Clothing & Textile Recycling
Unwanted clothing or bedding can be a pain to get rid of, and whilst a lot of us may sort through and give our better condition items to friends or charities, a lot of it ends up in landfill which is rather a waste. It is estimated that Australians throw away 23kg of clothing each year to landfill – per person! That is a lot!
Collectively these are known as “textiles” and thankfully more is being done to help reduce the amount of textiles going to landfill and also to deal with the items that are not good enough to reuse for a friend or through a charity.
Importantly, please be aware that they cannot go into your yellow recycling bin! Unfortunately recycling facilities do not run op shops as well!
The Australian Fashion Council is leading a consortium of industry, brand, manufacturer, retailer, charity, fibre producers, academics and waste management companies to create Australia’s first National Product Stewardship Scheme for clothing textiles. This is an exciting move forward in improving the life cycle of our existing clothing industry to reduce the amount that is ultimately sent to landfill. For more details visit https://ausfashioncouncil.com/product-stewardship.
What can Campbelltown Residents Do?
Buying
Think about the clothes you need and where you get your clothes. Can you buy second hand? Or do you really need another jacket? Fast fashion and how we purchase clothes can make a big difference in how much will end up in landfill.
Need to get rid of some items?
See if you can donate anything to friends or family or local charity, but make sure you donate good quality items to charities, as they get overwhelmed with items that are really not suitable to sell and can end up in landfill.
If you can’t then consider some of the options below which help to improve the end life of your items.
Boomerang Bags
Boomerang Bags (worldwide) transform your leftover quilting fabric, doona covers and pillowcases into reusable bags. They then distribute these bags locally – to schools, businesses, events and more.
H&M and Zara
H&M and Zara both have garment recycling programs for unwanted apparel. Unwanted clothes or textiles (any brand and any condition) can be taken to these stores. They are sorted into different categories for reuse, upcycling, or shredding and turning into other products such as insulation. Zara also accept other items such as footwear, accessories and jewellery.
H&M Garment Collection Zara Garment Collection
Rebel Sport
Recycle your old sneakers at Rebel Sport through the TreadLightly recycling initiative. Old shoes are recycled into exercise mats, shop floors and playground materials.
Recycle Clothes
Recycle Clothes is a convenient door-to-door clothing recycling service based in the Adelaide Metropolitan area. Simply book a day online when you want your clothes to be picked up.
For more information on their services and organisation, email contact@recycleclothes.com.au.
The Red Nose Clothing Collection & Recycling Program
Run by Red Nose, the program operates similarly to SCR Group and also have a partnership with Savers. Proceeds go back into their programs to support families and save little lives. They offer a clothing booking and collection service. The closest collection point to our City is in Windsor Gardens (North East Road) and Modbury (Tea Tree Plaza).
Red Nose Clothing Collection & Recycling
SCR Group
Clothes and shoes in unwearable condition and old linen can be recycled through the yellow SCR Group bins at:
- Athelstone Primary School, Brookside Road, Athelstone (bin located near the Springfield Avenue playground).
- Newton Village, 299 Montacute Road, Newton (bins located on the western side of underground car park).
SCR Group Clothing & Shoe Collection
According to the SCR website, 100% of what is collected is diverted from landfill. 70% is reused in local and global communities, 15% recycled into wiper rags and the remaining 15% is converted into biofuels.
Sheridan
Sheridan have a recycling program that ensures old sheets and towels of any brand are diverted from landfill, and sent to partnering factories to be made into recycled yarn that is repurposed into new products. Any fibres that are unable to be converted still find a second life, including as insulation.
The Sheridan Recycling Program
TERRESA
Established in 2022, and based in South Australia, TERRESA stands for TExtile Recycling & Recovering Enterprise of South Australia. With the ambitious goal to "Make South Australia the first textile waste free state in the world by 2030." TERRESA will collect clothes and linen in new, used and unwearable condition and sort them to be either re-used or recycled.
Visit the website to find out more and book a collection.
Upparel
Upparel are an online company that collect textiles and reuse/recycle them. Book online, pack in a box and they collect it! Charges apply for this service. Upparel cuts out your trip to the charity store. They collect used clothes, hats, bags and more from your door. Most of what they receive goes to charity stores, however around a third is sent overseas for upcycling or recycling.