Textiles Recycling in the UK
A Recycling Feature from Ragbags Textiles (July 2008)
One family’s rubbish is another family’s resource. Last season’s fashions – easily and thoughtlessly discarded by today’s throwaway society – can offer more than 70 per cent of their useful life to someone else. According to the Textile Recycling Association. sales of new clothing in the UK have risen by 60% in the past decade. We now consume 2m tonnes of clothing and textiles a year. Of that, 1.1m tonnes go straight in the bin, while just 300,000 tonnes are recycled; the rest is probably still sitting in our wardrobes. Although the majority of textile waste originates from household sources, waste textiles also arise during yarn and fabric manufacture, garment-making processes and from the retail industry. Recovery and recycling provide both environmental and economic benefits.
Textiles recovery:-
- Reduces the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems in landfill as synthetic (man-made fibres) products will not decompose, while woollen garments do decompose and produce methane, which contributes to global warming.
- Reduces pressure on virgin resources.
- Aids the balance of payments as we import fewer materials for our needs.
- Results in less pollution and energy savings, as fibres do not have to be transported from abroad.
- Savings on energy consumption when processing, as items do not need to be re-dyed or scoured.
- Less effluent, as unlike raw wool, it does not have to be thoroughly washed using large volumes of water.
- Reduction of demand for dyes and fixing agents and the problems caused by their use and manufacture.
Collection Methods:
At present the consumer has the option of putting textiles into 'clothes banks', taking them to charity shops or having them collected by a door-to-door collection service. Clothes sent for recycling are given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or sold in developing countries in Africa, the Indian sub-continent and parts of Eastern Europe. Nearly 70% of items put into clothing banks are reused as clothes, and any un-wearable items are sold to merchants to be recycled and used as factory wiping cloths. All collected textiles are sorted and graded by highly skilled, experienced workers, who are able to recognise the large variety of fibre types. Once sorted the items are sent to various destinations. Wearable clothes and shoes are resold in the U.K. and abroad. Unwearable trousers, skirts etc are sold to the 'flocking' industry. Items are shredded for fillers in car insulation, roofing felts, loudspeaker cones, panel linings, furniture padding etc. Unwearable woollen garments are sold to specialist firms for fibre reclamation to make yarn or fabric, and unwearable cotton and silk is sorted into grades to make wiping cloths for a range of industries from automotive to mining, and for use in paper manufacture.
Ragbags is a UK company dedicated to working with many businesses and organisations, such as high street charities and schools, managing their textile waste requirements. Since their inception in 2000 they have grown to become one of the largest textile reclaimers in the Midlands. The company has a modern fleet of vehicles, a transport yard with modern warehouse units and knowledgeable staff. They have built their reputation by proving to be reliable and trustworthy with prompt payment for used clothing and collections specially tailored to their clients’ needs. They provide a very discreet collection service as none of their vehicles are sign-written which is especially important to charities.
Ragbags Textiles work in conjunction with their sister companies -the MBA group and Morgie Bee. The MBA Group is known worldwide for exporting used clothes to Africa, Pakistan, India and Eastern Europe. All clothing is processed using the latest sorting systems at MBA Group's facilities. Morgie Bee is targeted specifically at schools, and its aim is to educate children and teachers about recycling clothing, and provides facilities to schools to collect the unwanted clothes the children bring in. There is a very good cash incentive for the schools who participate in the Morgie Bee scheme which benefits both the children in this country, and the children in less fortunate countries who receive the used clothes.
Clothing recycling is also about people. Over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes but giving clothes to people doesn’t really solve their long-term problems. They need the dignity of work to support their families. By selling loads at reasonable prices to reputable traders in the developing world UK textiles recycling companies are helping to create employment in those countries. An overseas trader will purchase a container full of clothes from the UK. This is then transported, by road and sea to the trader’s country. He then sells on to smaller traders, who buy according to their means. He in turn sells at affordable prices to people in his village. Containers are always of a consistent quality and do not contain rubbish. This helps people overseas earn their living, and others to afford decent clothing.
If you require a professional and hassle-free waste collection service look no further than Ragbags Textiles.
At present the consumer has the option of putting textiles into 'clothes banks', taking them to charity shops or having them collected by a door-to-door collection service. Clothes sent for recycling are given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or sold in developing countries in Africa, the Indian sub-continent and parts of Eastern Europe. Nearly 70% of items put into clothing banks are reused as clothes, and any un-wearable items are sold to merchants to be recycled and used as factory wiping cloths. All collected textiles are sorted and graded by highly skilled, experienced workers, who are able to recognise the large variety of fibre types. Once sorted the items are sent to various destinations. Wearable clothes and shoes are resold in the U.K. and abroad. Unwearable trousers, skirts etc are sold to the 'flocking' industry. Items are shredded for fillers in car insulation, roofing felts, loudspeaker cones, panel linings, furniture padding etc. Unwearable woollen garments are sold to specialist firms for fibre reclamation to make yarn or fabric, and unwearable cotton and silk is sorted into grades to make wiping cloths for a range of industries from automotive to mining, and for use in paper manufacture.
Ragbags is a UK company dedicated to working with many businesses and organisations, such as high street charities and schools, managing their textile waste requirements. Since their inception in 2000 they have grown to become one of the largest textile reclaimers in the Midlands. The company has a modern fleet of vehicles, a transport yard with modern warehouse units and knowledgeable staff. They have built their reputation by proving to be reliable and trustworthy with prompt payment for used clothing and collections specially tailored to their clients’ needs. They provide a very discreet collection service as none of their vehicles are sign-written which is especially important to charities.
Ragbags Textiles work in conjunction with their sister companies -the MBA group and Morgie Bee. The MBA Group is known worldwide for exporting used clothes to Africa, Pakistan, India and Eastern Europe. All clothing is processed using the latest sorting systems at MBA Group's facilities. Morgie Bee is targeted specifically at schools, and its aim is to educate children and teachers about recycling clothing, and provides facilities to schools to collect the unwanted clothes the children bring in. There is a very good cash incentive for the schools who participate in the Morgie Bee scheme which benefits both the children in this country, and the children in less fortunate countries who receive the used clothes.
Clothing recycling is also about people. Over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes but giving clothes to people doesn’t really solve their long-term problems. They need the dignity of work to support their families. By selling loads at reasonable prices to reputable traders in the developing world UK textiles recycling companies are helping to create employment in those countries. An overseas trader will purchase a container full of clothes from the UK. This is then transported, by road and sea to the trader’s country. He then sells on to smaller traders, who buy according to their means. He in turn sells at affordable prices to people in his village. Containers are always of a consistent quality and do not contain rubbish. This helps people overseas earn their living, and others to afford decent clothing.
If you require a professional and hassle-free waste collection service look no further than Ragbags Textiles.
Ragbags is a UK company dedicated to working with many businesses and organisations, such as high street charities and schools, managing their textile waste requirements. Since their inception in 2000 they have grown to become one of the largest textile reclaimers in the Midlands. The company has a modern fleet of vehicles, a transport yard with modern warehouse units and knowledgeable staff. They have built their reputation by proving to be reliable and trustworthy with prompt payment for used clothing and collections specially tailored to their clients’ needs. They provide a very discreet collection service as none of their vehicles are sign-written which is especially important to charities.
Ragbags Textiles work in conjunction with their sister companies -the MBA group and Morgie Bee. The MBA Group is known worldwide for exporting used clothes to Africa, Pakistan, India and Eastern Europe. All clothing is processed using the latest sorting systems at MBA Group's facilities. Morgie Bee is targeted specifically at schools, and its aim is to educate children and teachers about recycling clothing, and provides facilities to schools to collect the unwanted clothes the children bring in. There is a very good cash incentive for the schools who participate in the Morgie Bee scheme which benefits both the children in this country, and the children in less fortunate countries who receive the used clothes.
Clothing recycling is also about people. Over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes but giving clothes to people doesn’t really solve their long-term problems. They need the dignity of work to support their families. By selling loads at reasonable prices to reputable traders in the developing world UK textiles recycling companies are helping to create employment in those countries. An overseas trader will purchase a container full of clothes from the UK. This is then transported, by road and sea to the trader’s country. He then sells on to smaller traders, who buy according to their means. He in turn sells at affordable prices to people in his village. Containers are always of a consistent quality and do not contain rubbish. This helps people overseas earn their living, and others to afford decent clothing.
If you require a professional and hassle-free waste collection service look no further than Ragbags Textiles.
