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 between return rates of the collection schemes is worthy of note, varying from less than 1kg per household to over 2kg per household per year in the above, albeit limited, sample. This variation is likely to be attributable to both the method and the scale of the collection scheme as well as the affluence of the area served. Another factor is the age of the scheme, with many achieving high collection rates in the early months and then falling back with time. From the above, it is noted that if all Local Authorities in the UK operated such schemes at the average return rate, the potential collection would be approximately 30k tonnes per year. (The average collection rate of 1.25 kg per household per year multiplied by 25million households). Clearly a vastly improved returns rate would have to be achieved from kerbside collection schemes in order to achieve a significant improvement in Local Authority recycling rates, even if this policy were to be adopted nationally. 6.2.2 Economic Considerations The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, (LARAC), noted that there are no publicly available data on either the extent or the costs of kerbside collections. They estimate that it costs up to £450 per tonne to collect plastic containers, from a base of zero, because of the high volume/weight ratio. Textiles are relatively dense by comparison, but there are a number of add‐on costs that would apply if they were to be added to an existing collection round. These would comprise mainly operational costs, such as bags and leaflets and additional labour. The following additional operational costs are estimates based on industry experience: Purchase of bags and leaflets costs between £30 and £70 per 1,000. Experience shows that only 150 bags per 1,000 bags distributed are returned and these, on average, will generate 500kg of clothes. It follows that: Bags etc. cost per tonne collected £60 ‐ £140 per tonne The additional labour time to collect and load a bag of clothing at the kerbside (assuming that no further sorting is required) is assessed at a minimum of 30 seconds per bag. This is equivalent to 150 minutes per tonne collected. At a marginal labour and overhead rate of £20 per hour, this costs a further £50 per tonne. The total marginal cost is, therefore, estimated at: Bags and Leaflets Marginal Labour Total marginal cost £100 per tonne (average) £50 per tonne £150 per tonne For Defra Page 48
© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006 These costs assume negligible additional overhead or capital costs such as separate stillages on collection vehicles and storage. For an authority that is not already operating a scheme, the costs will be higher. The figures also assume that no sorting, checking of quality, or disposal of rubbish found in the bags is required. Indeed contamination levels in some collection schemes mean that none of the textiles are suitable for re‐use or recycling. The marginal cost of implementing additional collection activity to include used textiles, therefore, is likely to be considerable, relative to the value of the materials collected, even for authorities with existing kerbside recycling schemes. However, any incremental costs may be offset by the returns achieved from the sales value of the collected material, currently of the order of £50 per tonne, and by savings of recycling credits. 6.2.3 Recycling and Re-use Credits Currently Local Authorities can opt to pay recycling credits to third party organisations involved in the diversion of materials from the household waste stream for recycling. This option was extended in April 2006 to include payment to organisations that re‐use as well as recycle materials. Because this arrangement is voluntary, its application across the UK is patchy. To assess the size and extent of the payment of recycling and re‐use credits a survey questionnaire was sent to each of the 469 Local Authorities in the UK in June 2006. The results of the survey are summarised below: No. of responses 118 Percentage of respondents to total LA’s 25% No. of LA’s paying credits for textiles 58 No. of above providing a value for credits paid 46 Average rate of credit per tonne of diverted £36.47 The percentage of LA’s paying credits for textiles therefore is 49% of the respondents to the questionnaire. This figure is considerably higher than that believed to be the case from anecdotal evidence within the industry, which is closer to 10%. This finding may be explained by the possibility that LA’s that do not pay credits are more likely to be those that did not respond to the survey. In this case, the survey figure would represent a maximum percentage of those LA’s that pay recycling credits for textiles. The average per tonne paid is comparable with landfill disposal costs and is therefore seen as a representative figure. The percentage (of respondents) of LA’s paying credits for any waste material varies from 34% to 53% depending on the material collected. Of the 49% of respondents that pay credits for textiles, 71% pay to the benefit For Defra Page 49
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