1. Managing Discarded Textiles for Reuse & Recycling MRRA 2014 Conference April 28, 2014

2. Textiles Reuse & Recycling Today

3. Fate of Discarded Textiles Today in US

4. Uses for Collected Textiles

5. VIDEO

6. Environmental Benefits of Collecting Textiles Saves landfill space - 175 lbs of textiles = 1 cubic yard (USEPA) Reduces greenhouse gases - 2.2 lbs of clothes diverted for reuse saves 9 lbs of CO2 (Copenhagen University: 2008 Study) Saves resources and reduces toxins - 2.2 lbs of clothes reused saves 3,432 gallons of water, 1.45 pounds of fertilizer, and.43 ounces of pesticides (www.teximateam.com)www.teximateam.com

7. Calculating the Financial Benefit of Collecting Discarded Textiles 82 lbs. of textiles/person/year 85% of textiles generated each year is discarded annually = 69.7 lbs/person 70/lbs of textiles x 10,000 people = 700,000lbs = 350 tons 350 tons x $96/ton = $33,600 in avoided disposal costs/year and 4,000 cubic yards of landfill space

8. Textile-Related Materials Flip Flops Boots/Shoes Slippers Belts Ties Socks Pillows/Bedding Table Linens Curtains/Drapes Stuffed Animals Coats/Jackets Underwear/Bras Towels Bath Mats Bath Robes Purses/Bags Hats Ripped, Broken Zipper, Missing Buttons, Unmatched Sock/Shoe, NO PROBLEM!

9. The Lifecycle of Collected Textile Items Textile recycling facilities engage in labor intensive sorting and separating of apparel, footwear, household textiles and accessories –Most Efficient facilities can process between 35-50 tons per day –This is the equivalent of 140,000-200,000 units DAILY!

10. The Lifecycle of Collected Textile Items 45% Reused as Second-hand Apparel –Some go to U.S. thrift stores – a growing market –Most is baled and exported to developing countries where 2/3 of population lives on less than $2/day.

11. The Lifecycle of Collected Textile Items 30% Shipped to Sorting/Processing Plants to be Recycled into Wiping Rags –Another labor-intensive sort –Labor-intensive trimming off buttons, zippers, collars, and cutting into wiper sized pieces –Baled for wholesale to domestic wiping cloth companies –Average processing rates per person: Sorting 5000 lbs/day, Cutting 1000 lbs/day

12. The Lifecycle of Collected Textile Items 20% Shipped to Fiber Processing Facilities –After initial gross sort, mostly machine processes to remove buttons, zippers, etc. and grind fiber in several stages. –Manufactured into many new products: Padding, Insulation, Stuffing, etc.

13. Decisions to be Made Department to manage the program Partner with a for-profit or non-profit Selecting a vendor Placement of bins Frequency of pick ups

14. Conducting Due Diligence on Non-profit Vendors Search for them at Charity Navigator http://www.charitynavigator.org/ and Charity Watch http://www.charitywatch.org/ http://www.charitynavigator.org/ http://www.charitywatch.org/ Visit the vendor’s website to see what they say about themselves. Search for them on the Internet to find out what others are saying about them. Contact State’s Better Business Bureau

15. Conducting Due Diligence on For-profit Companies Visit the vendor’s website to see what they say about themselves. Search for them on the Internet to find out what others are saying about them. Contact State’s Better Business Bureau Contact State’s environmental regulatory agency

16. Available Resources from SMART Website: www.smartasn.orgwww.smartasn.org Videos / PSA’s School Curriculum Collection Bin Operator Code of Conduct Sample Collection Bin Ordinance for Cities and Towns SMART Numbers: –443-640-1050 Jackie King, Executive Director –410-420-2001 Paul Bailey, Media Contact

17. Additional Resources Article - Step by step approach to setting up textiles collections http://nerc.org/documents/Textiles%20Reuse%20a nd%20Recycling/Sew%20It%20Up.pdf List of Additional Resources http://nerc.org/documents/conferences_presentatio ns/Spring%202013%20Workshop%20Presentations /Textiles%20Resource%20List_revised.pdf

18. Additional Resources Cont NERC’s Fee for Service Program for Textiles http://nerc.org/documents/Fee%20for%20Ser vice/NERC%20Textile%20Expertise%20Fact %20Sheet.pdf