Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste - Oakdene Hollins

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© 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 For Defra Page 22
© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006 waste generated by textile product manufacturers, will also form a part of the waste stream, but these are chiefly disposed of through the industrial and commercial route and are not considered in this study. 4.3 Consumer Discard Patterns Unlike the majority of household waste materials, which are generated regularly and frequently, it is believed that consumers tend to ‘clear their wardrobes’ periodically and thereby generate relatively large quantities at infrequent intervals. External factors, such as disaster appeals and ‘promotions’ by local collectors can also influence the clearouts. Figure 2 charts the Salvation Army Trading Company’s textile bank collection patterns by month averaged over the last five years. The chart shows that collections peak in the autumn months, to 110% of average, and fall significantly, to 74% of average, in December. The fall in December cannot be explained by a reduction in activity by the industry during the Christmas holiday season because: • Collections from textile banks in December continue on all but the two bank holidays • The ‘lost’ tonnage is not recovered in January and February. The figures, therefore, clearly indicate that considerably less material is donated during December. Figure 2: Seasonal Variation in Used Textiles Collections Percent of Annual Collection 10% 9% 8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% A M J J A S O N D J F M Source: SATCoL For Defra Page 23
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