Textile drop-off finds new life for old clothes

A new recycling event in Lake Macquarie is aiming to eliminate the elephant in the room when it comes to Australia’s obsession with ‘fast fashion’.

The inaugural Clothing Drop-Off Day on Saturday 11 October encourages locals to hand over usable men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, accessories like belts, hats and bags, and towels and bed linen for reuse, repurposing and recycling.

Lake Macquarie City Council Manager Community Partnerships Matt Holloway said Council had partnered with Sydney-based E-Thread to launch the initiative – one of the first of its type in the Hunter Region.

“Australians are one of the world’s largest consumers of textiles per person,” he said.

“We dump an estimated 6000kg into landfill every 10 minutes, equivalent to 144 African elephants every day.”

Locally, Council’s most recent kerbside bin audit found that textiles made up more than seven per cent of household garbage bin contents.

“That equates to about 2000 tonnes of textile waste going to landfill annually,” Mr Holloway said.

“This results in more than $640,000 in disposal costs and nearly 4620 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.”

In addition to environmental benefits, Saturday’s 9am-3pm event at Council’s Depot on Creek Reserve Road, Speers Point, will support Open Parachute, a school-based mental health program.

Mr Holloway said proceeds from donated clothing would help deliver tools to young people to manage anxiety, build resilience and navigate social challenges.

Go to lakemac.com.au for more information.