Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste - Oakdene Hollins

© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd
Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006
5.3.4 Summary
It is generally accepted by the charities that there has been an over‐reliance
on used clothing, and that the shops must diversify. This trend has already
started with a significant move into the sale of alternative used products,
such as books, toys and electronic media and into new products such as
greeting cards and fair trade commodities. As a result, the charity shops
are reducing their percentage of sales from used clothing. With prices of
new clothing expected to fall by a further 30% in the next five years, the
price of all but high fashion, high quality used items will have to fall in
comparison. The annual Charity Finance Shops Survey for 2005 reports
collection and employment costs for the shops rising both above the level of
inflation and as a percentage of sales income. This trend is expected to
continue. With the resultant decline in margins for used clothing, the
charity shops will continue to diversify out of clothing into other
commodities.
The merchants, faced with rising sorting costs in the UK and declining
qualities and selling prices, are increasingly shipping unsorted clothes,
either for sale directly to export markets or for sorting in lower labour cost
countries. As discussed in Section 4.3.1 above, the apparent legal position
relating to the export of unsorted textiles is of concern. In summary,
collections of used textiles from textile banks are classified by the
Environment Agency as waste until they have been further sorted into
useable material, recyclable material and rubbish. Handling, transportation
and direct shipments of unsorted textiles would, therefore, incur a
regulatory and financial burden which further adds to the pressure on the
economic viability of the merchants. It is suggested that further discussion
is required between the regulatory authorities and the trade in order to
clarify the situation. With appropriate controls, relaxation of the Agency
position would support the practice of exporting unsorted used textiles to
low labour cost countries for sorting. This would help maintain the
viability of the collection sector, possibly permitting increased collection
rates and avoiding increasing landfilling of textiles in the UK.
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