Parents, teachers and children of a Surrey infant school recently raided their wardrobes, drawers and attics for unwanted clothes and textiles, collecting a total of 205kg of material to be recycled.
The event took place at Merrow Infant School in Guildford and saw parents bring in material as they dropped off their children at the start of the day. Donating parents and carers walked away with leaflets on how to reduce, repair, reuse and recycle textiles and children were treated to a short assembly from the Surrey County Council team, after which they enthusiastically sang a wonderful song about recycling!
The event was delivered by Surrey County Council’s waste and circular economy team and was part of a Surrey Environment Partnership (SEP) project. The material was collected after the event and taken to the local community recycling centre with the help of Suez, which runs the sites.
When clothes and textiles are recycled, they are sorted and either moved on to be reworn in the UK and abroad or are turned into insulation and stuffing. Clothing and textile waste is a big problem with too much being put into rubbish bins and sometimes even recycling bins. When this happens, it harms the environment by increasing the need for new clothing and textiles and costs councils money that could be spent on other essential services.
For more information, visit SEP’s webpage on textiles.