Kirklees: Clothes recycling trial begins in 10 locations

A council is inviting people to donate old clothes and fabric as part of a recycling trial which will raise money for charity and potentially create new clothing.

Residents will be able to donate textiles at 10 locations across Kirklees in a partnership with Textile Recycling International (TRI).

Councillor Munir Ahmed, cabinet member for environment and highways, said the scheme would remove confusion about what can be recycled and make it easier for residents.

“Recycling is a great start, but it is important to fully embrace the hierarchy of waste by reducing waste, reusing what you can, and recycling everything possible,” he said.

Kirklees Council will ask residents to separate items into two collection banks.

One, labelled Too Good to Throw Away, will be for wearable and reusable items the other, labelled Worn Out, for non-wearable/reusable items.

Clothes in good condition will be resold, with the proceeds going to the Leeds-based charity Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.

Clothes which are no longer wearable will be recycled and could be used by UK-based clothing and textile manufacturers to make new clothing.

Information on the front of each bank will explain the type and condition of textiles which can be donated.

TRI will then sort the clothing at its hub in Manchester where data will be collected until the end of October to see if the banks have been used correctly.

Mr Ahmed said: “Once the data gathering has concluded the facilities will remain on site and continue to collect both reusable and non-reusable textiles, supporting our aim for a zero-waste future.”

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the trial is part of the national Automatic-sorting for Circularity in Textiles (ACT UK) project, led by the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT).

Every year, the UK generates more than one million tonnes of used textiles, but new recycling processes mean the possibilities to recycle fibres are increasing in the UK, according to the UKFT.

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