Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste - Oakdene Hollins

© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd
Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006
4.2 Arisings of Used Textiles
Used clothing and other textiles are discarded by the domestic consumer in
one of six ways, depending on the level of local involvement by Local
Authorities, charities and commercial operators. Some return is obtained
for a small proportion through resale, but the overwhelming majority, in
terms of tonnage, is donated free by the original owner or is disposed of to
the waste stream. These discard routes are summarised below:
• Private Sales. Textile items are sold through jumble sales or boot fairs.
Also, some high value clothing is sold through commercial secondhand
clothes retailers with a proportion of the sales value of each item
being returned to the original owner. Surplus, unsold material from
these ventures will be sold to the merchants. A recent but increasing
private sales route is through the internet using the online auction
website, eBay.
• Textile Banks. The items are taken to a local textile ‘bring’ bank which
is operated by either a charity‐linked organisation or by a strictly
commercial collector.
• Charity Shops. The items are taken to a local charity shop.
• Door‐to‐door Collections. Collection bags are delivered to the
householder’s doorstep by a charity or a commercial collector.
• Kerbside Recycle Schemes. These schemes are operated on behalf of
Local Authorities, either by waste management companies or by
resource management consortia which include textile recycling
companies. The schemes usually involve collection bags being
supplied to every doorstep in the district. When the bag is filled by the
householder it is left out for collection, and a replacement bag is issued.
• Disposal. The items are placed in the household rubbish bin,
sometimes after re‐use as rags, wipers, etc. Bulky items such as
curtains or carpets may be taken to the local civic amenity disposal site.
Each of the above routes will generate material that is neither suitable for
resale nor recycling. This will include such items as single shoes, carrier
bags, coat hangers and wet or soiled textiles. Indeed, the secondary textile
industry as a whole has expressed concern over the amount of unusable
material which they receive. This material has to be disposed of to the
waste stream at significant cost to the industry.
Used clothing and other textiles will also arise in industrial and commercial
waste streams. Significant amounts of corporate clothing, and off‐cuts and
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