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Recycling

Recycling, the Environment & Planet Aid

Every year the United States generates a total of 545 million tons of solid waste and, according to the EPA, textile waste accounts for about 5% of the total waste steam.  Planet Aid is one of the many textile reuse and recycling companies who help to keep about 2.5 billion pounds of textile waste from entering landfills each year.

Despite the fact that 2,500,000,000 lbs. looks like an enormous number on paper, the sad fact is that it only accounts for around 10% of the total textile waste generated in the United States. A 2004 University of Missouri study shows that, on average, Americans generate about 83.9 lbs. of textile waste each year; yet only 10 of those pounds are recycled, despite EPA claims that nearly 99% of post-consumer textiles are fully recyclable.

Each year, Planet Aid collects approximately 100,000,000 pounds of clothing from yellow collection bins around the nation – less than .01% of the total textiles collected in the US for reuse or recycling, yet equivalent to the weight of more than 254 Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets.

A Second Life for Old Clothes

The clothing collected by Planet Aid is processed, bundled and then sold to exporters, who sell the clothing at affordable prices in the developing world.  The funds Planet Aid generates through the sale of your donated clothing are used to help fund programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  According to the EPA, 61% of clothing recovered for reuse is exported to foreign countries.

Secondhand clothing is a way of life in Africa where, according to the Bureau for International Recycling (BIR), in some countries up to 80% of the population dresses in used clothing.  In fact, BIR says that approximately 70% of the world’s population gets their clothing secondhand.

Secondhand clothes provide an affordable alternative to newly manufactured items and, in addition, they create jobs both at home and abroad.  In the US, Planet Aid alone employs more than 280 drivers, warehouse workers, managers and office staff; overseas, people depend on imported, gently used clothing to make their living.

The Environmental Costs

Donating used clothing for recycling or reuse has a multitude of benefits, not the least of which is reducing the heavy environmental impacts of disposing of textile waste and producing new clothing. Just the 100 million pounds of clothing collected by Planet Aid each year would bury 90 football fields 5-feet deep in shirts, shoes and slacks.

If this clothing were not diverted from the waste stream it would wind up in landfills where the majority of it, made from synthetic fibers, would not decompose.  The remainder, made from natural fibers, would decompose and release methane gas into the atmosphere; and this is just the toe of the pollution footprint left in the wake of textiles.

Producing new clothing, using either synthetic or natural fibers, is environmentally expensive.  Manufacturing synthetic fibers, like the popular polyester, produces volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and acid gas such as hydrochloride – this in addition to the fact that it’s an extremely energy intensive process, heavily reliant on fossil fuel.  The EPA considers many textile manufacturers to be hazardous waste generators under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Cotton, a natural alternative and one of the most popular and versatile fibers in use, offers no solution in terms of environmental impact. To grow the cotton to make just one T-shirt requires 256 gallons of water according to the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association.  The cost in water to produce the cotton for a single pair of jeans is around 957 gallons. Moreover, conventionally grown cotton is notoriously vulnerable to pests, demanding more insecticide use than any other single crop. Organophosphates, a class of nerve agents used heavily on cotton fields, are among the most dangerous pesticides on the market.

Clearly, the decisions we make about our clothing, like all resource decisions today, need to be made consciously and with regard to the effect on others and the planet. By donating your clothing to Planet Aid, you help to reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing new clothes but, it’s not just the green decision to make – it also benefits people by creating jobs and providing affordable clothing to those less fortunate.

To find a Planet Aid donation bin, click here