According to a study just released by the EPA, Californians are leading the charge in recycling in the United States. Americans generated 251 million tons of trash in 2012, recycling and composting nearly 87 million tons, a recycling rate shy of 35%, which was marginally less than we diverted in 2011. Californians, on the other hand, with aggressive statewide and municipal recycling goals, achieved a 50% recycling rate. However, the ambitious goal of 75% by 2020 looms in the not too distant future and municipalities are ramping up their outreach efforts to bolster existing recycling programs and thinking outside the box to promote new ones.
San Francisco Environment, which has a goal of Zero Waste by 2020, recently announced its newest campaign: the Zero Waste Textile Initiative.
By their estimates, San Franciscans send 4,500 pounds of textiles to the landfill every hour. In order to reach Zero Waste goals, municipalities must start addressing all aspects of the waste stream, including those that are commonly overlooked and often misunderstood. As textiles are nearly 100% recyclable, if not reusable, it is imperative that we start addressing them as a vital part of our waste diversion efforts.
Textile Recycling: Is That a Thing?
There are a lot of misnomers in the realm of textile recycling. Textiles from household waste currently make up approximately 5.2% of the waste in landfills. Textiles are considered anything made of cloth or artificial fabric. They have a multitude of uses from clothing to linens, rugs, shoes and beyond. There is much confusion on what do with these materials at their end of life. While a sizable number of people do donate or sell their used textiles to thrift stores or non-profits, what many do not realize is that while some items may be past the “re-use” stage in their life-cycle, they still have value in the recycling market. However, what is deemed as unsuitable for donating often gets unnecessarily discarded in the garbage bin. We all have that pile of mismatched socks that commonly end up in the trash when all hope for finding a suitable mate is lost; however, items just like these have plenty of value in the recycling market. Many of these “past the re-use” stage textiles can be made into wiping cloths used by a range of industries and others can be transformed back into fibers which can be processed into paper, yarn, geo-textile “hay” bales for erosion control, insulating material, carpet pad and other items. It is important to remember that not only do these items take up precious space in our already over-capacitated landfills, but they require valuable resources to make and the better we can get at recovering these resources, the brighter our future will be.
Loving the Latest Fashion, but Harming Our Planet
At present, only 15% of textiles get recycled or donated, which means that 85% goes to the landfill. That’s a whopping 21 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste per year. From 1999 to 2009 the volumes in post-consumer textile waste increased by 40% while the recycling rate of these materials only grew 2% While we Americans love our fashion, we are failing to love our planet by carelessly discarding our out of style clothes. Clearly, this is an area that needs attention. Municipalities are starting to look for ways to reduce waste going to landfills and textile recycling must be a fundamental component in building a sustainable future. San Francisco has always been a leader in waste reduction and many programs have followed their lead. With their latest efforts in textile recycling, we can anticipate that other cities and counties will be soon to follow in increasing awareness of textile recycling. However, one issue that municipalities struggle with is infrastructure.
The Problem: It’s a Logistics Thing
The textile recycling industry is a delicate topic because collection is often costly and difficult set up, implement and maintain. In order for textiles to be viable for recycling, they need to be clean and dry. So this means throwing your mismatched socks in with your empty plastic ketchup bottles and empty tin soup cans along with the rest of your commingled recycling is simply not an option. Simply put, cities and counties are going to have to start thinking “inside the box” as we like to phrase it, when it comes to effectively collecting textiles.
Campus California has had an established textile recycling program for over 14 years now. What is great about the program is that it is self-subsidized. It costs the taxpayer nothing and the income generated from the collection of the used clothes and shoes donations funds the collection program in over 11 counties. This program not only keeps textiles out of the landfills providing residents with an easy, accessible and convenient method of recycling, it saves the already resource strapped cities and counties from having to create the infrastructure to develop their own collection program. The icing on the cake is that the program is so successful that the surplus income actually funds grants to three other non-profit organizations with programs aimed at mobilizing and supporting communities to take up the fight against poverty. However, collection is not always easy. It requires collaboration and cooperation between many different players. Most fundamental is our site hosts. Their partnership allows us to provide boxes at convenient and accessible locations, so that the public at large has a way to easily recycle all grades of textiles. These gracious hosts receive no compensation and are truly committed to supporting sustainability in their communities. Without their help, these resources would likely never find their way to a second life.
San Francisco Environment, which has a goal of Zero Waste by 2020, recently announced its newest campaign: the Zero Waste Textile Initiative.
By their estimates, San Franciscans send 4,500 pounds of textiles to the landfill every hour. In order to reach Zero Waste goals, municipalities must start addressing all aspects of the waste stream, including those that are commonly overlooked and often misunderstood. As textiles are nearly 100% recyclable, if not reusable, it is imperative that we start addressing them as a vital part of our waste diversion efforts.
Textile Recycling: Is That a Thing?
There are a lot of misnomers in the realm of textile recycling. Textiles from household waste currently make up approximately 5.2% of the waste in landfills. Textiles are considered anything made of cloth or artificial fabric. They have a multitude of uses from clothing to linens, rugs, shoes and beyond. There is much confusion on what do with these materials at their end of life. While a sizable number of people do donate or sell their used textiles to thrift stores or non-profits, what many do not realize is that while some items may be past the “re-use” stage in their life-cycle, they still have value in the recycling market. However, what is deemed as unsuitable for donating often gets unnecessarily discarded in the garbage bin. We all have that pile of mismatched socks that commonly end up in the trash when all hope for finding a suitable mate is lost; however, items just like these have plenty of value in the recycling market. Many of these “past the re-use” stage textiles can be made into wiping cloths used by a range of industries and others can be transformed back into fibers which can be processed into paper, yarn, geo-textile “hay” bales for erosion control, insulating material, carpet pad and other items. It is important to remember that not only do these items take up precious space in our already over-capacitated landfills, but they require valuable resources to make and the better we can get at recovering these resources, the brighter our future will be.
Loving the Latest Fashion, but Harming Our Planet
At present, only 15% of textiles get recycled or donated, which means that 85% goes to the landfill. That’s a whopping 21 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste per year. From 1999 to 2009 the volumes in post-consumer textile waste increased by 40% while the recycling rate of these materials only grew 2% While we Americans love our fashion, we are failing to love our planet by carelessly discarding our out of style clothes. Clearly, this is an area that needs attention. Municipalities are starting to look for ways to reduce waste going to landfills and textile recycling must be a fundamental component in building a sustainable future. San Francisco has always been a leader in waste reduction and many programs have followed their lead. With their latest efforts in textile recycling, we can anticipate that other cities and counties will be soon to follow in increasing awareness of textile recycling. However, one issue that municipalities struggle with is infrastructure.
The Problem: It’s a Logistics Thing
The textile recycling industry is a delicate topic because collection is often costly and difficult set up, implement and maintain. In order for textiles to be viable for recycling, they need to be clean and dry. So this means throwing your mismatched socks in with your empty plastic ketchup bottles and empty tin soup cans along with the rest of your commingled recycling is simply not an option. Simply put, cities and counties are going to have to start thinking “inside the box” as we like to phrase it, when it comes to effectively collecting textiles.
Campus California has had an established textile recycling program for over 14 years now. What is great about the program is that it is self-subsidized. It costs the taxpayer nothing and the income generated from the collection of the used clothes and shoes donations funds the collection program in over 11 counties. This program not only keeps textiles out of the landfills providing residents with an easy, accessible and convenient method of recycling, it saves the already resource strapped cities and counties from having to create the infrastructure to develop their own collection program. The icing on the cake is that the program is so successful that the surplus income actually funds grants to three other non-profit organizations with programs aimed at mobilizing and supporting communities to take up the fight against poverty. However, collection is not always easy. It requires collaboration and cooperation between many different players. Most fundamental is our site hosts. Their partnership allows us to provide boxes at convenient and accessible locations, so that the public at large has a way to easily recycle all grades of textiles. These gracious hosts receive no compensation and are truly committed to supporting sustainability in their communities. Without their help, these resources would likely never find their way to a second life.
Campus California - Recycling your old clothes and shoes is good for the environment and for people.