Feb 26, 2019

Several Return-It depots in the Lower Mainland are testing the waters on recycling used clothing. Launching in March, the pilot program will take donations of all kinds of textiles, including shoes, blankets, towels and unloved clothes. The average adult throws out an estimated 81 lbs. of these materials in their lifetime. In Metro Vancouver alone, 40,000 tonnes of textiles end up in the landfill, which is roughly five per cent of the region’s total solid waste. The program comes after a number of cities, including Vancouver and Surrey, removed clothing donation bins after a 34-year-old man died when he got stuck in one in West Vancouver. In the new program, the collected items will be distributed to reuse organizations and companies within Western Canada. The hope is that it will be expanded to all 170 Return-It depots across B.C. once the pilot wraps up in May.

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