Secondhand Clothing Recovery, Recycle & Reuse Industry

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Felicity Underwood
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1 Secondhand Clothing Recovery, Recycle & Reuse Industry

2 CTR s Mission: Create awareness about keeping what we wear out of landfills in order to divert significant quantities of pctw from national and local landfills. 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 2

3 Eric Stubin Vice President, SMART Chair, Council for Textile Recycling Principal & CEO, Trans-Americas Textile Recylcing Inc.

4 Definitions PCTW: Post Consumer Textile Waste : USED CLOTHING, USED FOOTWEAR or USED HOUSEHOLD TEXTILES Donated or recycled at end of life. Can include apparel, footwear and accessories and household textiles No relation to Pre Consumer / Post Industrial Waste (which fibers converters recycle) or Excess Inventories which fall under Reverse Logistics Secondhand Industry: Charities, Secondhand Clothing Recyclers, Fiber Recyclers and Wiper Manufactures. SMART - CTR- Trade Association Advocacy and educational NON PROFIT 501 C(3) 6/17/2014 4

5 Use of the Term Recycling Within the Textiles Industries The industry tends to use the words recycled and reused interchangeably. The clothing that is sold in charity thrift store and sold to developing nations would be considered reuse The textiles that are turned into wiping rags and the textiles that are ground up into fiber would be considered recycled.

6 6/17/2014 Trans-Americas Textile Recycling Inc. 6

7 EPA & STATE OF NEW YORK HAVE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED THE PROBLEM 5% OF NY DISPOSED MSW IS POST CONSUMER TEXTILE WASTE.»700,000 TONS [2010 : NYS MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE, NYSAR3 SUPPLIED FIGURE: MSW 14 MILLION tons disposed x 5%]» Estimated $35 MILLION IN TIPPING FEES 6/17/2014 Trans-Americas Textile Recycling Inc. 7

8 Nationally numbers are equally concerning 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 8

9 Secondhand Industry equipped to deal with real world issues LARGE SCALE REVERSE SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY EXISTS IN US. Consisting of both private sector and charitable options. USA recycles 3.8 Billion lbs annually of PCTW. US E.P.A. 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 9

10 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 10

11 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 11

12 INDEPTH PCTW RECYCLING FACILITIES Textile recycling facilities engage in labor intensive sorting, separating, and recycling of apparel, footwear, household textiles and accessories. 6/17/

Most Efficient facilities can process between 35-50 tons per day of PCTW =

13 Most Efficient facilities can process between tons per day of PCTW = 140, ,000 units DAILY Larger processors may handle more 6/17/

14 Labor Intensive: 1 Ton of PCTW requires 2 days of semi skilled labor Clothing on main sorting line Efficient Material Handling 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 14

15 PCTW % REUSED & RECYCLED 5% 45% 30% Wiping Rags 30% Fiber 20% Used Clothing 45% Waste 5% 20% 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 15

16 Why Recycle Textiles? The EPA estimates that between 1999 & 2011 the amount of textiles in our landfills grew by 22% from 9.1 Million Tons to 11.1 Million Tons. Yet textile diversion only grew by 2.4%, from 12.9% to 15.3%. * Source: EPA report on Municipal Solid Waste Facts and Figures 2011

17 Textile Recycling Drives Economy Revenue stream for recycling agencies Creates jobs Funds charitable initiatives Promotes small business Encourages recycled product development Provides affordable clothing opportunity

18 State & Local Real World Solutions - PCTW 6/17/

19 GET STARTED COLLECTING TEXTILES 6/17/

20 Low Fruit on the Recycling Tree- Cities are recycling PCTW 6/17/

21 WORN OR TORN CLOTHING MUST BE DONATED OR RECYCLED. 6/17/

22 RESOURCES To Get Your Municipality Started Diverting Increased Volumes of PCTW

24 SMART s Vision SMART is the leading industry voice promoting high standards and best practices for reducing solid waste by recycling textiles and related secondary materials. Our members collect, reclaim, and close the loop by processing, converting, and distributing these recyclables.

Recent SMART Initiatives - Education Lesson Plans for Elementary Students - Grade Appropriate for students Grades K-5 - Available free from Education Center

25 Recent SMART Initiatives - Education Lesson Plans for Elementary Students - Grade Appropriate for students Grades K-5 - Available free from Education Center website - SMART s Goal - reach 1 million students by 2015 Recycling Rangers Program launched November partner with teachers to host clothing drives in schools.

26 Recent SMART Initiatives - Communication Television PSA - Community Recycling of Clothing and Textiles - 60: second spot Radio PSAs - 4 versions, 30:seconds each - Scripts include: Back-to-School; Earth Day; Spring Cleaning; End-of-the-Semester Info graphics to help tell story about textile recycling and benefits to environment Online Buyers Guide

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29 The industry s only vetted search tool 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 29

30 Brands and Retailers already engaged in Reuse & Recycling Patagonia GAP Burberry, EU Eileen Fisher H&M Brooks NIKE Cotton Inc. LEVIS New Balance 6/17/

31 LEVI S FIRST MOVERS ON WIDE SCALE REUSE & RECYCLING others 6/17/

32 EACH STAKEHOLDER SHARES COMMON GROUND.WHERE WE CAN COLLECTIVELY IMPACT THE GLOBAL ISSUE OF PCTW.. Academics Private Sector Recyclers Green Producers of pctw Blue Solution Providers Apparel & Footwear Industry CTR Charities Municipalities Consumers 1) Increase awareness through a generic platform of Donate/ Recycle 2) Foster an environment where member companies can find one another to divert pctw away from our global landfills. 6/17/

33 Unfortunately the USA lags behind the EU in terms of textile recycling. Although many U.S Cities and local municipalities also incorporate textiles into their recycling programs few mandate that textiles are recycled by ordinance. We have a cultural model in Europe to aspire towards. 6/17/

34 Assistance & future trends 6/17/

35 SMART Online Buyers Guide Listing of SMART Members on Searchable by Product Category, Region Available to Public

36 Recent SMART Initiatives - Legislative Clothing Collection Bins in the Community - Clothing Collection Bin Operator Code of Conduct - Draft Ordinance Language - Bin Position Paper - Development of Bin Committee of SMART members to work on proactive efforts in cities and towns - Bin Training Day at SMART Annual Convention in March 2014 to help members work with regulators and legislators

37 ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CITIES, TOWNS, STATES TO ENCOURAGE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXTILE RECYCLING CAMPAIGNS - North East Recycling Council (NERC) meeting in April Michigan Recycling Association Meeting in May New Hampshire Textile Diversion Training- August Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Webinar, December New Jersey Waste Wise Meeting in May Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA)- June Connecticut DEEP- Textile Reuse and Recycling Panel Discussion - June King County (Seattle WA) LinkUp Meeting April NYSAR3 (New York State Recycling Organization) Ongoing support of 2014 Textile Recycling Campaign - Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) presentation January Washington State Recycling Association- March Maine Recycling Association April 2014 SMART exhibited at ICMA (International City County Managers Association) in September 2013 to help educate cities and towns about reasonable regulation of Clothing Collection Bins. 37

38 International Textile Recycling Summit June 2, 2014 Miami, FL SMART Co-Sponsored Event with Bureau of International Recycling (BIR)Textiles Division and Council for Textile Recycling

39 Over 40 SMART members in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

40 How Can You Help? Provide convenient collection points or inform public where Promote textile recycling days - Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22, 2014) - America Recycles Day (Saturday, November 15, 2014) Include textile recycling in all public relations and promotion efforts supporting recycling programs Help educate the recycling public about textile recycling Encourage public agencies to use products made from recycled textiles

41 What do I hope 40 Power Point Slides and the attention of some of NYS Greenest officials, munis, and citizens can accomplish? JOIN Start CTR an ongoing TODAY: dialogue FREEbetween TO MUNICIPAL NY STATE / CTR & GOVERNMENT & SMART. 6/17/2014 Council for Textile Recycling 41

42 Additional Questions? Eric Stubin Contact SMART Jackie King, Executive Director x105 Thank you!

Collecting Textiles: Make It Work for Your Community

Collecting Textiles: Make It Work for Your Community Your Name Your Company Name SMART Member Date Today s Definition of Acceptable Textiles to be Recycled Any clothing, household textile or commercial