Please Stay Out of Our Textile Banks

Very worried this week about textile bank thefts not only because it means the bread and butter of our business is being taken from us but also concerned that the risks these brazen ‘bin divers’ are taking may lead to a serious accident.

There is actual CCTV footage of people climbing all the way into the banks and handing out clothing to an accomplice, often damaging the bank in the process by hammering off the locks or bending the shutes to gain access inside which could be a problem for the next legitimate user.

As our textile bins are a public amenity, we are very hot on safety and security which is why we have invested in the latest design which has wider shallower double access shutes making them more convenient in accepting a bag of clothing while stopping anything larger from trying to get in. They are also bottom-opening making them harder to break into and easier to unload. We hope that this style of textile bank will act as a deterrent and at the very least any would be thieves will take note of the ‘No Entry’ signs we have had to display!

Maxine Sault, MD BCR Global Textiles

Supermarkets Taking Away Choice in Clothing Donations

I have taken issue with the major supermarkets many of which have made it their policy to only have clothing recycling facilities from two national charities in their car parks. Everyone else has been packed off. This is having big impact on our industry which relied on having supermarket sites allocated to them because these are the best sites for collection.

So as well as missing out on volume collection points, where we were operating on behalf of local charities particularly those without retail shops, an important income stream has been cut off in its prime.

I wonder how supporters of those local charities feel now that they have no choice in the matter of where their charitable clothing donations go? This seems wrong to me.

It’s not good news for our partners in the local authority either because in our capacity to remove textiles from the waste stream we helped them reach their recycling targets and we paid a fee to them for the clothing we collected, sorted and re-sold through export markets.

In the interests of fairness and consumer choice, definitely time for a rethink!

Maxine Sault, MD BCR Global Textiles

A Bring Back Scheme is an Ethical Bonus

Helping customers to make ethical shopping choices is a powerful hook for engagement that retailers are beginning to catch on to and setting up a Bring Back Scheme can be a great solution, particularly for the value end of the market.

As champions of reuse and recycling at BCR Global where we collect, sort and export quality second-hand clothing for overseas markets we are keen to work directly with retailers to maximise the reuse and recycling of the clothing they produce.

We feel strongly that if value retailers want to boost their ethical capital with their customers and rid themselves of the spectre of throwaway fashion, a Bring Back Scheme encouraging customers to take back their wearable but no longer required clothing for reuse and recycling will not only prove that retailer’s clothing is of suitable quality in the first place but also that they take responsibility for the environment.

By providing an avenue for recycling and reuse the retailer can also take some of the pressure off the customer who is increasingly aware of the need to recycle more in the home and reduce the waste that ends up in the bin and subsequently in landfill. But perhaps one of the best things about a Bring Back Scheme is that the customer genuinely feels good about a shopping experience whereby they are given permission to purge their wardrobes of items they no longer wear and replace any essential items with a clear conscience!

Maxine Sault, MD BCR Global Textiles.