Charity Shops & Recycling/Reuse
The charity shop principle is based on the reuse of items and it is estimated that well over 250,000 tonnes1 of textiles (clothes and other fabric items) pass through charity shops, either being reused or recycled, every year. As charity shops’ contribution to reuse and recycling is frequently not recognised, members may wish to use some of the facts and figures below to highlight this contribution.
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The Government Strategy Unit’s report ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ (November 2002) highlighted the need for a waste management system “that allows the nation to prosper whilst reducing harm to the environment” and illustrated the hierarchy of waste management solutions – with reuse second from the top.
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Charity shops generate funds for charity by selling on unwanted items – i.e. providing a reuse opportunity for them.
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As well as the public donating items to shops, large-scale door-to-door collections allow charity shops to collect approximately 15 million sacks of textiles and other materials from UK households every year.
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In total 1.9 million households are given the opportunity to reuse and recycle unwanted items every week.
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Over 250,000 tonnes of textiles are sent on for reuse and recycling by charity shops every year (1).
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It is estimated that only 6% of materials donated to charity shops end up in landfill (2).
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Charity shops are providing a second life for an increasing range of items, including books (with more specialist charity book shops opening every year), CDs, videos, toys, furniture, bric-a-brac and electrical items (where they can be tested first).
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As charity shops are attributed as places for reuse/recycling, they are also now playing a role in collecting recyclable goods to help with fundraising, e.g. mobile phones, print cartridges. As many as 9 out of 10 people agree that charity shops are a good way of recycling and reusing unwanted items.
Charity Shops’ Contribution To Local Authority Recycling Targets
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There is increasing recognition of the contribution charity shops make in reducing the volume of items that go to landfill, and a number of local authorities are now counting the volume of textiles sent for reuse and recycling that can be measured, towards their recycling targets. In return these authorities support the charity by paying recycling credits for this volume. The Association is keen to encourage other authorities to adopt this approach.
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Without the opportunity charity shops provide for large-scale reuse and recycling, these unwanted items would inevitably find their way into the waste stream to be treated by local authorities as household waste.
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On average 36 tonnes p.a. of textiles alone are passed on to Textile Merchants by each charity shop for recycling or reuse or are sold in the shop.
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This grosses to around 250,000 tonnes across all Charity Shops in the UK.
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Based on 2006 landfill tax value at £21 per tonne, the value of textiles reused or passed for recycling by charity shops in terms of savings in landfill tax is £5,250,000 pa.
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Based on actual landfill costs of up to £40 per tonne (DEFRA WEEE consultation document March 2003) the savings represented by the volume of textiles re-used and passed for recycling each year by charity shops could be as much as £10,000,000 p.a.
Examples of mutually beneficial partnerships between Local Authorities and Charity Shops
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Braintree District Council showed their support for charity shops by giving charities the first option to clear void council houses, sponsoring charity Bags for Life, offering charities the chance to pick up the outsourcing of their bulky waste collection system, offering PR and financial support and working with a charity on a textile recycling scheme. The council spent three years of hard work building up partnerships with charities and place a great deal of importance on working with their community.
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Ballymoney Borough Council have introduced many initiatives on behalf of charities. They have facilitated collections of clothing and furniture, often in the evenings when donors are at home, they collect and dispose of charity shops’ waste free of charge. They have built up links with local community groups and schools and actively promote charity shops throughout the local community, held a month long campaign and considerably raised awareness of textile and book recycling during which the Council also secured the support of a local restaurant and was able to offer a 10% discount voucher to schools participating in the book recycling campaign. They have also purchased and located textile banks and have conducted kerbside collections on behalf of the charities. The charities benefit enormously from Ballymoney’s wholehearted commitment and Ballymoney Borough Council benefits too by additions to its recycling figures, through charity shops carrying any literature produced by the Council and through what Ballymoney Borough Council calls ‘Recycling with a Social Impact’ – as a Council, they impact not just on their own population, but also on the charities’ beneficiaries - people in the developing world and adults with learning disabilities.
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Rowcroft Hospice runs ten charity shops in the Devon area for fundraising purposes. It works with three local authorities: Torbay, Teignbridge and South Hams. In one year, these ten shops diverted over 130 tonnes of textiles from landfill through donations to their shops (both door to door and donations brought into shops by the public). Weighbridge receipts from a licensed recycling company were submitted to the council with the relevant claim form. As a result Rowcroft Hospice received £3,000 of recycling credits. This paid for one month’s medical supplies for the hospice. Rowcroft’s shops also benefit from a free 90 litre waste disposal service every week. This waste is made up from non-saleable items originating from domestic households.
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Warwickshire County Council has recognised the real contribution charity shops can make to local sustainable waste management by donating a purpose built shop, rent-free on the new civic amenity site in Stratford upon Avon to the Shakespeare Hospice. The premises are integral to the site and provide all the facilities necessary for the shop, allowing for donations to be brought in by car and for any waste from the shop to be effectively disposed of. This innovative initiative is raising thousands of pounds in new income for the hospice for its work in the local community as well as maximising reuse and the minimising waste to be disposed of in landfill.
(1) Based on data from the Charity Finance ‘Shops Survey 2006’ and Association of Charity Shops Quarterly Market Analysis 2005-6
(2) Association of Charity Shops: Textiles Acquisition and Disposal in UK Charity Shops (2001)
This information has been extracted from the Association of Charity Shops website|
Charity Shops in Torfaen
Cwmbran
British Heart Foundation Shops
10, North Walk, Cwmbran, Torfaen NP44 1PR
Tel: 01633 870565
Ty Hafan the Children's Hospice in Wales
5, General Rees Square, Cwmbran, Torfaen NP44 1AH
Tel: 01633 862122
St. David's Foundation Hospice Care
11-13, Commercial St, Cwmbran, Torfaen NP44 3LR
Tel: 01633 482455
Pontypool
Cancer Research UK
3, George St, Pontypool, Torfaen NP4 6LR
Tel: 01495 764810
St. Davids Foundation Hospice Care
11, Hanbury Rd, Pontypool, Torfaen NP4 6JL
Tel: 01495 759686
Blaenavon
St. David's Foundation Hospice Care
38, Broad St, Blaenavon, Torfaen NP4 9NF
Tel: 01495 793035
Hospice of the Valleys
82, Broad St, Blaenavon, Torfaen NP4 9NF
Tel: 01495 792317