Recycling Clothing & Accessories

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1. Thrift Stores are shops that sell second-hand goods. These shops collect donations of used clothes, accessories etc. They can be either nonprofit or for-profit and are very common, especially in the USA.

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2. They are sorted out and checked for quality. Clothes are particularly checked for large stains, noticeable holes, odours and zippers that don't work. They are then cleaned up and repaired if necessary. Finally, the thrift stores try to sell the items donated for the highest price offered. If they are not sold for a long time, they will be sent a clothing recycler, and then turned into scraps for further reuse or sold overseas.

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3. If the clothing is not good enough to be reused, it is turned into scrap and sent to recyclers. After that, it is converted into many different things such as cleaning rags, carpet padding, rubberised playground flooring or insulation material.

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4. Yes, there are many brands or retailers that offer clothing or shoe recycling. For example H&M believes that “looking good should do good too.” So they invite their customers to bring in a bag of any brand of clothing and receive 15% discount off their next purchase. Similarly, all Levi’s® mainline and outlet stores in the U.S. are expanding their clothing recycling programme. They offer 20 % off a single Levi’s item if you bring in an item of old clothing or pair of shoes to recycle.

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5. Of course, it is easier to find a customer if the clothing items and accessories are not damaged and are in good condition. This means that they are resold and reused quickly.

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6. The good news is that you can receive a discount on your taxes each time you donate items. All you need to do is to calculate the value of your donations and inform the Internal Revenue Service.