Baltimore County’s new clothing and textile recycling drop-off program started at the beginning of July, and it is already clear that residents are embracing the initiative.
“The bins are filling up, even in the first couple weeks,” said Trevor Hummel, Baltimore County’s Recycling Contracts and Marketing Manager. “It’s been a great service so far.”
The program, which is facilitated by Helpsy, a vendor, has been planned for some time. Hummel apologized for the launch delay, but said that now that the program is running it is already making a difference.
“We’re excited to offer this,” Hummel said. “We’re finally able to offer various recycling containers at all of our three Residential Drop Off Centers. We encourage residents to come and drop off pretty much as much textiles and clothing as they’ve got….We’re happy to keep this stream out of the landfill.”
Baltimore County operates drop-off facilities in White Marsh, Cockeysville and Halethorpe. Locations and hours can be found here.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in the United States per person, per year 115 pounds of textiles are discarded.
According to the Association of Wiping Materials, Used Clothing and Fiber Industries, 85 percent of all clothing ends up in landfills, even though 95 percent of that material can be reused or recycled.
Vendors like Helpsy help by offering organizations and municipalities another option. The for-profit firm processes materials removed from the landfill stream for a profit, and also offers their clients a small profit.
A Helpsy spokesperson reported that they collect donations from 10 states in the Northeast, and operate with a variety of collection methods including drop-off bins, as well as organizing clothing drives, and, in some areas, the company offers residential home pickups, where residents can make an appointment from its website.
It profits by selling bulk quantities to sorters and graders.as well reselling higher-end products. Helpsy formed eight years ago after the acquisition of three other clothing-bin businesses. In 2022, the company recovered over 31 million pounds of clothing.
Hummel said the contract with Helpsy gives Baltimore County about a penny back for every pound of textile that is saved from the county landfill or incinerator. And the material is also eventually turned into a useful product for another consumer, taking the place of off-the-shelf products that would require additional energy consumption and raw materials.
Helpsy’s facility will separate all of the textiles by quality and grade, Hummel said. He explained the process:
- Superior category textiles that are immediately wearable are sold domestically, or even on the internet. “Occasionally something like high-end clothes or bags that might be a designer model,” he said.
- Good quality materials go toward reuse through domestic and international groups.
- Lower grade materials–things that don’t have a reuse value, or are particularly stained or torn up–might might be broken up into even lower grades, such as a wiping rag, a cleaning rag, or maybe an absorbent for spills and cleanups.
“These companies find use for everything from the highest grade to the lowest grade, and just do something better with it than leave it in a landfill,” he said.
In Baltimore County, most of the feedback seems to be positive surrounding the new textile recycling program.
“As far as what I’ve seen on social media, everyone is really receptive to recycling,” said Lowell Melser, a spokesman for the county’s department of public works and transportation. “Overall it’s a positive experience and it seems pretty well received by the feedback we’re getting from the public.”
The department is set to roll out some new recycling additions soon too.
It is piloting a curbside compost program in some areas. A revised electronics contract also allows for the inclusion of CRT displays including TV sets, and also the full processing of flat screens.
A full list of materials accepted at the Baltimore County drop-off centers can be found here.
Hummel encouraged residents to make as most use of the recycling programs as they could.
“This is a way better end use,” he said. “We just try to keep these things rolling. Keep on recycling.”
