FAQs - Charity shops and the environment
- How do charity shops help the environment?
- How do charity shops contribute to textile recycling?
- How do charity shops contribute to other forms of recycling
1. How do charity shops help the environment?
Charity shops sell almost wholly second hand
goods – a large proportion of which is clothing. Had they not been
donated to a charity shop, these items would have been discarded
into the domestic waste stream and would probably have ended up
going to a landfill site. Charity shops ensure that large quantities of clothing and other goods are
reused. Clothing that cannot be sold is recycled.
For many years, charity shops have been recycling in large
volumes.
Reuse of textiles saves 33kg of CO2 equivalent per kilo of textiles compared to disposal, and 29 kg compared to recycling. Charity shops’ reuse activity alone saves around 2.5m tonnes of CO2 each year. Recycling of textiles by charity shops also saves substantial amounts.
Not only do charity shops recycle donated goods brought to them by members of the public, some charities collect goods door-to-door. 87% of everything sold in UK charity shops is an unwanted item donated by a member of the public.
2. How do charity
shops contribute to textile recycling?
It is estimated that the charity shops sector
re-uses or recycles well over 250,000 tonnes of textiles each year.
This represents some 30% of the total volume of textiles being
recycled in the UK. Without the work of charity shops this material
would end up going to landfill at the expense of local authorities.
3. How do charity shops
contribute to other forms of recycling?
Textiles represent perhaps 50-60% of materials
sold by charity shops. There is, therefore, a significant volume
of other materials also re-used and removed from the domestic waste
stream: paper in the form of books, glass and metal in bric-a-brac
and wood in furniture. The re-use and recycling aspects of the
work of charity shops often goes unrecognised.
Find out more about charity shops, reuse and recycling.