Reminder: Simple Recycling to Start Curbside Pickup of Textiles This Week

This is the week to start putting out the pink bags for textile recycling! Please set them apart from your other trash to avoid confusion.

The curbside program is run by Simple Recycling. Two pink bags were sent out to all Melrose residences two weeks ago. Residents can place clothing, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, blankets, sleeping bags, tools, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and pillows into the bags and leave them curbside on their regular trash pickup day. The Simple Recycling driver follows the trash routes, picks up the bags, and leaves a new bag for each one picked up. If a pickup is missed or a resident wants more bags, they can call Simple Recycling directly.

The program will cost the City of Melrose nothing, and in fact, Simple Recycling will pay the city $20 for each ton of material collected. Simple Recycling sorts the collected items by quality and condition and resells the best items to local thrift outlets. Mid-grade items go to international markets, and unusable items are processed for raw materials. Because Simple Recycling is not a nonprofit, residents will not get a tax receipt as they would for a donation.

The Simple Recycling program does not replace the white clothing dropoff bins at the elementary schools, which benefit the PTOs. This pickup service is an addition to those dropoff boxes.

I hope that this program is welcomed by the community and will be a useful addition to the options that are currently available.