- Old clothes are accepted by recycling banks.
- Most home recycling bins, provided by your local council, accept old clothes and textiles.
- Old clothes could be donated to charity shops. Taking the old textiles to the jumble shops is another option.
- Rather than throwing away old textile items, they could be used to make cushion covers, cleaning clothes etc.
- Old woolies are shredded and
re-spun taking half the energy of new wool. However, the re-spun wool
needs to be washed thoroughly.
- It is estimated that, of collected textiles:
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6% goes to waste
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12% goes for fiber reclamation
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19% goes for filling materials
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21% goes for wiping cloths
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38% goes for second hand clothing
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4% goes for second hand shoes
- The textile recycling association may
be contacted for more information regarding textile recycling. You can
reach them through their website- www.textile-recycling.org.uk.
Advantages of textile recycling and reuse:
ü Reduces
the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems in
landfill as synthetic (man-made fibers) products will not decompose,
while woolen garments do decompose and produce methane, which
contributes to global warming.
ü Reduces pressure on virgin resources.
ü Aids the balance of payments as we import fewer materials for our needs.
ü Results in less pollution and energy savings, as fibers do not have to be transported from abroad.