease service means jeans are returned to the company and reused, rather than entering the waste stream and being landfilled or incinerated.

The overall price paid by the customer for the jeans works out similar to the cost of high-quality brand-label jeans. If the customer decides to keep the jeans at the end of the one year lease period, he or she will pay an additional four monthly payments, making a total of 16 and amounting to €115.20, including the €20 deposit. However, the deposit can be used towards the next pair of jeans.

The scheme works from the Netherlands, but “Lease A Jeans” has also proved popular in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The scheme started in January 2013 and is currently still small scale. Mud Jeans has three staff and about 1500 lease customers. A Mud Jeans spokesman said “we're keeping current customers and getting new customers every day.”

According to the company, most customers at the end of the one-year lease period exchange their jeans for a new pair. About 30% opt to keep the jeans and 10% return them to the company. During the lease period, 2-3% of customers use the repair service, which the company provides free of charge.

More information:

http://www.mudjeans.eu/Lease-How-it-works