Textile recycling program gets underway in Philadelphia

Thousands of tons of textiles are soon to be diverted from the local waste stream in the Philadelphia region, Montgomery County, NE Philadelphia and Southern Lehigh County areas thanks to an innovative agreement between Community Recycling, textile recycler, and George Leck and Son Inc., also DBA Leck Waste Services, a family owned and operated waste hauling company.

The goal is to offer education, convenience and superior customer service for residents to participate regularly in textile recycling. In this curbside program, homeowners will be able to recycle clothes and related soft items, paired shoes, bags/belts, known as textiles.

“Involving our residential customers in a convenient and easy solution to textile recycling is important,” said Tina Leck. “Our ultimate goal is to offer our clients the complete spectrum of services for all of their waste and recycling needs. Adding textile recycling with Community Recycling makes total sense both ecologically and economically.”

According to the U.S. EPA, 85% of all discarded textiles – over 11 million tons – are sent to U.S. landfills every year. Community Recycling is an environmentally conscious textile recycling company that collects unwanted textiles and related materials that are responsibly distributed for reuse, resale and recycling in the US and abroad.

By putting clothes, shoes and bags/belts back in the realm of reuse, we preserve our natural resources, drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save dwindling landfill space. All of the textiles collected in this curbside program will be given a new life at affordable prices for people around the globe. It's a win-win-win proposal from every angle.

"Textile recycling needs to become as familiar to us all and as easy to perform as traditional curbside recycling,” said Lisa Pomerantz, VP Marketing and Business Development at Community Recycling.

“Our relationship with George Leck and Son Inc. allows thousands of residents the additional convenience of curbside recycling of their clothes, shoes, and bags/belts. It’s great to find a partner who recognizes that we must make the process easy, accessible and worthwhile so that we can redefine what textile recycling looks like.”

The environmental benefits from textile recycling are significant. Reusing and re-wearing saves water, reduces energy usage, cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions, and helps to prevent air, water and solid-waste pollution.

The EPA estimates that every person in the US disposes of about 70 lbs. of usable and re-wearable textiles each year. Items such as shoes, clothes and bags are very dense and take up a lot of space in the landfill landscape.