Handbags and gladrags given to good charity causes by Council staff this month
Tewkesbury Borough Council staff have been clearing out their cupboards this month by donating unwanted clothes to the Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL).
The council’s recycling team handed out collection bags to staff last week, which were collected by SATCoL representatives from the borough council’s Gloucester Road offices as part of their Textile Recycling Day on Friday, 26 November.
Staff were asked to fill the bags with any unwanted and clean clothing, bedding, linen, curtains, paired shoes, underwear, bags and rags and return them to the council reception area a week later.
From here, the bags will be taken away by SATCoL and weighed at their HQ, before they are set for either reuse or recycling.
All the money raised will go to charitable causes while the council will later be able to claim a recycling credit per tonne for the amount collected. This income will be directed towards the Mayor’s Charities.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment, Cllr Jim Mason, said: “In an effort to boost recycling at the council even further, we have been working with Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd to hold this textile recycling initiative.
“We hope this will make staff and members think about disposing of unwanted clothes responsibly and think more about the clothes we buy in the future.”
SATCoL’s National Recycling Coordinator Paul Ozanne said: “Textiles are the UK’s fastest growing household waste stream and by recycling unwanted clothes and textiles we can help the environment by reducing what we send to landfill and reusing valuable resources.
“The response from staff at Tewkesbury Borough Council has been fantastic and we’d like to thank everyone for their generous donations. All of our profits are gift-aided to The Salvation Army to support its social welfare projects caring for vulnerable people throughout the UK, so staff have helped raise money for charity as well as being ‘green’. Projects include homeless services, care centres for the elderly, substance misuse support, disability services, family tracing services and much more.”
For more information about SATCoL and to find your nearest textile recycling bank visit www.wear2bank.co.uk. If a local company is interested in hosting a similar event, please contact SATCoL on 01933 441807 or email paul.ozanne@satradingco.org.
06 December 2010