Clothing and Textiles
When thinking about clothing, please first consider repairing existing items, reducing consumption, then reusing, and finally recycling. Why? According to the U.S. EPA, a whopping 85% of all discarded textiles – 13 million tons in 2018 – are sent to U.S. landfills every year. The amount of textile material being landfilled has increased tenfold since 1960, and is only increasing further with the advent of "fast fashion," mass-produced clothing that is designed to be trendy and cheap, but not durable.
Although they do not and cannot address all the problems associated with fast fashion and over-consumption of clothing, the second hand clothing market and textile recycling offer us ways to keep unwanted garments, accessories and home textiles out of landfills. Even when clothing can't be worn any more due to rips, holes, stains, etc., it can see new life in industrial applications like upholstery or insulation. See more information about Kane County's textile recycling program and tips for reducing textile waste below.
Recycling Clothing at Kane County Recycling Centers
We accept fabric items for reuse and recycling at our Batavia and West Dundee Centers and at various events. Find addresses, dates and hours for Kane County Recycling Centers and Program Events.
We Accept: Clean clothing; shoes; apparel accessories (belts, hats, scarves, purses); bedding, towels, and other household textiles. Items can be in any condition as long as they are clean and not wet or moldy. Rips, tears, stains that won't wash out, missing buttons, zippers, etc. are all fine! See page 3 of our Recycling Center Guide for more info on what we take and what we can't.
Partner and Process: eWorks, the County's long-time non-profit partner for electronics recycling, has diversified its services to include acceptance and processing of textiles.
With logistical assistance from the company Re.Tex, eWorks' program participants from local school districts sort donated clothing and select items for online resale. The participating school districts receive proceeds from the online sales while participants gain experience working together to select items, create listings and track sales.
Material that is not selected for direct resale but still has potential for reuse is given to other non-profits or sold to bulk textile wholesalers, with the proceeds benefitting eWorks' non-profit mission.
Material in poor/unusable condition is sent to industrial recyclers to be made into carpet padding, insulation, upholstery stuffing and similar products.
As a last resort, eWorks sends material that isn't suitable for other uses a waste-to-energy incinerator in the Midwest.
Other Ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:
Go Shopping in your Closet: Is there something you like but haven't been wearing because it is slightly damaged or doesn't fit quite right? There are a number of tailors/alteration specialists locally who can have your favorite items looking and fitting like new.
Garage Sale or Direct Online Sale: If you want to keep all the profit from selling your old things, a garage sale or online marketplace listing for local pick-up is the way to go! You have full control of setting your prices and offering deals.
Consignment Stores: A consignment store agrees to list and display clothing, accessories or other items at a brick-and-mortar store on behalf of the item owner. When an item sells, the store and the item owner both receive a share of the sale price. Clothing consignment stores are typically looking for high end designer brands, one-of-a-kind pieces and like-new items.
Online Consignment: There are a number of specialized online platforms for people to sell their unwanted clothes. These are generally set up as online consignment stores, where it is free to create an account and list items, but the platform keeps part of the proceeds when each item sells. There's a bit more work involved than with brick-and-mortar consignment because the seller will be responsible for posting photos, writing item descriptions, answering customer questions, and shipping items out. Apps like
ThredUP,
Depop and
Poshmark specialize in clothing and accessory sales. Similar to brick-and-mortar stores, designer brands and unique items in like-new condition tend to sell best.
Thrift and Resale Stores for Profit: For-profit second hand clothing stores typically buy clothing from the public at bulk rates, then sort it, mark it up, and sell it for a profit. They often specialize in certain markets (e.g. baby or children's' clothing, sports clothing, teen clothing, etc.). Again, these stores are typically looking for popular brands and like-new or gently used items.
Thrift and Resale Stores Not-for-Profit: These are second hand clothing stores run by registered non-profit organizations. Typically, the clothing that they sell is donated by members of the public and the proceeds of sales support a non-profit or religious mission. Well-known examples include Goodwill, Salvation Army and AmVets, though there are also smaller, more local non-profit thrift shops.
Charitable Donation: These are permanent or occasional clothing drives with no sales component. Donated items are sorted, sometimes washed or mended as needed, and given away to the needy for use.
Clothing Boxes: You have probably seen these drop boxes in various parking lots around the region. Usually, the operators of these boxes are for-profit companies, though they sometimes partner with non-profits or governments. For example, the sale of the items from a drop box in a church parking lot will usually benefit both the box operator and the church. Look for boxes that are made of durable materials (metal), that are clearly marked with a company name, and that are maintained well.
Corporate/Retail Programs: Some corporations have adopted recycling programs as part of their commitments to improving sustainability. Retailers may accept items of their own brand or items of certain types belonging to any brand for recycling. Examples of major retailers with in-store drop offs include Nike, DSW, Levi's, H&M, The North Face, Madewell and Patagonia. Some retailers provide mail-in recycling kits or shipping labels to customers. Gap, Universal Standard and Carter's are examples of retailers using the mail-in model.
Please note: Information above is intended as a guide to residents. Any omissions are unintentional. Additions, updates, or corrections should be referred to the Kane County Recycling Office at
recycle@kanecountyil.gov.
