What happens to my textiles

Once full the textile bank is replaced with an empty one and taken to Canning Town where the textiles are delivered to the sorting facility.

Bagged textiles are opened and loaded with the loose textiles onto a conveyor belt and hand sorted to determine whether the garments are good enough for reuse or should go for recycling. Shoes will be paired and prepared for reuse.

Clothes that are in bad condition are sent for recycling. They will either be cut and used for wipers or shredded for flocking. Clothes that are in good condition will now be graded – meaning they will be sorted into categories such as trousers, shirts, dresses, skirts. They will then be sorted further into categories such as cotton dresses, silk dresses, etc.

Once sorted, clothes in each category will be baled, weighed and then loaded into a container in preparation for export. The textiles are exported to many countries across Europe as well as Africa.

Africa

One of the largest export markets for textile is Africa. Without the resources to make their own clothes a second hand clothing industry has emerged in many African countries to sort, wash, repair and reuse the clothes, shoes and textiles we no longer want.

On market day, in major towns, you’ll see stall holders selling your unwanted clothes, washed, ironed and given a new lease of life. Shoes are polished until they look like new and cobblers line streets to attend to repairs.

For those who live in rural communities in Africa, travelling markets provide second hand clothing for those who can’t get to the major towns.