REUSE AND RECYCLING OF USED CLOTHING AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

Revision Date: 5/00
Process Code: Navy/Marines: N/A; Air Force: N/A; Army: N/A
Usage: Navy: Medium; Marines: Medium;Army: Medium; Air Force: Medium
Compliance Impact: Low
Alternative for: Landfilling
Applicable EPCRA Targeted Constituents: N/A
Overview: Clothing and household items in fair to good condition can be reused if they are donated to thrift shops, churches, shelters, or private recycling firms. Damaged clothing can be used as wiping cloths by individual households or processed by a textile recycler. Often thrift shops sell clothing they are unable to sell to a recycler that shreds them and produces carpet padding, furniture stuffing, and other products. Household items can easily be diverted from the waste stream if housing residents are aware of the location and donation policies of local or base second-hand stores.

Some military installations have thrift shops on base where residents can donate durable goods or leave them on consignment for a period of time. If the base does not have a second-hand store, larger thrift stores may be willing to bring a truck to a convenient location on base for specified time periods. Base residents or personnel would be able to bring clean textiles and other durable goods to be received by the thrift store attendant. The base recycling coordinator should be responsible for monitoring the effect of the program and distributing information on what types of household goods can be donated, and in what condition they must be received. All items must be kept clean, dry and separate from other waste.

Since textile recyclers do not commonly accept small quantities of material from the public, the simplest solution is to donate the clothing or fabric to a charitable organization and let them divert it to the recycler. Current estimates indicate that 1.25 million tons of post-consumer textile waste are recycled annually. Post-consumer textile waste consists of any type of garment or household article made of some manufactured textile. These textiles include clothing, shoes, towels, bed linens, coats, and draperies. Approximately half of this material is recycled as second-hand clothing, which is typically given or sold to third-world nations. The remaining textile waste is either used as wiping and polishing cloths, or converted into fiber and reused.

Re-using and recycling clothing and household items are simple and effective pollution prevention opportunities. They effectively remove these items from solid waste landfills without generating any additional waste streams and creates employment for 15,000 - 20,000 workers.
Compliance Benefit: Recycling or reuse of clothing and other textile waste will help facilities meet the requirements under Executive Order 13101 requiring executive agencies (e.g., DOD) to incorporate waste prevention and recycling in their daily operations.

The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.
Materials Compatibility:
N/A


Safety and Health: N/A


Benefits:
  • Diversion of clothing and footwear can potentially reduce disposed waste by 2.1%.
  • Cost savings are achieved from reduced disposal fees.
  • Donations to charitable organizations provide affordable household products and clothing for low income people, and generate revenue for charity.
  • Creates jobs.


Disadvantages: N/A


Economic Analysis: There are no capital investments for establishing a durable goods collection program on base, if done in conjunction with a charitable organization that will provide a truck and attendant free of charge. Alternatively, a recycling container could be purchased by the base and centrally located for voluntary collection of textiles and leather. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, the private sector recycler may provide the container if they are supplied with the materials. The donated goods could be periodically transported to a thrift store. Costs for this option include the capital cost for the purchase of a recycling container and transportation and labor costs for trips to the thrift shop

Assumptions:

  • 40 tons of material re-used per year.
  • Labor and equipment by charitable organizations.
  • Resale profit acquired by charitable organizations.
  • Landfill fees (bulky items): $40/ton
  • Transportation costs: $5/ton

Annual Operating Cost Comparison for Diversion and Disposal of Used Household Items

  Diversion Disposal
Operational Costs:    
Labor: $0 $0
Waste Disposal: $0 $1,600
Transportation: $0 $200
Total Operational Costs: $0 $1,800
Total Recovered Income: $0 $0
Net Annual Cost/Benefit: $0 -$1,800

Economic Analysis Summary

    Annual Savings for Re-use: $1,800
    Capital Cost for Diversion Equipment/Process: $0
    Payback Period for Investment in Equipment/Process: Immediate

Click Here to view an Active Spreadsheet for this Economic Analysis and Enter Your Own Values.
Approving Authority: Approval is controlled locally and should be implemented only after engineering approval has been granted. Major claimant approval is not required.

NSN/MSDS:
Product NSN Unit Size Cost MSDS*
None Identified $  

*There are multiple MSDSs for most NSNs.
The MSDS (if shown above) is only meant to serve as an example.

Points of Contact: Civilian:
Mr. Bernie Brill
Council for Textile Recycling
7910 Woodmont Avenue
Suite 1130
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (301) 718-0671
FAX: (301) 656-1079
URL: http://www.smartasn.org
 
Navy:
Mr. Wallace Eakes
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center
1100 23rd Ave.
ESC 426
Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4370
Phone: (805) 982-4882
DSN: 551-4882
FAX: (805) 982-4832

Vendors: National Concrete Products
P.O. Box F
Greenwood,  DE   19950
Phone: (302) 349-5528 
FAX: (302) 349-9435
Contact: Mr. Mac McCombs

Sources: Mr. Bernie Brill, Council for Textile Recycling, March 1999.
U.S. EPA, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1994 Update.


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