Every three weeks, a crew of nine people gather outside a Nelson thrift store. They form a chain, and over several hours fill a semi-trailer to capacity with bags of clothes.

Stained shirts, pants with worn-out knees, jackets with broken zippers, the bags are packed with clothes that are either ruined in some way or have simply gone out of fashion.

Once the trailer is loaded, the clothes are sent to a recycling centre in Vancouver where they are cleaned, sorted, shipped overseas or repurposed.

Better there than a landfill according to Positive Apparel owners Simone Varey and Aviva Keely, who for over a decade have tried and failed to find a local recycling solution to the thousands of pounds of old clothing Kootenay residents no longer want.

害羞草研究所淟ook at this,害羞草研究所� Varey says as she points at a storage room that害羞草研究所檚 overflowing with bags. 害羞草研究所淚magine this in our dump, in our landfills.害羞草研究所�

Over the last 13 years, Keely says Positive Apparel has diverted nearly 300,000 pounds of waste textiles from the Grohman Narrows Transfer Station located just outside Nelson.

The material is sent to the Lower Mainland, where B.C.害羞草研究所檚 only dedicated textile recycling facilities are located. The clothes are washed and sorted, then either resold, made into rags or sent overseas.

It害羞草研究所檚 a costly endeavour for Positive Apparel. The store spends approximately $5,700 monthly to rent extra storage space, pick up clothes from other thrift stores and charities throughout the West Kootenay, rent the semi-trailer and make its delivery to Vancouver. Typically they do the trip once every four weeks, or every three weeks in the summer.

The effort gives Positive Apparel first pick of clothing for its store, but the majority of material isn害羞草研究所檛 anything customers would buy. The store has historically only been paid between 10 and 15 cents per pound sent to Vancouver, and they need to make 10 trips annually to break even.

害羞草研究所淭he profit margin in this industry is tiny,害羞草研究所� says Varey. 害羞草研究所淧eople think, 害羞草研究所榦h you get everything for free, you must make gobs of money.害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

Keely wants to see that material stay in the West Kootenay.

A decade ago, Positive Apparel set up a non-profit organization and local facility that would have repurposed textiles into stuffing for pillows and couches. Anything with natural fibres could have been used to grow mushrooms. But just three months into the endeavour a trailer carrying their stock flipped on the highway, and the ensuing costs ended their plan before it could begin.

Ideally, Keely says, a textile recycling facility would be operated by local governments. She says it could be set up for shredding, with materials used as rags, blankets, landscape cloth or for futons and upholstery.

害羞草研究所淭his is obviously a resource. We害羞草研究所檙e not using this resource at all, we害羞草研究所檙e sending this resource away.害羞草研究所�

Keely said the store had previously approached the RDCK about expanding into textile recycling, but felt there was no interest.

That could change in the near future.

Amy Wilson, the RDCK害羞草研究所檚 resource recovery manager, was surprised to hear how much material Positive Apparel is diverting from the transfer station. She said the district害羞草研究所檚 sustainability department staff had already planned to attend a workshop later this month on circular economies, in which resources are reused locally, with textiles as a focus.

The workshop is being run by the B.C. organization Textile Lab For Circularity (TLC), which advocates for the elimination of textiles from landfills.

TLC managing director Tracy Lydiatt says clothing sent to textile recycling facilities doesn害羞草研究所檛 necessarily keep it out of landfills. Some of it is shipped overseas to secondary markets, where if it is soiled or damaged it is burned or buried in landfills.

害羞草研究所淲hat happens to those materials when they害羞草研究所檙e actually processed? Some of them are ragged. Some of them are sold to foreign markets and the rest, unfortunately, I think goes to energy recovery.害羞草研究所�

There are three obstacles to growing textile recycling in B.C., according to Lydiatt.

The first is a lack of a provincial ban on textiles in landfills. Do that, she says, and it will spark innovative solutions to textile recycling.

There害羞草研究所檚 also a lack of political funding and will to take on textile recycling. Lydiatt said she害羞草研究所檚 been told by provincial officials that the public害羞草研究所檚 focus right now is on plastics.

害羞草研究所淲e feel like textiles is hopefully simmering underneath the surface. Some optimistic folks say it害羞草研究所檒l be two to three years and some say like [five to 10 years] before the province puts that legislation in place.害羞草研究所�

Finally, textile recycling is a logistics problem. Shipping material to facilities is one hurdle, but right now most of the sorting work isn害羞草研究所檛 automated and is labour intensive. That害羞草研究所檚 complicated by the fact not every material is easy to recycle. A cotton shirt is easier to shred than stretchy yoga pants.

Lydiatt says she believes the public has good intentions for their clothing, which is why so much of it is donated instead of being tossed away. But that害羞草研究所檚 also part of what she calls wishcycling. People give away clothing hoping it goes to a place it will be used, without a thought for what happens next.

害羞草研究所淭he problem is they like holding on to jeans and old Gore-Tex jackets and literally have half a closet full of stuff because they know enough that they don害羞草研究所檛 want it to go to landfill. There害羞草研究所檚 also no viable solution for them yet to have it fully recycled.害羞草研究所�

So the shirt that didn害羞草研究所檛 match what it looked like online, the jacket a child outgrew or the pants that became a little too tight end up with thrift stores like Positive Apparel.

Keely says her store will keep taking donations, but the public害羞草研究所檚 reliance on thrift stores to keep clothing out of landfills isn害羞草研究所檛 sustainable.

害羞草研究所淔undamentally the issue is out of sight, out of mind, which is why people donate.害羞草研究所�

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Positive Apparel isn害羞草研究所檛 getting paid for shoes, belts and purses. The story also said the store makes trips to the Lower Mainland once every three weeks or twice in the summer. It害羞草研究所檚 actually every four weeks, or three in the summer.

READ MORE:

害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所�

| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
Like us on and follow us on .