Recycle your unwanted clothes with Reborn Textiles

Some of the items accepted by Reborn Textiles

You can now recycle your unwanted clothes with a new textile recycling initiative based in Rochdale.

Based in Queensway’s Arrow Mill, Reborn Textiles recycles unwanted clothing to be worn again with love whilst raising money for charities and non-profit community groups.

In 2015, the fashion industry fell under scrutiny when celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall revealed in ‘Hugh’s War on Waste’ that it takes just ten minutes for UK residents to throw away 10,000 garments, making up approximately seven tonnes of clothing destined for landfill. 

Since then, clothing produced via ‘fast fashion’ has been heavily criticised for its negative environmental impact, water pollution, use of toxic chemicals and the high levels of textile waste by many people, including the BBC’s Stacey Dooley with her documentary Fashion’s Dirty Secrets, which aired in December 2018.

Through Reborn Textiles, your preloved clothes are then sold to countries with a lower standard of living than ours for to be worn again, ensuring that garments continue to be worn whilst providing a more sustainable future for the planet.  

The group donates £50 for your own nominated good cause with every seven sacks of unwanted clothes, and has partnered with charities such as Annabelle’s Challenge, a Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Charity, and Kidscan Cancer Research.

Reborn Textiles cannot accept dirty, damaged or worn out clothing, bedding towels and curtains, bobbled knitwear, socks or tights, wellington boots, school uniforms, personalised printed clothing, ethnic clothing, industrial work clothes, soft toys, bric-a-brac, coat hangers and electrical items.

Items that are damaged can be recycled through ‘Shwop Drop’ boxes found near tills in M&S stores across the country, including Rochdale. Any item of clothing (even if it’s damaged) from any retailer, can be ‘Shwopped’ including shoes, handbags, jewellery, belts, hats, scarves and bras, plus soft furnishings such as bed linen, towels, cushions, curtains, throws, aprons, tablecloths and napkins.

Since the partnership between Oxfam and M&S began in 2008, over 33 million garments have been donated. Everything is then either sold through Oxfam stores, Oxfam online, sold overseas or recycled into fibres for new materials if it can’t be sold on.

For more information, contact Reborn Textiles:

• Tel: 01706 769219
• Email: Info@reborntextiles.com