You can recycle most types of textiles, as long as they are clean and dry. This includes bedding, clothes, curtains, nets, pillow cases, sheets, tablecloths and towels. You can also normally include belts, handbags and shoes for reuse by others.
You can put your textiles into your kerbside recycling container, if you have one that accepts textiles, or take them to your local charity shop or textile recycling point. There are over 500 textile recycling points in Scotland. The textiles are then collected and taken to reprocessing facility. Textiles that are not suitable for reuse are recycled into industrial cloth or new materials.
Facts about textiles
- Textiles make up 3% of the average household bin (WRAP, 2002).
- Nearly 70% of the items put in Salvation Army clothing banks are able to be reused (Waste Online).
- In 2005/06 local authorities in Scotland collected 14,377 tonnes of textiles for recycling (SEPA, 2006).
Does recycling textiles save energy?
- Over 3000kg of CO² equivalents are saved by recycling 1000kg of textiles compared to sending them to landfill.
