Textile Recycling
Discarded textiles (clothing, shoes, bedding, and other cloth items) are an estimated 6% of household waste according to the EPA. While about 95% of textiles can be recycled, Americans recycle only about 15% of this waste. When residents recycle textiles, it saves the City of Melrose money on trash disposal costs and benefits the environment by reducing the energy, water and other resources required to make new textiles.
The City’s textile recycling programs are successfully reducing waste. Melrose residents recycled approximately 143,000 pounds of textiles last year – which equates to about 5 pounds of recycled textiles annually for each of our 28,000 residents. On a monthly basis, Melrosians put an average of 12,000 pounds of textiles in the drop-off bins and curbside pickup options available.
There’s a common misconception that clothing and other textiles need to be in usable condition to be recycled. In fact, the items do NOT need to be in usable condition but they should be clean and free of chemical or gasoline/oil residue. The materials are graded and sorted based on quality and condition. The best quality materials typically go to thrift stores, “mid-grade” is exported to international markets and “unusable” items are processed for raw materials. In total, almost all of the textiles collected are either reused or recycled.
Melrose residents have multiple convenient options to recycle their textiles, and important changes are coming to the “pink bag” textile curbside pickup program.
To schedule a pick-up, visit simplerecycling.com or call Simple Recycling at (866)835-5068. Enter your zip code and the site will display available dates to schedule a pickup. In addition to the change to scheduled pickups, the pink bags are no longer required. Residents can use any bag or box of their choice. Lastly, residents should put the materials by their door for pickup and not curbside. Simple Recycling, the company that operates the program at no cost to the City of Melrose, made these changes to increase operational efficiency for this no-cost service.
In addition to the textile pickup program, drop-off bins for textiles are also available to residents. Drop off bins are located at all of the Melrose schools and the DPW City Yard on Tremont Street (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 7:30 am – 2:45 pm and Saturdays: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, April to December). Put clean textiles in a bag and place it in the bin. The bins at Melrose schools are conveniently available 24/7 – no scheduling required. Bay State Textiles operates the drop-off bins, and the program raises money for Melrose schools. Based on the weight of material collected at each school, Bay State Textiles provides a rebate. In 2022, the Bay State program collected 71 tons and rebated $7,146.50 back to Melrose schools. For more information about the program, visit BayStateTextiles.com.
Both the Bay State Textile and Simple Recycling Programs accept clothing, shoes, purses, hats, backpacks, blankets, drapes/curtains, pillows, sleeping bags, and stuffed animals. In addition the Simple Recycling pickup program accepts silverware, dishes, pots/pans, tools, and jewelry. Importantly, neither program accepts mattresses, carpets, foam cushions, or rugs larger than 2’x4’. For a complete list of accepted items, visit baystatetextiles.com or simplerecycling.com.
While it is very important to recycle textiles, residents are also encouraged to reduce textile waste overall. Textile production and waste is a growing environmental problem. Textile production requires significant amounts of chemicals, water, energy, and other natural resources. With trends like “fast fashion,” Americans wear clothing for a shorter time and then discard it. Some simple steps to reduce textile waste are to buy clothing that will last longer (quality over quantity); prolong the life of clothing by washing/cleaning according to their instruction labels; repair clothing and shoes instead of buying new; purchase from consignment; or swap clothing in reuse groups on social media.
If you have questions about textile recycling options in Melrose, email recycle@cityofmelrose.org, or call Alison Beucler, Environmental Outreach Coordinator, at 781-665-0142.