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Recycling Blog - The Terror of Textiles

Recycling is important and we all want to play our part, but did you know that including items that can’t be recycled in your household collections can contaminate whole lorries full of otherwise good recycling? This can result in batches being binned instead of processed and recycled, as well as damaging machinery, causing fires and in worse cases, injuring the operatives. Not to mention it can also be pretty disgusting too!A pile of discarded textiles at a recycling site

To “clear up” (haha) confusion around what can and can’t be recycled, we spoke to operatives at the Council’s Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) to find out the culprit items they don’t want to see coming through their doors anymore.

The first offender – textiles!

Each year in the UK around 336,000 tonnes of our unwanted clothing get thrown away. However, although we don’t want your thread bear towels or that questionable top to clog up landfill, they also can’t be recycled through your kerb side recycling.A pile of clothing taken off the picking line at the MRF

Clothes, duvets, sheets or any other textile are a nightmare for the machinery at our MRF. Within the first five minutes of operating the plant this morning operatives on the picking line found a duvet, pillow, curtain, bedspread and jacket. These materials can wrap around rollers and chutes in the Plant, causing blockages and other terrible problems.

So, what can you do with your unwanted textiles? Luckily, there’s plenty of options:

  • Good quality unwanted clean clothing, bedding and towels can be donated to your local charity shop when they reopen. Just make sure to not leave items for donation on the street outside the shop as this is actually fly tipping and attracts more.
  • If you can’t wait for the charity shops to reopen, you can also drop off clothes in the Charity Recycling Banks throughout the city. As with the shops though, make sure to put your items in the bank itself, not on the floor surrounding. Recycle Now have a handy form to help find your nearest Charity Recycling Bank: www.recyclenow.com/local-recycling
  • Many high street retailers such as Primark and M&S also now offer clothing donation banks in-store or through 'bring back schemes'. Once the shops reopen you can bring back your old clothes whilst having a look for new pieces – easy!
  • Sew it! Good quality clothes can last a life time with a bit of care, so have a look online for tutorials on how to repair or update garments.
  • Any items that aren’t suitable for re-sale can be recycled at Chelson Meadow Recycling Centre

For more information on the Council’s recycling initiatives, as well as a list of what can be recycled from home or at your local recycling centres visit: https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/binsrecyclingandwaste/whatgoeseachbin