The Recycle for Cornwall campaign has been developed to raise public awareness of recycling and to provide consumers with a compelling reason to recycle.
Textile recycling is one of the longest running forms of recycling around. Whether it is hand-me-downs from older siblings or donations to charity shops most of us grow out of or grow out of love with our clothes or linen before they are really worn out!
Textiles accepted for recycling can be made from fibres from animal (wool and silk), vegetable (cotton and linen) or mineral (coal and oil are the bases for synthetics like polyester and nylon).
In the UK it is estimated that only a quarter of our textiles are recycled and it is estimated that £400 million worth of textiles a year are not recycled or reclaimed. In one year discarded clothing from the UK would fill Wembley stadium!
Clothing and other textiles can be recycled through charity shops where they are sold to raise money for local and world-wide funding.
They can also be recycled through kerbside recycling collections. Items collected from our homes are sent to sorting centres where they are graded according to their condition. Many of these clothes are sent to developing countries where they are reused. Low grade textiles are made into cleaning cloths for industries - some are even used for wiping down aeroplanes!
Lastly but certainly not least textiles can be recycled through charity bring banks such as The Salvation Army, Scope, and Oxfam. There are about 3,000 textile banks nationwide, collecting around 18,000 tonnes of textiles per year. Textiles from these bring banks may be given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or sent to developing countries.
