<
https://theconversation.com/expecting-charity-shops-to-recycle-your-unwanted-clothes-is-creating-a-rubbish-pile-heres-how-to-help-to-avoid-that-278739>
"Charity shops are generally seen as a responsible way to get rid of unwanted
belongings. In theory, donating items allows them to be reused and raises money
for important causes. However, many charity shops struggle to make use of the
donations they receive.
The UK has more charity shops per person than any other country, handling
hundreds of thousands of tonnes of used clothing every year in addition to a
wide range of other household items.
When goods are donated to charity shops, they are either sold to local
customers to be reused or purchased by commercial companies and traded through
complex international markets.
An estimated 70-90% of donated goods follow these routes, with local traders
reusing and recycling as much as possible. However, large quantities are also
dumped and burned, resulting in environmental damage and waste.
My ongoing research shows the challenges charity shops face in reusing donated
goods. Charity shops are the primary outlet for used textiles in the UK:
roughly half of all textiles currently collected for reuse and recycling are
charity shop donations. This role already puts them under significant pressure,
and is likely to become more challenging if rates of production and disposal
increase."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
