More textile recycling facilities available in Sutton

Eleven new recycling bins means textile recycling is even easier for residents in Sutton.

The recycling bins are at sites across Sutton and the additional service supplements an existing scheme, which residents can use to arrange kerbside collections from their home.

The textiles are collected by D&M Recycling and more than 90 per cent of the items collected are reused or recycled. Once they are sold on, the textiles are sorted and graded with most items sent to developing countries where they are used as clothing or bedding.

Textiles that cannot be re-used are upcycled into new garments or in some cases, shredded before being used as insulation.

The scheme accepts dry clean clothing, bed linen, shoes and handbags. However, it cannot take duvets, pillows, carpets and dressmaking offcuts as the facilities to re-use them does not currently exist.

Councillor Colin Hall, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change on Sutton Council, said: "It’s important to use recycling services whenever you can. Using the textile bins is very easy and cuts down the amount of waste which is sent to landfill.

"Not only does this help the environment, it also reduces the amount of money which the council has to spend on landfill tax."