Our Curbside Collection Service

Our Curbside Collection Service

Textiles

What do you do with gently worn clothing, shoes, small toys, small appliances, pots, pans, and dishes when you’re finished with them?

One way to benefit both your community and the environment is to donate these gently used items to recyclers such as H&M Leasing Corp.

Just the Facts

• An estimated 10.6 million tons of household item waste were generated in 2003, or 4 percent of total municipal solid waste (MSW) generation.
• Our industry annually prevents 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile product waste from entering the solid waste stream, according to the Council for Textile Recycling.
• This 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer household waste represents 10 pounds for every person in the United States. That was in 2003! It has since grown to 68 pounds per person!
• Approximately 500 million pounds of household waste collected are used by the collecting agency, with the balance sold to textile recyclers, including used clothing dealers and exporters.
• Most textile recycling firms are small, family-owned businesses such as ourselves with fewer than 50 employees. The majority employ between 35 and 50 workers, many of whom are semi-skilled or marginally employable workers.

Recycling Textiles

Textile recovery facilities separate overly worn or stained clothing into a variety of categories. Some recovered textiles become wiping and polishing cloths. Cotton can be made into rags or form a component for new high-quality paper. Knitted or woven woolens and similar materials are “pulled” into a fibrous state for reuse by the textile industry in low-grade applications, such as car insulation or seat stuffing. Other types of fabric can be reprocessed into fibers for upholstery, insulation, and even building materials. Buttons and zippers are stripped off for reuse. Very little is left over at the end of the recycling process. The remaining natural materials, such as various grades of cotton, can be composted. If all available means of reuse and recycling are utilized, the remaining solid waste that needs to be disposed of can be as low as 5 percent.

Collecting Textiles… the H&M Leasing Corp. Way

Textiles typically are not sorted at the point of collection, but keeping them clean and free from moisture is important. Once clothes get wet, stained, or mildewed, they cannot be sold for reuse. To prevent contamination, H&M Leasing Corp. also offers enclosed drop-off boxes for clothing or other fabrics. H&M Leasing Corp. Curbside Collection will also offer to educate donors on how to properly bag clothing for collection.

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