Clothing and textile reuse and recycling

Reuse 

The best way to help the environment and your community is to keep unwanted clothes and textiles in use and out of the bin.

Visit the Love Your Clothes website for tips on how to repair, refashion or upcycle your clothes.

Clothing and textiles that are in good condition can be donated to charity shops and sold for reuse to help local causes. Please do not leave donations outside the shop, as this is fly-tipping.

Recycling

Items that are not suitable to be passed onto someone else can be recycled and made into new things, such as padding for chairs and car seats, cleaning cloths and industrial blankets. 

You can search the Recycle Now website to find your nearest bank.

You can also recycle textiles and clothing at your local household waste recycling centre (tip).

Shwopping

Many retailers now offer shwopping services in-store. Retailers include M&S, Oxfam, Mint Velvet, Primark and TK Maxx – but please check with your local store.

Place your unwanted items in the shwop boxes, and they’re resold, reused or recycled, so absolutely nothing goes to waste.