When it comes to throwing away your old clothing, unless you recycle them, they will end up in landfill.
Humans have been disposing of rubbish in the same way for thousands and thousands of years: dig a big hole and bury leftovers in the ground. Quite exciting for archaeologists, who centuries later, are finding ancient shards of pottery, tools and coins which are a constant source of historical fascination. Fast forward another couple of centuries and I don’t think anyone will be too impressed with the relics of our consumer society: electrical equipment, rotting food, paper, cardboard, wood, plastic, building materials and textiles.
The good news is that the waste we are sending to landfill in the UK has fallen year on year since 2012, but there is still so much to do. In 2010 a whopping 12.9 million tonnes of biodegradable waste went to landfill but by 2020, that number had fallen to 6.1 million tonnes = a saving of 6.8 million tonnes.
Even though 88% of UK households now consider regular recycling as part of their established normal routine, we’re still throwing too much waste away. For everything that we don’t recycle, it ends up in landfill and is a major source of pollution and greenhouse gases.
Landfill sites have systems in place that prevent or slow down biodegradation and decomposition. You’d think we would want to speed this up to create more space but without this process, the landfills would sink making the immediate environment unstable. Depending on what type of material we put into landfill will very much determine the rate of biodegrading and decomposition.
- Paper: 2 – 6 weeks
- Food waste: 6 months – 2 years
- Plastic bags: 10 – 100 years
- Aluminium cans: 80 – 200 years
- Disposable nappies: 450 years
- Plastic bottles: 450 years
- Glass: up to one million years
However, fashion has also become one of the biggest offenders contributing to 10% of greenhouse gases and 20% of wastewater. In a world that now thrives on throwaway clothing, it’s no surprise that fashion has become one of our worst environmental offenders. Check out these very surprising decomposition rates for fabrics:
- Cotton: 1 – 5 weeks
- Linen: 2 weeks
- Denim: 12 months
- Wool: 1 – 5 years
- Rubber Sole Boots: 50 – 80 years
Synthetic fabrics:
- Nylon: 30 – 40 years
- Polyester: 20 – 200 years
- Spandex: Indefinite
Based on this information, it may be time to choose the material your clothes are made from a little more wisely.
When you next need to get rid of some of your clothing, don’t just bin it. Ask yourself ‘is there a clothes bank near me?’ and donate it. Help keep these harmful textiles out of landfill and get that landfill figure down even further.
Usually finding a clothes bank near me offers up many more opportunities than just getting rid of your old clothes – it can also help to raise funds for a charity if the bin is branded in their logo. If you are interested in getting a FREE recycled clothing bin to support your chosen charity or a local school or community project, get in touch with us at Recycled Clothing Banks and we will provide your community with a FREE branded bin so that people can donate their unwanted textiles and raise money for good causes.
Blog created by www.wendyjenningscreative.co.uk
