We are making it easier for residents to reuse and recycle clothes with new, specially designed clothes banks.
What will make it easier?
The council has partnered with Textile Recycling International (TRI) and is asking residents to separate clothing and home textiles into two different specially designed textile collection banks – one for wearable and reusable items titled Too good to throw away and the other for non-wearable/reusable items for recycling titled Worn Out.
What happens to the textiles?
The textile banks are situated in pairs at ten locations across Kirklees. Donors will find information on the front of each bank to explain the types and condition of textiles that can be donated. TRI will then sort the clothing at their hub in Manchester where, as part of a wider trial, it will be recorded whether the banks have been used correctly. This data will be sent for evaluation and analysis to the Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP) until the end of October. Clothes in good condition will be sent on for resale, with the proceeds going to support Yorkshire charity Children’s Heart Surgery fund, while those that are no longer wearable will be recycled.
Materials from items sent for recycling could eventually be used by UK-based clothing and textile manufacturers to make new clothing to be sold in the UK, creating a completely circular system with minimal environmental impact.
Councillor Munir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways, said:
“These new banks will remove any confusion as to what textiles can and cannot be recycled and make it even easier for residents to make the shift to a more circular economy. Once the data gathering has concluded the facilities will remain on site and continue to collect both reusable and non-reusable textiles, supporting our aim for a zero-waste future.
“Recycling is a great start, but it is important to fully embrace the hierarchy of waste by reducing waste, reusing what you can, and recycling everything possible.”
The trial is part of the Automatic-sorting for Circularity in Textiles (ACT UK) project, led by the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT). Every year, the UK generates over 1 million tonnes of used textiles, but new recycling processes mean that the possibilities to recycle fibres are increasing in the UK. The ACT UK project aims to enable the diverting of thousands of tonnes of textile waste from landfill and disposal each year.
Please visit our website for a full list of all the recycling sites in Kirklees. Please see acttakeback.org for more information about the clothes banks which are part of a nationwide campaign to reduce clothing and textile waste.
| Location | Address |
| Birkenshaw Community Hall | Bradford Road, Birkenshaw BD11 2DR |
| Brighton Street WMC | Brighton Street, Heckmondwike WF16 9EY |
| Dewsbury RLFC | Tetley Stadium, Owl Lane, Dewsbury WF12 9RH |
| Edale Avenue | Edale Avenue, Newsome, Huddersfield HD4 6LL |
| Emley Leys Lane | Leys Lane, Emley HD8 9QY |
| Golcar | Sycamore Court, Golcar, Huddersfield HD3 4SS |
| DRAM Sports and Community Centre, | Ridgeway, Dalton, Huddersfield, HD5 9QJ |
| Scapegoat Hill | Car park, Pike Law Lane, Huddersfield HD7 4NJ |
| Springwood Carpark | Old Street, Springwood HD1 4AL |
| Westborough WMC | Brunswick Street, Westborough WF13 4FD |