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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

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Lack of charity trust sees clothes going to landfill

This news post is about 4 years old
 

Lack of trust in bag collections has is blamed for rise in clothes going to landfill

Clothes are being thrown away instead of going to charity because people don’t trust charity clothing collections.

Although recycling is increasing, research by waste charity Wrap shows a 25,000 tons rise in clothing going to landfill.

The National Household Waste Composition study found 336,000 tonnes of clothing in the household residual waste in 2017 compared with 333,500 in 2015.

Reports over the years found that many scam companies who took clothing and shoes for resale were posing as legitimate charities collecting items for good causes, the public's trust in charity collections may have fallen, Wrap said.

The report states that reasons for throwing away clothes include reduced lifespan of clothes; people’s suspicion of charity bag collections, following negative press about the legality of operators in the UK; and questions that have been raised about export markets for second hand clothing.

Last year, MIchael Lomotey of Clothes Aid said that more than 60% of all charity bag collections undertaken in the UK are being done so by unlicensed or “bogus operators.

The British Heart Foundation stated that its losses alone were as much as £3m a year while Clothes Aid said its charity partners were losing £1.1m a year in lost income.”

A Wrap spokesperson said: "The charity sector is doing a fantastic job reselling clothes in the UK, from which it makes significant revenue for good causes. It provides an essential channel for reuse and recycling and Wrap's Love Your Clothes campaign is asking more people to join its Donation Generation this January and make donating to charities their number one option when having a clear out.”

The charity is calling on the public to re-use their clothes and not to buy throwaway clothing.

Peter Maddox, Wrap’s director, said: “Clothing ranks sixth in household spending but its environmental cost is far greater. The clothing industry has a huge environmental footprint across its supply chain and at the end of life. Its reach is global, and its impacts profound. We too, as consumers, directly contribute to the stress put on the planet by how we dress.”

 

Comments

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Jon
almost 2 years ago

It's strange that we talk of the clothes going to land fill and do not talk about the collection bags themselves. I repeatedly leave the empty collection bags in the hope that the person who left it at my door might bother to return to pick it up but to no avail. The bags I have received are from respectable charities but the people who deliver the bags are teenagers and I suspect not volunteers but are paid - I suspect the collectors do come around and take the full bags but cannot be bothered to check if the house holder has left the empty bag out for collection.

I don't see much evidence of my neighbours leaving empty bags out for collection - I suspect they have learned it is not worth doing it because the empty bags will be ignored.

I wonder how many thousands of plastic bags are wasted every week when house holders who have learnt from experience that empty bags will not be collected just throw them away?

My front door is 2 metres from the road on a quiet estate, no visual obstructions - absolutely no excuse for not spotting the increasing pile of empty bags left out for collection ( pinned down by a rock ).

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