Textile Recycling
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Where to recycle
Clothing banks We have distinctive clothing banks throughout the UK and Ireland. Every bank is visited at least once a week. Click here to find your nearest. Door-to-door You may receive a plastic bag through your door asking for clothing donations. These white plastic bags will include The Salvation Army red shield logo so you can be confident where your clothing is going.
Each bag will indicate a collection day and a hotline number in case of difficulty.
You don't have to fill the bag; even small amounts can help. Charity shops Donations of clothing can also be dropped off in Salvation Army charity shops, during normal opening hours. Use the Find a Centre function on the left to locate your nearest shop.
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 The Salvation Army Trading Company operates an extensive clothing recycling operation, which has a number of benefits:
Helping The Salvation Army The income The Salvation Army receives from its recycling activities helps to fund beds for the homeless, cups of tea for the thirsty, food for the hungry, comfort for the lonely, sick and deprived, and much, much more. Helping the environment  Our life style is based so much on convenience and fashion that we don't notice how it is having a bad effect on our environment. When clothes are thrown into the dust bin they either end up at the rubbish tip or are burnt in an incinerator, neither makes sense when you realise that generally our clothes when we've finished with them still have at least 70% of their useful life left. Something else that we never think about is how the chemicals used to colour our clothes can contaminate the watershed. Lastly it takes ten times more energy to make a tonne of textiles than it does a tonne of glass. Most of us recycle our glass, so why not our clothes?
The UK government has legislation in place that places a mandatory duty on local authorities to recycle 33% of the rubbish we throw away by 2015. Helping the economy  Job creation and support rather than 'hand outs' significantly improve both local and national economies as it gives the individual dignity and choice. And so with textile recycling the UK national and local economies receive a 'shot in the arm' as many hundreds of regular fully recompensed jobs are created nation-wide. In developing countries, second hand clothes provide the basis of economic growth by providing employment for significant proportions of the population.
The Salvation Army scheme has about 250 operators actively at work daily, they range from admin staff, collectors and factory staff who sort and distribute the clothes. Once the clothes reach other countries lorry drivers, tailors, cobblers, stall holders and many others ensure that the clothes are utilised effectively.
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