Clothing and textiles
Recycle at home
Recycle out of home
Yes, clothing and textiles can be recycled at some out of home recycling points.
How to recycle unwanted clothing and textiles
Did you know that in the UK, around 49% of all unwanted textiles gets thrown in the rubbish bin each year? That's around 35 items, per person, per year. The good news is that there are lots of simple ways to keep clothing and textiles in use, and out of the bin.
Clothes and textiles that are in good condition can be donated and sold for re-use. This is an important way to minimise the overall impact that clothing has on our environment.
Items that aren’t suitable to be passed onto someone else can be recycled and made into new items, such as padding for chairs and car seats, cleaning cloths and industrial blankets.
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Check to see if your local authority collects clothes and textiles to be recycled.
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Drop off your unwanted items at recycling points and clothing and textile banks in supermarket and local car parks – find your nearest below.
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Donate items to registered charities and re-use organisations - some, such as The British Heart Foundation, offer a free collection service from your home.
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If you are fundraising for your school, church or organisations such as Girl Guides or Scouts, there are textile companies who can arrange a collection to help you to raise money for your cause.
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Many high street retailers such as Primark and M&S offer clothing donation banks in-store. These are sometimes called 'bring back schemes'.
Good to know
Dunelm operate a textiles take back recycling scheme in a selection of their stores and accept all clean home textiles including duvets, pillows, bed linen, towels, curtains, cushion covers, cushion inners and bedding protection.
Check their Textile Take Back Scheme FAQ page to view a list of participating stores.
Are you an organisation designing your own textile messaging for citizens?
If you are running your own public-facing campaign about clothing and textiles, check out climate change NGO, WRAP's, work in this area:
Learn more about WRAP's previous campaign Love Your Clothes.
Learn about WRAP's citizen messaging and discover support on offer.